Selling a car after the owner has died
A title cannot be signed by a person who has died, so the sale starts with proving who now acts for the car. Who that is, and the paper that proves it, depends on whether the estate goes through probate and on the state that titled the car.
Find out who can act for the car
Executor, administrator or heir
Get the paper that proves it
From the court, or a sworn affidavit
Keep the car legal meanwhile
Registration, and insurance or non-use
Sell it with that paper and the title
The buyer’s agency will ask for both
Who signs
Who can sell the car now.
The person named on the title cannot sign it, so the state looks for whoever stands in their place, and wants a document that says so.
An executor or administrator
When the estate goes through probate, the court names an executor or an administrator and gives them the proof: letters testamentary or letters of administration. That person acts for the estate, and the car is sold through them.
An heir, without probate
Where the estate does not go through probate, some states let an heir take the car on a sworn statement instead. Texas calls it an affidavit of heirship, California an affidavit for transfer without probate, and each has conditions, set out below.
A co-owner
If the title names a second owner, the car may already be theirs. How the names are joined decides it, and that is a question for your state’s agency before anybody signs.
A lender
If there is still a loan on the car, it has to be paid before the title can move. Texas asks for the original release of lien with the other papers, and how a payoff fits inside a sale is in selling a car you still owe money on.
In the meantime
Keeping the car legal while the estate is settled.
The paperwork can take weeks, and the car still has to be registered, and either insured or declared off the road, until it changes hands.
California tells families to keep the registration up while estate matters are handled: pay the fees, or put the car on Planned Nonoperation on or before the expiration date. Planned Nonoperation can be filed up to 60 days before that date and no more than 90 days after it, and paying late brings penalties. If the car stays registered but is not driven, keep it insured or tell the DMV the coverage has ended with an Affidavit of Non-Use. The death itself is reported to the DMV on form DMV 22.
Special plates have rules of their own. In California, disabled person plates go back to the DMV when the registration expires or within 60 days of the owner’s death, whichever comes first, and a disabled person parking placard is sent back with the DMV 22, marked with an X on both sides.
Find the title, any loan papers and the keys early. If the title cannot be found, ask the agency how a replacement is issued in an estate before you promise a buyer a date: the general route is in selling a car without a title.
The title
Not signed by anybody yet. If it is lost, the replacement comes first.
The proof of authority
The court’s letters, or the affidavit your state accepts, as the original or a certified copy where the state asks for one.
The death certificate
California wants the original with form REG 5, and returns it.
The release of lien
If a loan was paid off, Texas wants the original, not a copy.
The car’s own papers
Service records, both keys and the owner’s manual, which tell a buyer more about the car than anybody in the family can.
Two states
What Texas and California ask for.
Both separate an estate that goes through court from one that does not. Here are the two, read on the agencies' own sites.
Texas
With probate, the court’s letters testamentary or letters of administration are the proof, as the original or a certified copy. Without probate, TxDMV asks for an Affidavit of Heirship for a Motor Vehicle, Form VTR-262, with every signature notarized. Either way, the new title is applied for in person at a county tax office, with the title if there is one, the original release of any lien and Form 130-U, the title application. When the car is inherited between eligible parties, a Gift Affidavit goes with them, notarized unless it is signed in front of a county tax office employee.
Read on txdmv.gov on 8 October 2026.
California
An heir can transfer the title with the death certificate and an Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate, form REG 5. The DMV allows it once the owner has been dead for 40 days or more, when the value of their property in California is not over $150,000, and only for a car titled in California. The original death certificate is required, and the DMV returns it. An inheritance is one of the cases in which the Statement of Facts, REG 256, claims an exemption from use tax.
Read on dmv.ca.gov on 8 October 2026.
For any other state, start with the agency that titled the car: USA.gov lists the motor vehicle agency for every state. Ask what it wants from an executor and from an heir, and whether a value limit applies to a transfer without probate.
The sale
Selling it on to a buyer.
Once somebody holds the authority, the sale is an ordinary private sale with one more document in the folder.
Who the buyer deals with
Either the car moves to the heir first and the heir sells it as its owner, or the executor sells it with the court’s letters beside the title. Which papers your state accepts, and in which order, is its agency’s call. In Texas the person applying for the new title brings the proof of authority to the county tax office, so if that is the buyer, they need it as well as the title.
The deadlines after the sale
In California a change of ownership has to be reported to the DMV within 10 days, and the seller sends a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability within 5 days. Other states set their own.
The mileage and the papers
Federal rules still ask for the odometer reading on the title at the transfer, with the exemptions on the odometer disclosure statement page. The bill of sale records the price and the date, and a copy of the paper that gave you authority answers the question of why the name on the title is not yours.
Telling buyers
Explaining the estate in the listing.
A buyer who sees a different name on the title will ask why, and the answer reads better in the listing than at the car.
Say who is selling and in what role, and where the paperwork stands: sold by the executor of the estate, letters in hand, or the affidavit filed and the title on its way. That is all a buyer needs; the family’s story is not part of the sale.
Expect a careful buyer to ask to see the paper. California’s DMV tells buyers that when the seller’s name is not on the title, there must be documentation authorizing that person to sell the car, and that a seller who is neither the owner nor acting for the owner is not entitled to sell it. Having the letters or the affidavit ready, with a copy for the buyer, turns that question into a formality.
On a WheelSheet page, Title in hand is one of the things a seller can tick. Leave it unticked until the papers that let you sign are in hand, and say in your notes where they stand.
A car that sat while the estate was settled may need a new battery and a wash before it is photographed, and its price is worked out the same way as any other: how to price a used car.
Read next
The rest of the sale, once someone can sign.
The authority is the unusual part. The listing, the price and the handover work as they do for any car.
The whole process, in order: how to sell a car privately.
More in special situations- Selling a car you still owe money on
The lender holds the title, so the payoff has to happen inside the sale rather than after it. How that works, what to ask for in writing, and the safest place to do it.
- How to sell a leased car
You cannot sell a car you do not own, so a lease sale is really a buyout followed by a sale. How the numbers work, and why your lender may not allow it.
- How to sell a car that does not run
A car that will not start still has three kinds of buyer and a real price. What to find out first, what to disclose, and how the handover works without a test drive.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sell my deceased parent's car?
Once you hold the authority to: as the executor or administrator a court has named, or as an heir where your state allows a transfer without probate. Texas uses an affidavit of heirship and California form REG 5. Until then, the title cannot be signed.
Do I need probate to sell a car?
Not always. Texas accepts an affidavit of heirship when the estate is not probated, and California lets an heir use form REG 5 once the owner has been dead for 40 days and their property in California is worth no more than $150,000. Other states set their own rules, so ask your agency.
Who signs the title when the owner has died?
Whoever has authority over the car: the executor or administrator, or the heir once the car has been transferred to them. The paper that gives that authority goes with the title to the agency.
What happens to the registration in the meantime?
California expects it kept up while the estate is settled: renew it, or file Planned Nonoperation on or before the expiration date. If the car stays registered but off the road, keep it insured or file an Affidavit of Non-Use.
What if there is still a loan on the car?
The lender has to be paid before the title can move. In Texas the original release of lien goes to the county tax office with the other papers, and how to arrange the payoff inside a sale is in the guide to selling a car you still owe money on.
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