Selling or Transferring a Deceased Person’s Car in Florida

Selling a deceased person’s car in Florida — or simply moving the title into your own name — usually does not require probate. Under Florida Statute § 319.28, the state can complete a car title transfer after the death of the owner on an affidavit alone, with no probate court order, provided the estate is not indebted and the heirs agree.

A car is often the first thing a family has to deal with after a death, and it is the asset most likely to be handled wrongly. This page explains every route Florida offers, which one fits your facts, and the four ways families get it wrong.

If you are trying to sell your deceased mother’s car, move your late husband’s truck into your own name, work out what happens when your wife died and the car is still in her name, or deal with a car titled in a dead parent’s name, the route you take depends on three facts: whether there was a will, whether the estate owes money, and exactly how the names are printed on the title.

One note on vocabulary before we start. Florida has no DMV. The agency is the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV), and the counter you will actually stand at belongs to your county tax collector or a private tag agency. Everyone calls it the DMV anyway, and the clerks will know what you mean.

Which route are you on?

Find your facts in the left column. That is your route. Every one of them is explained below.

Your situation	Route	What you file	Court?	Typical timeline
You are the surviving spouse and want to keep the car	Surviving spouse transfer	HSMV 82152 + certified death certificate + ID	No	Often same day
You are the surviving spouse and want to sell it	§ 319.28(1)(d) direct assignment	Assign the decedent’s title straight to your buyer, plus supporting documents	No	Same day
Title reads “OR”, or “AND” between spouses, or “with rights of survivorship”	Survivorship	HSMV 82040 + certified death certificate	No	Often same day
No will, no estate debts, all heirs agree	§ 319.28(1)(b) heirs’ affidavit	HSMV 82040 with Section 13, Release of Heirs, signed by every heir	No	One to two weeks
There is a will and the family is not in conflict	§ 319.28(1)(c) attorney affidavit	An affidavit attested by a Florida attorney — no copy of the will required	No	Days
Estate is only exempt property plus small personal property	Disposition without administration, § 735.301	Informal application to the court	A letter from the clerk	Two to six weeks
Estate has debts, heirs disagree, or the title is contested	Probate	Summary or formal administration	Yes	Three months to a year

If two rows look like they fit, or none of them do, that is exactly the call to make. (305) 224-6811.

What does Florida law actually require?

The controlling provision is Florida Statute § 319.28, headed “Transfer of ownership by operation of law.” It sets out three routes, and which one applies depends on whether there was a will.

No will. The application does not need to be accompanied by an order of a probate court if the applicant files an affidavit that “the estate is not indebted and the surviving spouse, if any, and the heirs, if any, have amicably agreed among themselves upon a division of the estate.”

A will that is being probated. File a certified copy of the will together with an affidavit that the estate is solvent, with sufficient assets to pay all just claims.

A will that is not being probated. File a sworn copy of the will together with an affidavit that the estate is not indebted.

Read the first route carefully, because it is where families come unstuck. Two conditions have to hold at once: the estate must not be indebted, and everyone entitled to inherit must have agreed on how the estate is divided. If a creditor is owed money, or one sibling disputes the split, that affidavit cannot honestly be signed — and signing it anyway is a sworn statement to a state agency.

There is also a fourth route that most guides omit entirely, and it is the fastest one available. We cover it below under the attorney affidavit.

Who inherits the car if there was no will?

Before anyone can sign the “all the heirs have amicably agreed” affidavit, you have to know who the heirs are. Florida’s intestate succession statutes answer that, and the answer surprises people.

If there is a surviving spouse, § 732.102 governs. The spouse takes the entire intestate estate if the decedent left no descendants, or if every descendant is also a descendant of the surviving spouse and that spouse has no other descendants. The spouse takes half if the decedent left a descendant who is not the spouse’s, or if all the descendants are shared but the surviving spouse has a child from another relationship.

That second rule catches blended families constantly. A widow who assumed the car was simply hers may in fact own half of it, with her late husband’s children from a first marriage owning the other half — and every one of them has to sign.

If there is no surviving spouse, or for the portion that does not pass to the spouse, § 732.103 sends the estate to the decedent’s descendants per stirpes; if none, to the parents equally or to the survivor of them; if none, to brothers and sisters and their descendants; and onward from there.

