To submit Form 56 to the IRS, mail the completed form and its supporting documents to the IRS service center where the taxpayer you represent files their tax returns. There is no online or electronic filing option. The correct mailing address depends on the taxpayer’s state and the type of tax involved, and you’ll want to send it in a way that gives you proof of delivery.
Where to Mail Form 56
Form 56 does not have a single national mailing address. You send it to the IRS service center where the taxpayer is required to file their returns.1Internal Revenue Service. Where to File – Forms Beginning with the Number 5 The IRS publishes a table of addresses in the Form 56 instructions; look up the taxpayer’s state alongside the relevant tax form to identify the right service center.
If more than one type of tax is involved and one of them is individual income tax, send the single Form 56 to the center that handles Form 1040 for the taxpayer’s state.1Internal Revenue Service. Where to File – Forms Beginning with the Number 5 If the only tax matter is estate tax, send it to the address designated for Form 706.
Assignees for the benefit of creditors follow a different rule. That filing goes to the Advisory Group Manager of the IRS area where the taxpayer is located, and it must be filed within 10 days of appointment.2Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
What to Attach Before You Mail
The IRS won’t take your word that you have fiduciary authority. Your attachments have to prove it, and what you include depends on how that authority was created:3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
- Testate estates: a certified copy of the Letters Testamentary or the court certificate confirming your appointment as executor.
- Intestate estates: a certified copy of the Letters of Administration or the court order appointing you.
- Trusts: a copy of the trust instrument, or the relevant pages naming you as trustee.
- Guardianships and conservatorships: the court order establishing your appointment.
- Assignments for the benefit of creditors: a description of the assigned assets and your planned actions regarding them.
The name on your supporting documents must match the fiduciary name on Form 56. If they don’t line up, expect processing delays or an outright rejection.
How to Send It
Because the IRS does not accept Form 56 electronically, you must mail everything through the U.S. Postal Service or an IRS-designated private delivery service.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship Use certified mail with return receipt requested, or the tracked equivalent from a designated private carrier. That receipt is your evidence of timely filing if the IRS later says the notice never arrived.
Only specific service tiers from DHL Express, FedEx, and UPS satisfy the IRS’s timely-mailing rule.5Internal Revenue Service. Private Delivery Services (PDS) Standard ground service does not qualify. Check the current list on IRS.gov before you drop off the package.
Keep a full copy of everything you send: the completed Form 56, every attachment, and your mailing receipt. If a question about the filing comes up months later, you’ll want the whole file in one place.
Completing the Form Correctly First
A form that arrives at the right service center still gets bounced if the information inside is wrong. Four parts have to be right before it goes in the envelope.
Part I: Taxpayer Information
Enter the full legal name, current address, and taxpayer identification number of the person or entity you represent. For individuals, that’s an SSN or ITIN. For estates, trusts, and other entities, it’s an EIN.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship If you’re the executor of an estate that doesn’t yet have an EIN, apply for one first using Form SS-4; the online application returns an EIN immediately.6Internal Revenue Service. Information for Executors
Part II: Fiduciary Information and Authority
Provide your own name, mailing address, and telephone number. Check the box on Lines 1a through 1g that matches how your authority arose — testate estate, intestate estate with or without court appointment, guardianship, trust, bankruptcy or assignment for creditors, or “other.” Enter the date your authority took effect on Line 2b; it must match your attached documents.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
Then check every tax type you’ll be responsible for: individual income tax (Form 1040), estate tax (Form 706), gift tax (Form 709), employment tax, and so on. The IRS will only route correspondence for the tax types you mark, so an omission here means notices continue going to the taxpayer’s old address.
Part III: Court and Administrative Proceedings
Complete Part III only if you were appointed in a court or administrative proceeding other than bankruptcy. Enter the date, time, and place. If there are multiple proceedings, attach a schedule. Assignees for the benefit of creditors also attach a brief description of the assigned assets and what will happen to them.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
Part IV: Signature
Sign under penalties of perjury and enter your title — executor, trustee, guardian, conservator, or the equivalent role.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship Your signature confirms you accept legal responsibility for the taxpayer’s tax affairs.
When to Mail It
Mail Form 56 as soon as the fiduciary relationship is legally created. Don’t wait for a return deadline. For estates, that means mailing it shortly after the probate court issues Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. For trusts, the trigger is the date you’re appointed or the date assets are transferred to you.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
Until the IRS receives Form 56, notices of deficiency, audit letters, and payment demands go to the taxpayer’s last known address. When the taxpayer is deceased, that mail is almost certainly not being opened, and appeal deadlines and penalty clocks run regardless.
What Happens After You Mail It
The IRS does not send a formal acknowledgment letter. Processing generally takes several weeks. You’ll know it worked when notices and other correspondence start arriving at your address instead of the taxpayer’s.
If, after about six weeks, tax mail is still going to the taxpayer’s old address, call the IRS to check the status. Have your certified mail receipt and a copy of the filing ready.
Filing a Termination Form 56 When Your Duties End
When the estate closes, the trust is fully distributed, or a court ends your appointment, you file a second Form 56 to notify the IRS that the relationship is over. Check Line 6 in Part II, Section A, which revokes or terminates all prior fiduciary notices on file for the same tax matters and periods.7Internal Revenue Service. Form 56 – Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship
Fill in the same taxpayer name, TIN, and fiduciary information you used on the original. Sign and date to reflect the date your authority ended. Mail it to the same service center that received the original, using certified mail again and keeping the receipt.
Skip this step and the IRS will keep sending confidential tax correspondence to you long after you have any role to play with it, while whoever actually took over never sees the notices.
A Note on Form 56-F
Form 56 is not the right form when a federal agency such as the FDIC is acting as receiver or conservator of a financial institution. In that scenario, the federal agency files Form 56-F, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship of Financial Institution.4Internal Revenue Service. About Form 56, Notice Concerning Fiduciary Relationship Individual executors, trustees, guardians, and conservators use the standard Form 56.