How to Transfer a Car Title After Death in Maryland

When it applies: the title shows "TOD" after the owner's name. Since October 1, 2017, a sole owner can name one transfer-on-death beneficiary (Md. Transportation § 13-115). Starting October 1, 2026, co-owners who hold the car as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety can also name one, who takes the car after the last owner dies (2026 Laws of Maryland Ch. 73). Only one beneficiary, a person or a business, can be named.

The car does not become part of the estate, and MVA says Letters of Administration are not required. The beneficiary must outlive the owner. If not, the car becomes part of the owner's estate.

Steps

1. Bring the original title to MVA. The deceased owner does not sign it. MVA reviews its record to confirm the named beneficiary. If the title is missing, apply for a duplicate (VR-018, $40).
2. On the back of the title, enter your name as the buyer, write "TOD" as the purchase price, write the owner's name in the seller signature space followed by "deceased," and sign as the purchaser. Complete the title application on the back of the title.
3. Bring a certified death certificate for the owner (for a co-owned title, for each deceased co-owner). If MVA's record already shows a deceased flag from Vital Statistics, MVA can accept that as proof of death.
4. Bring proof of your identity. If the beneficiary is a trust, bring a copy of the trust.
5. If there is a loan, pay it off first or bring a letter from the lender saying the lien has been transferred to you.
6. The transfer is excise-tax exempt. If you are the owner's spouse, parent, or child, no safety inspection is needed. Otherwise the car needs a Maryland safety inspection.

The title fee for a beneficiary is not published. Contact MVA at 410-768-7000 to confirm it.

Forms

• Certificate of Title Application, VR-005 (only if not using the application on the back of the title)
• Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, VR-018 (only if the title is missing)

The Beneficiary Designation for Vehicle Title (VR-471) is for living owners only. It cannot be filed after death.

Documents

• Original title showing "TOD" (or a duplicate title)
• Certified death certificate, unless MVA's record already shows the owner as deceased
• Proof of the beneficiary's identity
• Lien release or lender letter, if there was a loan

When it applies: two or more people were on the title. Maryland's title application asks whether co-owners hold the car as joint tenants (any two or more people) or tenants by the entirety (married couples only). Both carry a right of survivorship, so the survivor owns the car and it does not become part of the estate.

If neither box was checked, MVA treats the owners as tenants in common. MVA's title manual says the surviving owner can still transfer ownership with a death certificate, the signed title, and a lien release if needed. MVA's materials do not fully explain how the deceased owner's share is handled in that case, so contact MVA at 410-768-7000 to confirm before you go.

Steps

1. Apply for a new title before the current registration expires. You can start the pre-application online through myMVA.
2. Complete the Assignment of Ownership and the Application for Title and Registration on the back of the title.
3. Fill in any lien on the back of the title, or bring a lien release or lender letter. If there is no lien, write "none."
4. Bring a certified death certificate, or the "Reported Deceased" notice (VR-278) or decedent's letter (VR-264P) MVA mailed you, plus the registration card.
5. If the transfer is between spouses or between a parent and child, you may be able to transfer the existing tags. Otherwise new tags are needed.
6. No excise tax is due, and no safety inspection is needed if you keep the car. The $200 title fee is waived only if you are the spouse.

Forms

• Certificate of Title Application, VR-005 (if not using the back of the title)
• Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, VR-018 (only if the title is missing)
• Application for Maryland Gift Certification, VR-103 (MVA lists it when a surviving co-owner transfers the car to an immediate family member)

Documents

• Title with the Assignment of Ownership and title application completed
• Certified death certificate bearing the seal of the Bureau of Vital Statistics, or MVA's VR-278 or VR-264P letter
• Registration card
• Lien release or lender letter, if there is a loan
• Proof of marriage, if claiming the spouse title-fee waiver

When it applies: you were married to the owner. Maryland waives the $200 title fee for a surviving spouse, whether you were a co-owner or your spouse owned the car alone (§ 13-802). The transfer is excise-tax exempt, needs no safety inspection, and you may keep the existing tags.

If you were a co-owner, follow the co-owned steps on this page.

If your spouse was the sole owner, MVA's Application for Exemption from Estate Administration to Transfer a Decedent's Vehicle (VR-481) may let you skip opening an estate. The form says it applies when "the only property owned by the decedent is not more than two motor vehicles and the decedent's surviving spouse is the only heir or legatee." No estate can have been opened, and all of the decedent's debts and taxes must be paid. If the decedent had 3 or more currently registered vehicles, MVA requires Letters of Administration.

Steps with VR-481

1. Confirm you meet every condition on the form.
2. Complete and sign VR-481. You sign it under penalty of perjury.
3. Complete the Assignment of Ownership and title application on the back of the title, or a VR-005.
4. Bring proof of marriage (or a death certificate showing you as the spouse), a certified death certificate if MVA's record is not already flagged as deceased, and a lien release or lender letter if there was a loan.
5. If an estate has been opened, bring the original Letters of Administration instead of VR-481.

Forms

• Application for Exemption from Estate Administration, VR-481
• Certificate of Title Application, VR-005 (if not using the back of the title)

Documents

• Title with the Assignment of Ownership completed
• Completed VR-481, or original Letters of Administration if an estate has been opened
• Proof of marriage, or a death certificate showing the spousal relationship
• Certified death certificate, if MVA's record is not flagged as deceased
• Lien release or lender letter, if there was a loan
• Registration card, if transferring tags

When it applies: the owner died with the car in their name alone, with no TOD beneficiary and no surviving co-owner.

Maryland has no heir affidavit for cars. The only way to skip the Register of Wills is the spouse-only VR-481 route described above. Children, other relatives, and people named in a will need original Letters of Administration (or Letters Testamentary) from the Register of Wills, with the raised seal, before MVA will retitle the car.