At the counter, the tax collector may ask for a chart of heirs or an affidavit of heirs setting this out. It is not a formality. It is the document that establishes that everyone who had to sign, signed.

What documents will the Florida DMV ask for?

The exact package depends on which route above applies, but in practice you should expect to produce:

• The original certificate of title, properly assigned — or an application for a duplicate if it cannot be found
• HSMV 82040, the Application for Certificate of Title. Where heirs are transferring without probate, Section 13, “Release of Heirs,” is the part that must be completed and signed by every heir. Where the title is lost, Section 11 is the lost-or-destroyed affidavit. Where the transfer is exempt from sales tax, that is Section 9. There is no transfer-on-death or beneficiary section on this form, because Florida does not have one.
• HSMV 82152, the Application for Surviving Spouse Transfer of Florida Certificate of Title, where a surviving spouse is moving the vehicle into their own name
• A certified copy of the death certificate
• The affidavit required by § 319.28 for your route — estate not indebted, or estate solvent
• A certified or sworn copy of the will, if there was one
• Letters of administration, if a personal representative has in fact been appointed
• Proof of Florida insurance and identification for the person taking title
• A lien satisfaction or payoff letter if the car was financed

Two motor vehicles can also pass to a surviving spouse — or, if there is no surviving spouse, to the children — as exempt property under § 732.402, outside the probate estate entirely. Where that applies it is usually the cleanest route of all.

Can a surviving spouse transfer the title without probate?

Yes, and Florida makes it easier for a surviving spouse than for anyone else.

The form is HSMV 82152, the Application for Surviving Spouse Transfer of Florida Certificate of Title. Bring the completed form, a certified death certificate (or the Department of Health death file verification), a marriage certificate if you are not named on the death certificate, and valid photo identification.

Under § 319.32(7) the Department and the tax collector may not charge a fee or service charge for a certificate of title issued solely to remove a deceased co-owner from a title registered in two names where the other co-owner is the surviving spouse. FLHSMV administers the surviving spouse transfer as a no-fee transaction on that authority. Registration and tag fees still apply if you intend to drive the car.

One limitation worth knowing before you make the trip: you cannot add a name, add a lien, or change the address in the same transaction. Try to, and the clerk will send you back to do it in two steps.

Can a surviving spouse sell the car without ever putting it in their own name?

Yes, and this is the most useful and least known provision in the statute.

Under § 319.28(1)(d) a surviving spouse may assign the certificate of title that was issued to the decedent directly to a buyer, supplying the same documentation they would have supplied to retitle it themselves. There is no need to first transfer the car into the spouse’s name, pay that fee, and then transfer it again to the purchaser.

That single step saves a title fee, a trip, and several weeks — and it is routinely missed, including by people at the counter.

It also matters legally. Section 319.22(3) says that in a private or casual sale, no title will be accepted for transfer unless the seller’s name appears as owner on the face of it. The surviving spouse route is the one express exception the Legislature wrote into that rule. A surviving spouse selling this way is not committing title jumping. Anyone else doing the same thing is.

Can a Florida attorney transfer the title without filing the will?

Yes — and this is the provision almost nobody knows about.

Where the owner died with a will, § 319.28(1)(c) allows the application for title to be accompanied by an affidavit attested by a Florida attorney in good standing with The Florida Bar. That affidavit sets out who the rightful heirs are and attests that they are lawfully entitled to ownership and possession of the vehicle. The statute gives it real weight: it establishes a presumption of ownership and right of possession.

Then comes the sentence that matters most: “It is not necessary for the application for certificate of title filed under this paragraph to be accompanied by a copy of the will or other testamentary instrument.”

No certified copy of the will. No sworn copy. No probate order. The will stays private, and the transfer moves at the speed of an attorney’s signature rather than a court’s docket.

This is the only route to a Florida car title transfer after death that a non-lawyer structurally cannot walk. It exists because the Legislature decided that a member of the Bar putting his license behind a sworn statement of heirship is worth as much to the Department as a certified court record. Where the owner left a will and the family is not in conflict, this is usually the fastest and least expensive way to move the title — and it is the route we use most often.

Can you sell a deceased person’s car without probate in Florida?

Often, yes.

