Any legal entity (company, CC or trust) requires a resolution to be signed by its decision makers to authorise an individual to sign any required documentation.
In the case of a company or CC, the resolution can be signed at any point before or after the documentation is signed to ratify the decision of the person who has signed on its behalf.
However, the requirements for a trust resolution are unique and require extra care to be taken.
For a trust to enter into an agreement to buy or sell immovable property, the resolution by the trustees, nominating the person authorised to sign the documents on behalf of the trust, must be signed on or before the date that the agreement of sale is signed by the trust.
If the resolution is dated after the signature date of the agreement, the sale is void. The unwanted effect of this is that either party may pull out of the transaction at any point during the transfer process with no concern of any legal claim from the other party or the property practitioner that brokered the transaction.
The letter of authority issued by the Master’s Office of the trust will list the trustees. Only they have the authority to sign the resolution authorising an individual to sign the resolution. This is why it is crucial for an attorney or property practitioner to be provided with this document to ensure the resolution will be binding on the trust.
Should you have any questions on the trustee resolution process, please contact our offices for assistance.