According to the invention, there is provided a novel soybean variety, designated 96M20. This invention thus relates to the seeds of soybean variety 96M20, to the plants of soybean 96M20, to plant parts of soybean variety 96M20 and to methods for producing a soybean plant produced by crossing soybean variety 96M20 with another soybean plant, using 96M20 as either the male or the female parent. This invention also relates to methods for introgressing a transgenic or mutant trait into soybean variety 96M20 and to the soybean plants and plant parts produced by those methods. This invention also relates to soybean varieties or breeding varieties and plant parts derived from soybean variety 96M20, to methods for producing other soybean varieties or plant parts derived from soybean variety 96M20 and to the soybean plants, varieties, and their parts derived from use of those methods. This invention further relates to soybean seeds, plants, and plant parts produced by crossing the soybean variety 96M20 with another soybean variety.