If the owner died without a will, an heir can apply without any probate order by filing an affidavit stating that the estate is not indebted and that the surviving spouse and heirs have amicably agreed on a division of the estate. If the owner left a will that is not being probated, a sworn copy of the will plus an affidavit that the estate is not indebted will generally do it — or, better, the attorney affidavit described above.

The route closes if the estate has debts. That is the hinge. A car title transfer after death in Florida without probate is available precisely because the Legislature assumed there were no creditors waiting to be paid out of the car. Where there are, the estate has to go through one of the court routes:

Disposition without administration under § 735.301 is the lightest of them, and it is what people usually mean when they ask whether Florida has a small estate affidavit for a car. Where the estate consists only of property exempt under § 732.402, property exempt from creditors under the Florida Constitution, and non-exempt personal property worth no more than the funeral expenses plus the medical and hospital expenses of the last sixty days of the last illness, no administration is required at all. Any interested party applies informally — by affidavit, letter or otherwise — and the court issues a letter under seal authorizing the transfer.

Summary administration under § 735.201 is available where the estate subject to administration, less exempt property, does not exceed $150,000 — a threshold raised from $75,000 by chapter 2026-57 — or where the decedent has been dead for more than two years. The order of summary administration itself operates as the authority to move the title.

What if two names are on the title — “and” versus “or”?

When there are two names on a car title, the small word between them decides whether the survivor gets the car automatically or whether the vehicle has to move through the estate. Most guides give two answers. In Florida there are four.

The title reads	What happens when one owner dies	What the survivor files
“John Smith OR Mary Smith”	Joint tenancy. The decedent’s interest passes to the survivor automatically — and § 319.22(2)(a) says this applies even if the co-owners are husband and wife	Title + certified death certificate. No probate
“John Smith AND Mary Smith” — married couple	Tenancy by the entirety. The surviving spouse takes the whole vehicle. FLHSMV administers it this way	HSMV 82152 or 82040 + certified death certificate. No probate
“John Smith AND Mary Smith” — not married, no survivorship wording	No automatic survivorship. The decedent’s share is estate property	The personal representative or all heirs must join in the assignment, alongside the surviving co-owner
“John Smith AND Mary Smith, WITH RIGHTS OF SURVIVORSHIP”	Survivor takes	Title + certified death certificate. No probate

A note on why this is confusing, and why it matters. Section 319.22(2)(a) grants automatic survivorship only where the names are joined by “or,” and § 689.15 says a right of survivorship does not arise unless the instrument creating it says so. Read together, those two statutes appear to send every “and” title through probate. They do not, because property a married couple holds jointly in Florida is presumed to be held as tenancy by the entirety — Beal Bank, SSB v. Almand & Associates, 780 So. 2d 45 (Fla. 2001) — and the Department applies that presumption at the counter. The same right of survivorship logic governs joint bank accounts, with important differences.

The practical consequence: a surviving spouse whose car title reads “AND” does not need probate. We have met widows who were told otherwise and who opened an estate they did not need.

Does the surviving spouse automatically get the car in Florida?

Not automatically, but close to it — through exempt property.

Under § 732.402, if the decedent was domiciled in Florida, the surviving spouse — or, if there is no surviving spouse, the decedent’s children — has the right to claim up to two motor vehicles as exempt property, provided each has a gross vehicle weight no greater than 15,000 pounds, was held in the decedent’s name, and was regularly used by the decedent or members of the immediate family as a personal vehicle. Exempt property also includes household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the decedent’s usual residence up to a net value of $20,000.

Exempt property comes in addition to anything passing under the will, and a vehicle specifically left to a named person in the will does not qualify.

One limit is critical and usually omitted. Section 732.402(3) makes exempt property exempt from all claims against the estate except perfected security interests. That is the whole reason the exempt property route does not defeat a car loan. The lender is the one creditor the exemption does not reach.

Is there a deadline to claim a vehicle as exempt property?

Yes, and it is missed often. A petition to determine exempt property must be filed by the later of four months after service of the notice of administration, or forty days after the end of any proceeding about the validity of the will. Miss it and the right is treated as waived under § 732.402(6). This is the most common way a surviving spouse loses a vehicle they were entitled to keep.

Does Florida have a transfer on death form for a car title?

No. Florida does not allow a transfer-on-death or beneficiary designation on a motor vehicle certificate of title, and there is no HSMV form for one. Chapter 319, which governs Florida titles, contains no such provision.

