Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

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Aadrw
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Joined: Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:16 pm

Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Aadrw »

Our attorney filed some trust paperwork with the IRS and we received the tax is number. Oddly, he spelled “trust” wrong as “Trutst” in the filing paperwork. It’s the “Firstname Lastname Trutst” and that’s what’s listed on the official form back from the IRS.

When I asked the attorney about it, he said it “didn’t matter”. The bank manager where I’d like to set up the account says it very much matters. Can’t get through to anyone at the IRS to ask!

Can anyone weigh in?
BogleTaxPro
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by BogleTaxPro »

Well...if the name doesn't match between the EIN and the tax documents associated with it, it can sometimes get spit back out as a mismatch during e-filing. This one might not cause that (I think the matching is generally just on the first few letters) but it would save time later one to just fix it now. You just need to send a letter to the IRS and ask them to change the name, but the lawyer should really do this for you. I think the correct address is:
IRS, Stop 6055, Kansas City, MO 64999
based on:
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/business-name-change
chemocean
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by chemocean »

I applied for and received an EIN for my father's estate with me as Personal Representative of his small estate. As you indicated, you need the EIN document to open up an estate banking account. Afterwards, I noticed that the will named me as Executor. I wrote a cover letter to the IRS at the address on the EIN document asking for the correction and included a copy of the EIN document. Several weeks letter I received a new EIN document from the IRS with the correct designation. As the first poster indicated, I would make the effort to make the correct. It is something a DIYer could do to save on billable hours.
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Kenkat
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Kenkat »

Hey attorney, the bank is telling me the misspelling very much matters so what needs to happen to get this fixed?

You can adjust the wording to match your personality and geographic location.
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arcticpineapplecorp.
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by arcticpineapplecorp. »

after you make this lazy attorney correct his mistake (at his cost, not yours), I'd say it's time to find a less lazy attorney, don't you?
Last edited by arcticpineapplecorp. on Tue Sep 15, 2020 8:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Topic Author
Aadrw
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Aadrw »

Haven't been thrilled with him so far! Thank you everyone for your replies!
hachiko
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by hachiko »

I agree, the attorney should fix it for free and apologize. Not only does it matter for several things, but it's just very poor client service. The attorney made a mistake and you want it fixed. It's something that can be fixed very easily.

Hopefully the attorney didn't mean it doesn't matter in the sense that 'that's now the trust name and the name doesn't matter. "
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Bobby206
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Bobby206 »

I don't see why it matters.

You have no reason to give the bank a copy of the EIN app. Just give them a completed W9. The bank shouldn't be involved as they are.

The IRS doesn't care about an obvious typo. They probably wouldn't even notice. If the name of the trust was totally wrong then I'd worry about fixing it but not something like a letter or two being off in a word that everybody knows what the word is.

The attorney would be smart to offer to fix it if you make it clear you are dissatisfied but I'd say it's a low level issue. Just my two cents.
hachiko
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by hachiko »

Bobby206 wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:49 pm I don't see why it matters.

You have no reason to give the bank a copy of the EIN app. Just give them a completed W9. The bank shouldn't be involved as they are.

The IRS doesn't care about an obvious typo. They probably wouldn't even notice. If the name of the trust was totally wrong then I'd worry about fixing it but not something like a letter or two being off in a word that everybody knows what the word is.

The attorney would be smart to offer to fix it if you make it clear you are dissatisfied but I'd say it's a low level issue. Just my two cents.
I agree that it's not an end of the world problem, but I don't think you can say it doesn't matter. It matters if there's a third party that won't do business with you because of it. Which is the case here.

As a customer, you don't get to dictate the bank's policies. As far as I know there's no federal law which forbids a bank from not opening an account if you won't provide the EIN letter. Therefore, the name error very much matters to the OP.
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ResearchMed
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by ResearchMed »

Aadrw wrote: Tue Sep 15, 2020 3:35 pm Our attorney filed some trust paperwork with the IRS and we received the tax is number. Oddly, he spelled “trust” wrong as “Trutst” in the filing paperwork. It’s the “Firstname Lastname Trutst” and that’s what’s listed on the official form back from the IRS.

When I asked the attorney about it, he said it “didn’t matter”. The bank manager where I’d like to set up the account says it very much matters. Can’t get through to anyone at the IRS to ask!

