How to Transfer a Car Title After Death in Delaware

When it applies: the front of the Delaware title says "transfer on death to" or "TOD" followed by a name. Since late December 2012, Delaware law (21 Del. C. § 2304) lets an owner name one or more beneficiaries on the title. A trust can be a beneficiary.

Here's how it works:

• When the owner (or the last surviving owner, if there were several with right of survivorship) dies, the car passes to the beneficiary automatically, subject to any lien.
• If no beneficiary is still living, the car belongs to the estate instead. Use one of the other situations below.
• The owner could change the beneficiary at any time without the beneficiary's consent, so only the name on the current title counts.

Steps: The DMV does not publish a checklist for claiming a TOD car, so call a DMV office before you go to confirm what it needs. In general, a new title is applied for at a DMV office in person, with the original title, the beneficiary's Delaware driver's license and proof of Delaware liability insurance. Contact the DMV to confirm whether a death certificate or other papers are also required.

Forms:

• Application for Title (MV212)
• Transfer on Death Application (MV2025): this is the form an owner uses to add a beneficiary. It is not a claim form, but it shows what a TOD title looks like.

Fees: $35 for the title ($55 with a lien) plus registration. The 5.25% document fee exemption for inheritance does not mention TOD titles, and state law says a TOD title is not a testamentary disposition. Ask the DMV whether the document fee applies to a TOD transfer.

Driving the car: registration expires on a TOD transfer. A surviving spouse, child or household family member can keep driving on the old registration until it expires after notifying the DMV (see You're the Surviving Spouse).

When it applies: two or more people are named on the title. Delaware titles join owners with either "AND" or "AND/OR", and the two work differently.

"AND" titles: DMV Regulation 2286 says the surviving owner must present the executor or administrator papers from the Register of Wills to drop the deceased owner's name or transfer the car (Reg. 2286).

1. Get a Short Certificate (executor or administrator papers) from the Register of Wills in the county where the deceased owner lived. If the estate qualifies, a Small Estate Affidavit may work instead (see No Probate (Small Estate or Heirs)).
2. If you are both the surviving owner and the executor or administrator, you sign the back of the title. If someone else is the executor or administrator, both of you must sign.
3. Bring the original Register of Wills document to the DMV. The regulation says "a copy," but the DMV's FAQ says it must see the original and will not accept a photocopy, so bring the original.
4. Bring the original title, your Delaware driver's license and proof of Delaware liability insurance to a DMV office.

"AND/OR" titles: the DMV says only one owner needs to sign to transfer an "AND/OR" title, but no official source says what a surviving owner must bring after a co-owner dies. Call a DMV office to confirm before your visit.

Forms: Application for Title (MV212)

Fees: $35 for the title ($55 with a lien). A transfer between joint owners without payment is exempt from the 5.25% document fee if the car was titled in their joint names for the previous 30 days (Reg. 2266).

When it applies: your spouse has died and you want to keep driving or take over the car. Delaware has no spouse-only title form. A spouse uses the same routes as other family members:

• You're on the title as a co-owner: see The Car Was Co-Owned.
• The car was in your spouse's name only and the estate is small: you can get a Small Estate Affidavit from the Register of Wills. If there is no will or named executor, the spouse is first in line. See No Probate (Small Estate or Heirs).
• The estate is being probated: the executor or administrator signs the title over to you. See An Executor Has Been Appointed.

Keep driving for now: Delaware law (21 Del. C. § 2506) lets a surviving spouse, children and family members living in the household keep driving the car on its current registration until it expires, after notifying the DMV. The DMV form is Authorization to drive a vehicle of deceased owner until registration expires (MV14).

Spouse's allowance: before a Small Estate Affidavit can be used, the surviving spouse's allowance (up to $7,500 under Delaware law) must be paid, provided for, waived or expired (12 Del. C. ch. 23).

Documents for the DMV: the original title, the original Small Estate Affidavit or Short Certificate, your Delaware driver's license and proof of Delaware liability insurance.

When it applies: no estate has been opened, the person did not own Delaware real estate in their own name or as a tenant in common, and their personal estate (not counting jointly owned property and certain other excluded property) is within the limit:

• $50,000 for deaths on or after June 10, 2026
• $30,000 for deaths before June 10, 2026

The limit was raised by a 2026 law (85 Del. Laws c. 281). New Castle County's Register of Wills applies the date-of-death split above. Some Kent and Sussex forms still show the old figure, so contact the Register of Wills in your county to confirm.

Who can get the affidavit: under 12 Del. C. § 2306, preference goes to the qualified named executor, then the spouse, any child, any parent, any sibling, any grandchild, any grandparent, then a Delaware-licensed funeral director. New Castle County issues it to the named executor in an original, valid, self-proven will, or if there is none, to the closest next of kin (children must be at least 18).

