A car owned by a trust cannot sign anything, so Wisconsin asks the trustees to say who they are and what they are allowed to do. Five numbered affirmations, a block for the principal trustee and two co-trustees, and two optional ticks about liens. It is the oldest form in this section - unchanged since 2004 - and it is the one that decides whether a trust sale can complete at all.
Written against MV2790 (12/2004), issued under s. 342.06(2), s. 341.60 and s. 701.19(9)(a), Wis. Stats..
Read the trust document before ticking anything about liens. The two optional boxes are statements about what the trust permits, made under a statute carrying imprisonment, and nobody at the counter will check them for you.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV2790 from the wisconsindot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual MV2790, rendered from the PDF the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Division of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The block at the top asks for the trust, not the driver: the settlor, the date of creation and how the trust was created are three separate boxes and all three are read. The three signature rules at the foot exist because Wisconsin normally wants a majority of the trustees. Trust and trustee names invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Vehicle Identification Number and Date
The VIN across the top with the date of the statement beside it.
Watch out: Date it the day it is signed, not the day of the sale. This is a statement about the trust, not about the transaction.
2
You fill this in
Year, Make, Model, Type and Gross Weight
Five boxes on one row. Gross weight matters on a truck and is left blank on a car.
Watch out: Type is the department's own word - Car, Truck, Van. Copy the term off the certificate rather than describing the vehicle.
3
You fill this in
Name of Trust and its tax identification number
The trust as it will read on the title, with its federal tax identification number beside it.
Watch out: The title will be printed with this name. Copy it from the trust document, in full, including the date some trusts carry in their own name.
4
You fill this in
Name of Person Creating Trust, and Date Trust Created
The settlor and the date. A separate block from the trustees below.
Watch out: The person who created the trust is frequently also a trustee, and still has to appear in both blocks. One entry is not enough.
5
You fill this in
Trust Created By
Letters of Trust, Will, or Other with a fill-in line.
Watch out: If it was created by a written declaration of trust rather than by will or letters, use Other and say so on the line. Leaving all three blank stalls the application.
6
You fill this in
Principal Trustee Name and address
The person to whom all communications will be directed, in the form's own words, with a residence address.
Watch out: Whoever is named here gets the post. On a trust with trustees in three states that is a decision worth making deliberately.
7
You fill this in
The two lien authority ticks
Whether the trustees may grant a lien on trust vehicles, and whether they may file and release liens.
Watch out: Optional, and only tick what the trust document actually says. These are affirmations under s. 342.06(2), which carries a fine and imprisonment.
8
You fill this in
Principal Trustee Signature and two Trustee Signatures
Three rules at the foot, under the five numbered affirmations.
Watch out: s. 701.19(9)(a) generally requires a majority of the trustees to sign unless the trust document provides otherwise. A single trustee signing a three-trustee trust is the usual reason one of these comes back.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle Identification Number, and Date
The VIN across the top of the sheet with the date of the statement beside it.
Year / Make / Model / Vehicle Type / Gross Weight
Five boxes on one row describing the vehicle.
Name of Trust, and Trust Federal Tax Identification Number
The trust as it will appear on the title, and its own tax number.
Name of Person Creating Trust, and Date Trust Created
The settlor and the date. Not the trustee, who is named further down.
Trust Created By - Letters of Trust / Will / Other
Three ticks with a fill-in line beside the third.
Principal Trustee Name
The form's own note: the person to whom all communications will be directed.
Residence Address, City, State, ZIP Code
The principal trustee's address.
Co-Trustee, twice, each with an address block
Two columns for two more trustees, with a note that additional trustees go on a separate page.
The five numbered affirmations
That the trust is valid and in existence, that the signatories are duly appointed trustees, that they have authority to buy, sell and register motor vehicles that are trust property, that they are acting for the benefit of the beneficiaries, and that they understand the penalties for false information.
Trustees have the authority to grant a lien on motor vehicles
An optional tick, for a trust vehicle being financed.
Trustees have the authority to file and release liens
The second optional tick.
Principal Trustee Signature, and two Trustee Signatures
Three signature rules. The note beneath them is the one that catches people out.
What gets this one rejected
•One signature where the trust needs a majority. The form's closing note: in general, per s. 701.19(9)(a) Wis. Stats., the majority of the trustees must sign unless the trust documents provide otherwise.
•A trust with no federal tax identification number. There is a box for it and the department reads it.
•Naming the settlor as the trustee out of habit. They are two separate blocks and often two separate people.
•Ticking the lien authorities when the trust document does not grant them. The affirmations are made under s. 342.06(2), which carries a fine and imprisonment.
•Sending it alone. It accompanies a title application; it is not an application in itself.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The penalty is named on the form. The fifth affirmation says the penalties for providing false information include fines and imprisonment, per s. 342.06(2) and s. 341.60.
•Specialty plates can follow the beneficiary. A note on the form: if the beneficiary of the trust personally qualifies for specialized plates - disabled, military group - the plates may be issued to the trust after payment of the necessary fees.
•More than three trustees is allowed. Include the names, addresses and signatures of additional trustees on a separate page if necessary, in the form's own words.
•Buying, selling and registering are one authority here. Affirmation three bundles them: they have authority to buy, sell and register motor vehicles, which are the property of the trust.
•It is a 2004 form and it is current. Nothing newer has replaced it on WisDOT's index. An old revision is not a stale one.