Can anyone weigh in?
There is one thing I do not understand:

Why in the world did the attorney not IMMEDIATELY say something like, "Oh my goodness... I'll get that fixed right away!"
Adding a quick "I'm so sorry about that" would also be nice.

RM
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chemocean
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by chemocean »

For an estate account, I think most banks require to the EIN document to open the account to assure that the EIN is for an estate.
In my case, the institutions holding estate assets or owing the estate benefits required an EIN and the statement from an estate banking account before they would issue a check in the name of the bank account.
SxSW
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by SxSW »

A misspelling, even one letter, can cause difficulty if the legal trust docs don't match. Your attorney should get this fixed at his expense.
Frugalbear
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Frugalbear »

A relative of mine had a lot of correspondence with the irs in the form of a payment plan for taxes owed. At any rate, the IRS never spelled his name correct on an of the correspondence.

Moral of the story, I think the EIN number matters most.

I don't think that makes it right that the attorney shrugged it off, but I think all will be well even if it doesn't get fixed.

As far as the banking person goes, I would take their opinion with a grain of salt.
LorieBH
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by LorieBH »

I had a similar problem. My Dad's old CPA applied for the EIN for the trust, and spelled a couple of the words wrong (including the spelling of my Mom's name...)

As the Trustee, I called the IRS toll free number, got a wonderful employee on the phone who was able to correct the misspellings right then while on the phone with me. She also issued me a new form showing the correct info for the EIN. The number remained the same.

Very easy to do. I'm surprised your attorney didn't fix it right off the bat for you, sorry for that.

Editing to add: Oops, I should also add that I asked the CPA to fix it, but his office said he was either "unreachable" or "unable" to find the paperwork he needed to correct it. We had a house sale pending that could not proceed with the error (actually got a formal doc from the Title company saying the EIN name HAD to match the Trust name) so I had to step in and get it resolved quickly.
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celia
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by celia »

It matters very much since computer matching will say the names don't match.

The IRS told Vanguard that my trust name and my SSN didn't match the personal name and the SSN the IRS knows me as. The "problem" with Vanguard's titling of the account is that the title started with the trust date rather than with my name (which would have been truncated by the time you got to ".... Trust, dated mm/dd/yyyy"). So I had to mail some IRS form to Vanguard which would have been unnecessary if my trust account had started with my name.

Just as you can obtain the EIN yourself online, you can also correct any misspellings yourself. When I requested an EIN online earlier this year, I think there was a form to mail in to fix any typos, but I don't see it online. But, you should have the computer-generated or mailed letter showing the assigned EIN. Send in a copy, or at least the "stub" at the end showing the trust name and EIN and make a notation to correct the spelling and reply to you. You should also be able to send in a simple typed note. The address listed on my letter for a Michigan trust is:
IRS
Cincinnati, OH 45999-0023

Form 8822B, which is used to report a change of trustee or address might also be used. It shows two other IRS addresses, depending on your state.
neverpanic
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by neverpanic »

Get the match.

Recently did a title search and a name mismatch had been recorded with the county years ago. It wasn't a deal-breaker, but did cost us a couple hours of frustration.
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Topic Author
Aadrw
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Aadrw »

Thank you all for your thoughts, experiences, and suggestions for fixing it.
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FIREchief
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by FIREchief »

Yikes!! I didn't read every post, but this attorney sounds awful. :annoyed
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Topic Author
Aadrw
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by Aadrw »

End of drama! (Not with attorney, but with the IRS)

I called the EIN business line, sat on hold for an hour. Lovely lady came on, verified my identity, made the change, and we should have a fresh EIN letter in 2 weeks.

So appreciate of all your good advice. Thank you!
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ResearchMed
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Re: Misspelled Trust Name in IRS Form

Post by ResearchMed »

Aadrw wrote: Thu Sep 17, 2020 3:56 pm End of drama! (Not with attorney, but with the IRS)

I called the EIN business line, sat on hold for an hour. Lovely lady came on, verified my identity, made the change, and we should have a fresh EIN letter in 2 weeks.

So appreciate of all your good advice. Thank you!
Good!

But you should also make it "the end of the drama; the end of it all" with that particular attorney.

Anyone can make a mistake, although some are easier to avoid than others.
However, once having made one, a real professional would quickly fix it, try to mitigate any damage/harm, or otherwise do SOMETHING other than be totally dismissive...

RM
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