Florida’s transfer-on-death statute, chapter 711, applies only to securities such as stocks and bonds. Unlike a bank account with a payable-on-death designation, or a brokerage account registered in beneficiary form, a Florida vehicle title has no place to name someone who takes it at death. If you have been searching for that form, it does not exist.

Planning for a vehicle therefore happens some other way: through a will, through a trust, by titling the car jointly with “or” between the names, or by keeping the estate within one of the streamlined routes described on this page.

Can an executor sell a car before probate is finished?

Yes, and court approval is not required.

Once letters of administration are issued, the personal representative takes possession and control of the decedent’s property under § 733.607, and that property becomes an asset in the representative’s hands under § 733.608. The power to sell comes from § 733.612(21), which allows the personal representative, without court order, to “sell, mortgage, or lease any personal property of the estate or any interest in it,” reinforced by § 733.612(5), covering the disposition of any asset excluding real property at public or private sale.

The court-approval requirement in § 733.613 applies to real property, not to a car. The representative simply presents the letters to the Department to move the title.

Where the court has appointed more than one personal representative, § 733.615 governs who signs: unless the will provides otherwise, the concurrence of a majority is required, and where only two are serving, both must join. A title assignment signed by one of two co-representatives will be rejected.

One more provision worth checking before anything is sold. Under § 732.515, a will may refer to a separate written statement or list disposing of tangible personal property, and a car can be left that way — signed by the decedent, describing the item and the recipient with reasonable certainty. Families often find that list in a drawer after the vehicle has already been promised to someone else.

Can you sell a deceased person’s car before probate is even opened?

Sometimes, but not by simply signing the owner’s name. A surviving spouse has the specific statutory route described above. Otherwise it depends on whether the estate qualifies for a transfer under § 319.28, for disposition without administration, or for summary administration. Selling a car still titled in a dead person’s name, without using one of those routes, is where families create a title problem that costs far more to fix than doing it properly would have cost.

What a personal representative cannot do with the car

The power to sell without a court order is real, and it is broad. It is not unlimited, and the limits are where the litigation lives.

Under § 733.609(1) the personal representative’s fiduciary duty is the same as a trustee’s, and the representative is personally liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from breaching it. In an action for breach, the court awards taxable costs including attorney’s fees.

Section 733.610 is more specific, and in our experience it is the one that gets broken. A sale of estate property to the personal representative, to the representative’s spouse, agent or attorney, or to any corporation, entity or trust in which one of them holds a substantial beneficial or ownership interest, is voidable by any interested person who did not consent after fair disclosure. There are only two ways out: the will or a contract entered into by the decedent expressly authorized the transaction, or the court approved it after notice to interested persons.

Selling the car below its value is a separate exposure. The representative’s duty is to obtain fair value, and the inventory under § 733.604 must show the vehicle at its date-of-death fair market value. Before any private sale we document the market — dated NADA or Kelley Blue Book comparables, photographs, the condition, the mileage. And no clause in a will can save a representative here: § 733.620 makes an exculpation provision unenforceable for a breach committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference.

If your sibling is serving as personal representative and your father’s truck went to your nephew for a fraction of what it was worth, that transaction is voidable. Call us.

Can anyone drive the car while the estate is open?

This is the question families ask last and should ask first.

No Florida statute makes it a crime for a family member to drive a deceased owner’s car — one of several questions families are too embarrassed to ask. The risk is not criminal. It is that the insurance may have quietly stopped protecting anyone.

Section 627.733(1)(a) requires that security — personal injury protection and property damage liability — be maintained continuously throughout the registration period. That obligation attaches to the registered vehicle, not to the person who died. The estate now carries it. And § 627.733(4) sets out what happens if it lapses: an owner without security at the time of an accident has no immunity from tort liability and is personally liable for the benefits § 627.736 would have paid, with all the rights and obligations of an insurer.

Layer Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine on top of that. An automobile is a dangerous instrumentality, and the owner of one is vicariously liable for the negligence of anyone who drives it with permission. The estate owns the car. A nephew who knows where the keys hang takes it out on a Tuesday afternoon, and there is no policy behind it.