For smaller estates, the Register of Wills offers a simpler small estate process when the Maryland probate estate is $50,000 or less, or $100,000 or less if the surviving spouse is the sole heir or legatee (Md. Estates & Trusts § 5-601). This still goes through the Register of Wills and still issues letters.

Steps

1. Check for a TOD beneficiary or surviving co-owner first. If there is one, no estate is needed for the car.
2. If the spouse is the only heir and the decedent owned no more than two vehicles and nothing else, see the surviving-spouse steps.
3. Otherwise, contact the Register of Wills in the county where the decedent lived and ask about small estate administration.
4. Once letters are issued, follow the executor steps on this page.

Maryland law lets an heir or legatee wait to apply for a new title until the last annual registration in the deceased owner's name expires (§ 13-114). Heirs, legatees, and distributees pay no excise tax.

Forms

• Application for Exemption from Estate Administration, VR-481 (surviving spouse only)
• Certificate of Title Application, VR-005 (if not using the back of the title)

Documents

• Title with the Assignment of Ownership completed
• VR-481 (spouse only), or original Letters with the Register of Wills' raised seal
• Certified death certificate with the seal of the Bureau of Vital Statistics, or MVA's deceased-owner letter
• Lien release, if there was a loan

When it applies: the Register of Wills has issued Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration. The personal representative (executor or administrator) handles the car. MVA accepts only the original letters with the raised seal, and copies and returns them.

A car with a TOD beneficiary, or held as joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, goes to the beneficiary or survivor and not through the estate.

Steps

1. The personal representative completes the Assignment of Ownership on the title and signs as seller, writing "personal representative" or "executor" after the signature. The administrator's full name and address must appear.
2. If there is a lien, provide a lien release or lender letter. If there is no lien, write "none" in the lien section.
3. If the title is missing, apply for a duplicate (VR-018).
4. The new owner (heir or buyer) makes an MVA appointment and brings the title, the original letters, and a certified death certificate or MVA letter.
5. A transfer to a legal heir, legatee, or distributee is excise-tax exempt. A sale to someone else is taxed at 6.5%. A safety inspection and new tags are needed unless the new owner is the decedent's spouse, parent, or child.

Forms

• Certificate of Title Application, VR-005 (if not using the back of the title)
• Application for Duplicate Certificate of Title, VR-018 (only if the title is missing)
• Bill of Sale, VR-181 (when the estate sells the car)

Documents

• Original Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration with the raised seal
• Title signed over by the personal representative
• Certified death certificate or MVA's deceased-owner letter
• Lien release or lender letter, if there was a loan

When it applies: a lender is listed on the title. The loan stays with the car. MVA will not issue a new title until recorded liens are released, unless the lender gives written permission for the transfer.

Steps

1. Contact the lender for the payoff amount, and ask whether they will release the lien or approve a transfer with the loan in place.
2. If the loan is paid off, get a lien release from the lender.
3. If the loan stays in place, get a letter on the lender's letterhead authorizing the transfer. It must list the year, make, and VIN, and name the new owner.
4. List the lien on the back of the title, or write "none" if there is no lien.

For a TOD beneficiary, the lien must be paid off before retitling, or the lender must give a letter saying the lien has been transferred to the beneficiary. A $40 filing fee applies for each new lien recorded. MVA's co-owner brochure says no filing fee is required when a surviving co-owner keeps an existing lien.

Documents

• Lien release, or a letter on the lender's letterhead authorizing the transfer
• Title with lien information completed (or "none")

• Title fee: $200. Waived for a surviving spouse (§ 13-802). Not waived for a surviving co-owner who is not the spouse. The fee for a TOD beneficiary's title is not published, so contact MVA to confirm.
• Duplicate title: $40.
• Lien filing: $40 per new lien.
• Tag transfer: $15 on MVA's current fee table, plus a year's registration if the tags have less than a year left. An older 2023 MVA bulletin lists $10 for surviving spouses, so confirm the amount with MVA.
• Temporary registration while waiting for an inspection: $50.

Excise tax: Maryland charges a 6.5% titling excise tax (minimum $41.60). It does not apply when the car passes to a surviving spouse, joint owner, legal heir, legatee, or distributee (§ 13-810), or to a TOD beneficiary. We did not find a separate exemption form for heirs. MVA appears to apply the exemption from the transfer documents (Letters, VR-481, or the death certificate). A buyer who purchases the car from the estate pays the tax.

MVA's deceased-owner page asks families, heirs, and buyers to make an appointment at an MVA branch to transfer the title. A surviving co-owner can start the pre-application online through myMVA, but MVA does not say the transfer can be completed fully online. The new title is mailed to you.

MVA does not say whether these transfers can be mailed in. Private MVA-licensed tag and title services take title applications, but MVA does not say which estate transfers they accept.

Contact MVA Customer Service at 410-768-7000 to confirm. For Letters of Administration, contact the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived.

The estate can sell the car directly.

• With an executor: the personal representative completes the Assignment of Ownership with the buyer's full name, address, and purchase price, signs as personal representative, and gives the buyer the original letters. The executor and the buyer must both sign and notarize a Bill of Sale (VR-181).
• Surviving co-owner: can sign the title over to a buyer directly, with the death certificate (or MVA letter) and any lien release.
• Loans: any lien must be released, or the lender must authorize the sale in writing. If there is no lien, write "none" in the lien section.
• Buyer: needs new tags unless they are the deceased owner's spouse, parent, or child. The car must pass a Maryland safety inspection, and the buyer pays the 6.5% excise tax.

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