Steps:

1. Wait 30 days after the death. New Castle County can grant a "restricted affidavit" so out-of-state next of kin can transfer a car title without waiting.
2. Go to the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived with a certified death certificate and photo ID (and the original will, if there is one). New Castle County does not require an appointment. New Castle and Kent also take mail requests, but Kent's mail request form requires a valid reason you cannot come in person, says the requester cannot be a convicted felon, and a mailed affidavit must be notarized before use.
3. Sign the Small Estate Affidavit under oath before a notary. Ask for enough originals, since the DMV needs an original.
4. As the person named on the affidavit, sign the back of the title (Section 1) to yourself, the heir or a buyer.
5. Take the original title, the original affidavit (no photocopies), the new owner's Delaware driver's license and proof of Delaware liability insurance to a DMV office.

Forms: Application for Title (MV212) and the Kent County Request for Small Estate Affidavit via Mail (note: it still shows the $30,000 cap).

Fees: the affidavit costs $10 for the first and $5 for each extra one requested at the same time in New Castle and Kent counties. Contact the Sussex County Register of Wills to confirm its fees. At the DMV, $35 for the title ($55 with a lien) plus registration.

The named executor or next of kin also has a legal right to take possession of the car right away, but that is possession only, not a title transfer.

When it applies: an estate has been opened at the Register of Wills, usually because the person's personal assets are over the small estate limit or they owned real estate in their own name. The executor (with a will) or administrator (without a will) receives a Short Certificate showing their authority.

Steps:

1. Get a Short Certificate from the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived. Kent County has a Short Certificate Request Form for extra copies on an open estate.
2. The executor or administrator signs the back of the title (Section 1) over to the heir or buyer, with name and address, date, price and odometer reading.
3. The new owner completes the Purchaser's Application (Section 4) on the back of the title.
4. Bring the original title and the original Short Certificate to a DMV office with the new owner's Delaware driver's license and proof of Delaware liability insurance. The DMV says a photocopy of a Register of Wills document will not be accepted (DMV FAQ).

Forms: Application for Title (MV212)

Fees: $35 for the title ($55 with a lien), registration, and the 5.25% document fee if it applies (see Fees and Taxes).

Moving the car: an executor or administrator can drive the car up to 125 miles to a garage or storage place with the plates on and a temporary or limited permit (21 Del. C. § 2506).

When it applies: a lender is listed on the title or holds the title. A lien stays with the car after the owner dies. A TOD beneficiary, for example, takes the car subject to all liens.

Steps:

1. If the lender holds the title, complete Request of Title from Lienholder to DMV (MV35) and send it to the lender. The lender mails the title to the DMV office you choose.
2. If you are changing the owners on a title that still has a lien (for example, adding or dropping a name), get a signed letter of permission from the lienholder.
3. Complete the transfer under the situation that fits: TOD, co-owner, small estate or executor.

Documents: a lien release, or a signed letter of permission from the lienholder if the lien stays on, plus the documents for your transfer route.

Fees: a new title with a lien costs $55, versus $35 without. No official Delaware source explains what happens to the loan itself when the owner dies, so contact the lender to confirm.

• Title: $35 without a lien, $55 with a lien (DMV title transfer page).
• Registration: $40 per year for a passenger car ($60 to $110 for some alternative-fuel cars under 6,000 lbs) (DMV fees).
• Small Estate Affidavit: $10 for the first, $5 for each additional one at the same time (New Castle and Kent counties).

Document fee instead of sales tax: Delaware has no sales tax on cars. Instead, the DMV charges a 5.25% motor vehicle document fee on the purchase price or NADA value, whichever is higher (minimum $8) (30 Del. C. ch. 30).

DMV Regulation 2266 (Reg. 2266) says:

• Transfers resulting from inheritance or bequest are exempt, but purchases from an estate are not.
• Transfers between joint owners without payment are exempt if the car was titled in their names for the previous 30 days.
• Gifts from an immediate family member (spouse, parent, child, sibling or grandparent, including step and in-laws) are exempt.

Official sources differ here: the DMV's own FAQ for a deceased owner's car says documentation, title and/or registration fees "shall apply." If the car is passing to an heir, ask the DMV to apply the inheritance exemption. The exemption also does not mention TOD titles, so a TOD beneficiary should ask the DMV whether the fee applies.

No separate exemption form was found.

Step 1: Register of Wills. For a Small Estate Affidavit or Short Certificate, start at the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived: New Castle, Kent or Sussex.

Step 2: a DMV office, in person. The DMV recommends that all parties appear at the office, and it must see the original Register of Wills document. DMV offices (locations):

• Wilmington: (302) 434-3200
• Delaware City: (302) 326-5000
• Dover: (302) 744-2500
• Georgetown: (302) 853-1000

No official source says a deceased owner's title can be transferred online or by mail, and the DMV does not say whether appointments are needed. Call the office before you go to confirm.

Delaware titles do not need to be notarized.

The person with authority for the estate signs the back of the title (Section 1) to the buyer, with the buyer's name and address, date of sale, price and odometer reading. That is the executor or administrator named on the Short Certificate, or the person named on the Small Estate Affidavit.

• The original Register of Wills document goes to the DMV with the title. No photocopies.
• The seller completes the Seller's Report of Sale at the bottom of the title and sends it to the DMV. The DMV says this releases the seller from liability but does not transfer ownership until the buyer presents documentation.
• The buyer pays the 5.25% document fee, since purchases from an estate are not exempt.

If probate is needed, our Delaware probate guide walks through it.