QUESTION: If we have a joint trust account with a husband and wife (both as trustees) and are using the social security number of the husband and he dies, can we change the TIN to the wife's social security number or do we have to have an EIN?
ANSWER: It appears your customers have created a type of grantor revocable trust, known as a joint martital trust, in which the husband and wife were the grantors, the co-trustees and the primary beneficiaries. The IRS allows the utilization of the social security number of either spouse for T.I.N. purposes. The death of either spouse would not
normally cause the termination of the trust. The surviving spouse would become the sole trustee and would be treated as the owner of the assets of the trust. If this is the case, the surviving spouse's Social Security number could be used as the trust T.I.N.
However, if the trust becomes irrevocable upon the death of one spouse (or if the surviving spouse is not treated as the owner of the assets for IRS purposes), the trust will lose the grantor trust status
and a separate trust T.I.N. must be obtained. I recommend that you and your legal counsel review the trust agreement to determine if it contains any provisions regarding the death of one spouse. Keep in mind also that IRS rules require the trustee to certify to you who should be treated as the owner and therefore whose TIN should be used.
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