Methodology

How The Trust File lists a company

This is a static directory, not a marketplace. A nightly agent — or a human — can add a company by dropping one Markdown file into the content collection. If a fact is not on a regulator list or the firm’s own page, it does not go in the file.

Include

• State-chartered trust companies, public or independent, that act as directed or corporate trustees.
• Names that appear on an official state banking / financial-institutions licensee list, or on a regulator filing we can cite.
• Directed-trust, administrative-trustee, or corporate-trustee services as the firm or the regulator describes them.

Exclude

• ITA-style individual or person trustees.
• Generic bank wealth-management pages with no trust-company charter angle.
• 1031 qualified intermediaries and DST sponsors.
• Private family trust companies that do not serve the public, unless a later brief expands that set.
• Unsourced AUM, headcount, or “largest in the state” claims.

Field rules

• Legal name and any DBA the firm or regulator uses.
• Domicile and regulator label only from a published list or the firm’s regulatory disclosure.
• Public / private / independent only if the source states it. Otherwise ownership: unknown.
• Year founded, charter year, headquarters, and AUM only if published. Omit the number if you cannot source it.
• The verdict is one paragraph for an advisor: what to verify next, not a recommendation to hire.
• Every listing ends with dated source URLs.

Add a listing

Create src/content/companies/your-slug.md. The filename becomes the URL/companies/your-slug/. Required and optional frontmatter:

---
legalName: Example Trust Company, LLC
dba: Example Trust          # optional
formerNames: []             # optional
domicile: SD                # SD | NV | WY | DE | AK | other
additionalDomiciles: []     # optional
regulator: South Dakota Division of Banking
charterType: public         # public | private | limited-purpose | unknown
charterLabel: TC.2 — Public Trust Company
credentialId: TC.000-2      # optional
ownership: independent      # public | private | independent | unknown
ownershipNote: ""           # optional; only if sourced
parent: ""                  # optional
headquarters: City, State   # optional
foundedYear: 2001           # optional number
charterYear: 2001           # optional number
charterDate: 2001-04-23     # optional ISO date
directedTrustFocus: yes     # yes | partial | unknown
directedTrustNotes: ""      # optional
services: []
whoItsFor: []
notableFacts: []            # sourced only
aum: ""                     # omit if unpublished
aumAsOf: ""
website: https://example.com
lastReviewed: 2026-09-05
seoTitle: Example Trust Company | The Trust File
seoDescription: One sentence, unique to this company.
summary: One line for the homepage table.
verdict: What an advisor should verify next.
sources:
  - title: Official licensee list
    url: https://example.gov/list.pdf
    publisher: State regulator
    dated: as of September 2026
    accessed: 2026-09-05
---

Short notes. No marketing copy. No invented figures.
    

Then run npm run build. The homepage table and sitemap pick up the new file automatically. Full instructions live in the repository README.