How to Fill Out a W-9 Form for an Irrevocable Trust

You can place funds in the care of a trustee by creating a legal trust. Some trusts are revocable, meaning that the trust grantor can change the terms of the trust at any time. If a trust is irrevocable, however, its terms cannot be changed once set up. Many people use an irrevocable trust to bequeath assets to a child or grandchild upon death; the beneficiary gets the assets right away and does not have to go through probate. If you set up an irrevocable trust, you must fill out a W-9 form so that the IRS can grant you a taxpayer identification number for your trust.

Provide the name of the trust at the top of the form where the IRS asks for a name. Do not put the name of the trustee in this space, just the name of the trust. Skip Line 2, where the form asks for a business name. Check the box that says "trust" under Line 2.

Provide the address of the trust in the space for addresses. Do not provide any account numbers or the name of the trustee in this area.

Place the trust's employer identification number in the correct boxes in Part I of the form. Make sure you put this number in the second row of boxes rather than the first row, which is meant for individual Social Security numbers.

Ask the trustee to sign the form. After it is signed, send it to the IRS.