Three practical instructions while the title is in motion:

1. Call the carrier the week of the death. Most insurers will keep an existing policy in force on the estate’s behalf during administration if they are told what happened. They will not do it if nobody calls.
2. If nobody is driving the car, stop paying for coverage the right way. Surrender the plate to the tax collector and file a non-use affidavit. Cancelling the policy while the registration stays active is what triggers Florida’s insurance-lapse suspension — and the reinstatement fees that follow.
3. If someone is driving it, confirm in writing that they are covered. Whether coverage survives the named insured’s death is a question about the policy language, not the statute, and it is one worth having an answer to before rather than after.

Can you renew the registration for a deceased owner? Not in their name. A registration renewal has to be taken out by the person who owns the vehicle, so the renewal is what forces the title issue for many families — the tag expires, and there is no longer an owner who can renew it. If the transfer will not be finished before the tag expires, surrender the plate and file the non-use affidavit rather than letting the registration lapse while the policy stays cancelled.

The personal representative carries the duty here. Section 733.607 requires the representative to take all steps reasonably necessary for the management, protection and preservation of estate property. A car in a driveway with a lapsed policy and available keys is not being preserved.

What if there is still a loan or lien on the car?

Start with the thing nobody tells families: if there is a loan on the car, the title was never in the house.

Under § 319.24 the first lienholder holds the certificate of title until the first lien is satisfied, and under Florida’s Electronic Lien and Title system there is often no paper title in existence at all — the record sits electronically with the lender until the last lien is paid. Families spend weeks turning a house upside down looking for a document that was never there.

A lien does not die with the borrower, and neither do the decedent’s other debts. The obligation passes to the estate and the lender’s security interest survives. This is also why exempt property does not solve a car loan: § 732.402(3) frees exempt property from every claim against the estate except perfected security interests.

To clear the lien, the estate either pays it off from estate funds or arranges — with the lender’s consent — for whoever takes the car to assume the loan. Can the lender repossess an inherited car? Yes. The security interest survives the borrower, and if payments stop the lienholder may repossess exactly as it could have during the owner’s lifetime. Where the loan is worth more than the car is, surrendering the vehicle to the lienholder is often the better answer, and the deficiency becomes a claim against the estate like any other.

Once the loan is paid, the lienholder is on a clock. Section 319.24 requires it to furnish the satisfaction of lien and the title within 10 working days of final payment. If it has not done so within 30 days after demand, it becomes liable for all costs, damages and expenses lawfully incurred in getting the lien cleared — including reasonable attorney’s fees.

That last provision is worth knowing. Lenders lose paperwork after a borrower dies more often than they admit, and a letter that cites § 319.24 by number tends to move faster than a phone call.

Do you pay sales tax on an inherited car in Florida?

Usually no, and the reason is worth understanding, because it changes the moment you sell.

Florida’s sales tax is a tax on sales. Section 212.08(13) is blunt that no transaction is exempt unless the Legislature expressly exempted it, and there is no line item reading “inherited vehicles.” None is needed. When title moves to an heir under § 319.28 it moves by operation of law — nobody bought anything, so there is no taxable sale and FLHSMV collects nothing. Section 9 of the HSMV 82040 is where that is recorded.

The moment the estate sells the car to a buyer, that changes. That is an ordinary sale, ordinary sales tax applies to the purchase price, and § 319.23 requires it to be paid before the Department will issue the new certificate of title.

What does it cost, and how long does it take?

Fees

The statutory figures come from § 319.32:

Item	Amount	Authority
Certificate of title, original or duplicate	$70.00	§ 319.32(1)
Service charge on a title application	$4.25	§ 319.32(2)
Additional fee, vehicle previously titled out of state	$10.00	§ 319.32(3)
Lienholder assignment	$3.00	§ 319.32(1)
Surviving spouse removing a deceased co-owner	No fee	§ 319.32(7)
Late filing penalty, application filed more than 30 days after delivery	$20.00	§ 319.23(6)(a)

These are title fees only, and separate from what probate itself costs. Counties add a printed-paper-title fee and an optional expedited “fast title” charge on top, which is why the total quoted at the counter is usually a few dollars above $75. Confirm the current figure with your county tax collector before you go.

Watch the 30-day clock. Section 319.23(6)(a) requires the application for title to be filed within thirty days of delivery of the vehicle, and the $20 penalty is charged on top of every other fee.

