The reason most people hire us to form their Arizona with a Confidential Trust is because they do not want their name to appear on the public records of the LLC filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission (the “ACC”).  After the LLC has been formed, all future filings made by the LLC with the ACC require that a person sign the document filed with the ACC and that person’s name be shown on the form.

If your LLC needs to file a document with the ACC and you do not want a trustee of the Confidential Trust to have his or her name displayed on the document, the solution is for the trustee(s) of the trust to appoint a trusted person a co-trustee under Section 2.05 of the Trust Agreement.  The co-trustee is the person who signs the document to be filed with the ACC and indicates on the ACC form that the signer is signing as the co-trustee of the trust.

If you need to appoint a co-trustee then do the following:

  • Copy and paste the text below into your word processor.
  • Edit the text for your trust and co-trustee.
  • Attach the completed document to be signed by the co-trustee as Exhibit A to the Co-Trustee Agreement.
  • Arrange for the trustee and the co-trustee to sign the Co-Trustee Agreement.
  • Give each signer a fully signed Co-Trustee Agreement.

After the text of the Co-Trustee Agreement that follows below you will see a sample completed agreement.

Co-Trustee Agreement

Effective <trust date>, <trustmaker name>, Trustmaker and Trustee of the <trust name> Trust under Trust Agreement dated <trust date> (the “Trust Agreement”), appoints <co-trustee name> a Co-Trustee of the Trust under Section 2.05 of the Trust Agreement. The undersigned acknowledges that the Co-Trustee’s sole power under the Trust Agreement is to sign documents on behalf of the <trust name> Trust as directed by <trustmaker name>, as Trustmaker and Trustee of the <trust name> Trust.

<trustmaker name> directs <co-trustee name>, as Co-Trustee of the <trust name> Trust to sign the following document:

<insert a description of the document to be signed>

<Example: the Amendment to the Articles of Organization of <llc name>, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company, in the form of Exhibit A>

<Notes to Trustee: Make a copy of the document to be signed, mark Exhibit A at the top of the first page of the document and attach the document to this Agreement. The finished document should not have any < or > characters. After both parties sign this document give each signer a fully signed document.

 

________________________
<co-trustee name>, Co-Trustee

 

_________________________
<trustmaker name>, Trustmaker and Trustee of the
<trust name> Trust dated <trust date>

Sample Co-Trustee Agreement

Effective February 29, 2016, Homer Simpson, Trustmaker and Trustee of the Camelback Mountain Trust under a Trust Agreement dated January 31, 2016 (the “Trust Agreement”), appoints Ned Flanders a Co-Trustee of the Trust under Section 2.05 of the Trust Agreement. The undersigned acknowledges that the Co-Trustee’s sole power under the Trust Agreement is to sign documents on behalf of the Camelback Mountain Trust as directed by Homer Simpson, as Trustmaker and Trustee of the Camelback Mountain Trust.

Homer Simpson, Trustee, directs Ned Flanders, as Co-Trustee of the Camelback Mountain Trust to sign the following document:

the Amendment to the Articles of Organization of Word Wide Widgets, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company, in the form of Exhibit A.

 

________________________
Ned Flanders, Co-Trustee

 

_________________________
Homer Simpson, Trustmaker and Trustee of the
Camelback Mountain Trust dated January 31, 2016