A one-page proof that a trust exists, that named people are its acting trustees, and that those trustees may sell a vehicle out of it. Missouri asks for this rather than for the trust deed, which is the useful part - a family trust document runs to dozens of pages and nobody wants it filed with a title application.
Written against Form 4441 (Rev 02-2019), issued under RSMo 301.190.
The federal identification number line is labelled for the trust or for the Social Security number of the decedent, which tells you what this form is usually being used for: a revocable trust that has become irrevocable because the grantor has died, and a trustee who now has to sell the car in it.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 4441 from the dor.mo.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual Form 4441, rendered from the PDF the Missouri Department of Revenue publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The whole form, filled in for a two-trustee family trust. Five of the seven trustee rules are grey because this trust has two, and there is no notary block anywhere on the page - Missouri takes this one on the trustees' signatures alone. The signature band itself is the one part of the sheet the Department's PDF gives no fillable box, so it is shown empty.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The trust's name and date
The name exactly as the trust instrument gives it, and the date the trust was made.
Watch out: The trust date is not the date you are filling this in. It is on the first page of the trust document, and it is part of how the trust is identified.
2
You fill this in
Identification number
A federal identification number for the trust, or the Social Security number of the decedent.
Watch out: A living revocable trust often has neither of its own and uses the grantor's number. After a death, the label on this line tells you which one the Department expects.
3
You fill this in
The grantor
Name, street address, city, state and ZIP of the person who created the trust.
Watch out: The grantor and the trustee are frequently the same person while that person is alive, and frequently not afterwards. Fill in both blocks anyway.
4
You fill this in
The trustees currently serving
Up to seven names, under a heading that is about the present rather than about the original appointment.
Watch out: Currently serving is the operative phrase. A named successor who has not yet taken office does not belong on this list.
5
You fill this in
Where and when it was executed
The county, or the city of St. Louis, and the date.
Watch out: St. Louis city is not St. Louis county, and the form separates them because Missouri does. The distinction turns up on every Missouri form with a notary or an execution block.
6
You fill this in
The trustees sign
The signature band at the foot, by the trustees named above, under both certifications.
Watch out: No notary, and no witness. What gives this form its weight is the certification about unlimited authority directly above the signatures - which is a statement about what the trust deed actually says.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Trust
Trust name, trust date in eight cells, the federal identification number or the decedent's Social Security number, and the grantor's name, street address, city, state and ZIP.
Trustee(s)
Seven name rules, headed the Trustee(s) currently serving are.
The two certifications
Printed between the trustee list and the signatures. That the trust is currently in full force and effect; and that the signers are the acting Trustees and have been granted, by the terms of the trust, unlimited authority to sell, assign, dispose, or otherwise transfer any interest in any vehicles, vessels, outboard motors, or manufactured homes to or from this trust.
Executed at
A county or city of St. Louis, and a date in eight cells: this statement was executed at ______ County, Missouri on ______.
The public record acknowledgement
By execution of this document, the undersigned acknowledges that all information contained on this form is a public record under Chapter 610 and may be disclosed upon proper request.
Signature of the Trustee(s)
A signature band at the foot for the trustees named above.
What gets this one rejected
•A trustee who has signed but is not named in the list above. The certification is that the signers are the acting trustees, and the list is what identifies them.
•A trust whose terms do not in fact give unlimited authority to transfer vehicles. That is the substance of what is being certified, and it is not a formality - a trust that requires two trustees to act jointly is not one where a single trustee has unlimited authority.
•A missing trust date. It is how the Department tells one Marbury family trust from another, and it is not the date of this statement.
•Sending it alone. Printed at the foot: this form must be attached to your motor vehicle registration application.
•Expecting it to stay private. The acknowledgement above the signatures says the whole form is a public record under Chapter 610.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•No notary. There is no acknowledgement block anywhere on this form, which puts it with the title assignment rather than with the affidavit of exempt property.
•Seven trustee lines. Enough for most family trusts. A corporate trustee goes in as the entity, signed by an officer.
•A trust beneficiary transfer is outside the notice of sale. The Department's list of transfers not required to be reported includes a vehicle transferred to beneficiaries named in a trust, or from an individual to their trust.
Every line here was read off Form 4441 (Rev 02-2019) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Missouri Department of Revenue pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