Timelines

In our experience, and depending on the county:

• Surviving spouse transfer on the 82152 — often completed the same day at the counter
• Survivorship title, “or” or entireties — same day
• Heirs’ affidavit route under § 319.28(1)(b) — one to two weeks, most of which is gathering signatures
• Attorney affidavit under § 319.28(1)(c) — days
• Disposition without administration — two to six weeks, driven by the court’s calendar
• Summary administration — one to three months
• Formal administration — six months at the very fastest, and typically longer

What if the original title is lost?

First, check whether a paper title ever existed. If the car was financed, see the lien section above — the lender holds it, or it exists only as an electronic record. Where the title is held electronically by the state, it must be converted to a paper title before the transfer to a new owner can be completed.

Where a paper title did exist and cannot be found, there are two paths. Section 11 of the HSMV 82040 contains a lost-or-destroyed affidavit that can be completed as part of the transfer itself. Alternatively, the applicant files HSMV 82101, the Application for Duplicate or Lost in Transit Title, providing the death certificate, the tag number and the vehicle identification number (VIN).

Under § 319.29, the Department will issue a replacement only where the owner or their legal representative establishes that the original was lost, stolen or destroyed.

A word on bonded titles, because families ask. A bonded title is a useful tool for a private sale where a title was lost, but it is generally not the route for a vehicle acquired by inheritance in Florida. The deceased-owner procedures above exist precisely so that a bond is unnecessary.

What is title jumping, and is it a crime in Florida?

Title jumping — sometimes called title floating or title skipping — is selling a vehicle you never titled in your own name. After a death it happens almost innocently: the family finds a title signed by someone who is now deceased, a buyer appears, and the title changes hands without ever passing through the estate.

Section 319.22(5) makes it illegal to transfer title to a motor vehicle when the purchaser’s name does not appear on it. A buyer or seller who knowingly and willfully violates that section with intent to commit fraud commits a first-degree misdemeanor — up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Section 319.22(3) is the companion rule: in a private or casual sale, no title is accepted for transfer unless the seller appears as owner on the face of it. There is one express exception, and it is the surviving spouse route under § 319.28 described above.

Where fraud is involved, the exposure climbs sharply. Forging a signature on a certificate of title, making a false statement in a title application, or passing a forged or altered title falls under § 319.33 and is a third-degree felony — up to five years. And § 319.33(6) adds the part nobody mentions: the vehicle itself becomes contraband, subject to forfeiture under §§ 932.701–932.704. The car can be seized.

In practice the criminal penalty is rarely the damage. The damage is that the buyer cannot register the car, cannot insure it properly, and cannot prove ownership if it is ever disputed — and the seller stays in the chain of title, which means the seller stays exposed to civil liability for how the car is driven. Filing the notice of sale, HSMV 82050, is what severs that liability. Do it the day the car leaves.

One related question that stops people mid-signature: who completes the odometer disclosure when the titled owner is dead? Federal law requires a disclosure of mileage on transfer, and it has to be made by someone with authority to sign for the seller — the personal representative under letters of administration, the surviving spouse on the surviving spouse route, or the heirs signing the Release of Heirs. Nobody signs the decedent’s name. The person whose signature legitimately transfers the title is the person who makes the disclosure, and they disclose the mileage as it reads, not as they wish it read.

Why people do it anyway: to avoid the sales tax on a purchase, to keep a car’s ownership history off the paper trail, or because an unlicensed dealer is operating as a licensed motor vehicle dealer without the license. None of those reasons survive contact with § 319.33.

What about a mobile home title after death?

The same statute covers it. Section 319.28 speaks throughout of “a motor vehicle or mobile home,” and FLHSMV’s deceased-owner procedure treats the two together. The routes above — the heirs’ affidavit, the attorney affidavit, the surviving spouse transfer, survivorship on an “or” title — all apply to a mobile home title after death in Florida exactly as they apply to a car.

Two differences to plan around. A mobile home is titled on the HSMV 82040 MH variant of the application rather than the MV variant. And where the mobile home sits on land the decedent owned, the land is real property and the home is personal property, which means the two halves of what the family thinks of as “the house” travel through entirely different legal channels — and the land may be protected homestead, which is not an estate asset at all — the same problem that governs selling a house during probate. That combination is worth a phone call before anything is signed.

Motorcycles, RVs and trailers follow the ordinary vehicle rules on this page — each is a motor vehicle as defined in § 316.003, and each counts against the two-vehicle exempt property allowance under § 732.402 so long as it comes in under the 15,000-pound gross vehicle weight limit and was regularly used as a personal vehicle. A large motorhome may exceed that weight, which takes it out of exempt property and back into the probate estate. Boats and vessels are titled under a different chapter entirely and are not covered here.

What if the car is titled in another state?

This comes up constantly in Florida, because so many families here have a parent who spent half the year somewhere else.

Where the decedent held an out-of-state certificate of title and the vehicle is now in Florida, the person taking ownership applies on the HSMV 82040 and must add a vehicle identification number verification — form HSMV 82042, completed by a Florida notary, a law enforcement officer, a Florida motor vehicle dealer or a DMV employee who has physically inspected the VIN. The out-of-state proof of ownership is submitted properly assigned; where it cannot be found, FLHSMV will accept verification from the titling authority in the other state. Everything else — which § 319.28 route applies, which affidavit, which fee — works exactly as it does for a Florida title. Note that § 319.32(3) adds $10 for a vehicle previously titled outside Florida.

The harder version of this question is the out-of-state decedent. If the person who died was domiciled in another state but owned a Florida-titled vehicle, exempt property under § 732.402 is not available — that section applies only where the decedent was domiciled in Florida at death. Depending on what else they owned here, an ancillary administration may be required. If that is your situation, do not start at the tag office.

What if the car was owned by a trust?

A vehicle titled in the name of a revocable living trust does not pass through probate at all. It passes under the trust instrument, and the successor trustee signs.

FLHSMV distinguishes two situations. Where the trust’s name appears on the title and the trustee has died, the successor trustee applies with a copy of the death certificate and the pages of the trust agreement that identify the trust, name the successor trustee, and carry the signatures — not the whole document. Where an individual is named on the title as trustee and that person has died, the same package applies.

This is also the answer to the planning question the page raises above. Because Florida has no transfer-on-death designation for vehicles, titling the car in your revocable trust is one of the few ways to keep it out of probate entirely. Whether that is worth doing for a car — as opposed to simply titling it with “or” between two names — depends on what else the trust holds and how the vehicle is insured. It is worth a conversation, not a form.

What if the tax collector rejects your paperwork?

It happens more than anyone admits, and almost always for one of a short list of reasons. Before you make a second trip:

• A photocopied death certificate where a certified copy was required. Order several certified copies at the outset. You will need them for more than the car.
• A name mismatch. The title says “Robert J. Smith” and the death certificate says “Bob Smith,” or a married name appears on one and a maiden name on the other. Bring whatever bridges the two — a marriage certificate, the driver license, the will.
• A missing heir. Every heir has to sign the Release of Heirs. If one sibling is out of state and unsigned, the package is incomplete. This is where the chart of heirs matters.
• The wrong route for the facts. The most common version: the family brought the heirs’ affidavit when there is a surviving spouse, or brought probate paperwork when the title reads “or” and none of it was needed.
• A lien still showing on the record, even though the loan was paid years ago, because the lender never filed the satisfaction. See the lien section above — § 319.24 gives you a remedy with attorney’s fees attached.
• Trying to do two things at once. The surviving spouse transfer cannot also add a name, add a lien, or change an address.

A rejection is not a ruling. The clerk is applying a procedure manual, not deciding who owns the car, and clerks at different offices apply it differently. If you have been turned away twice, the problem is usually that the facts do not fit the route you chose — and that is worth ten minutes on the phone with us before a third trip.

Common myths about Florida vehicle titles and probate

At Lorenzo Law we often meet clients who are paralyzed by misconceptions about inherited vehicles. In Florida a vehicle title does not always require a full probate case; the law provides specific fast-track routes for surviving spouses and for estates without debt.

Myth 1: “I must open a full probate case to sell my deceased parent’s car.” The reality: probate is generally required only where the vehicle was titled solely in the deceased person’s name with no surviving co-owner, no surviving spouse route available, and debts or disagreement in the picture. Section 319.28 lets FLHSMV transfer a title by operation of law without probate where the estate is not indebted and all heirs agree, and heirs often complete the transfer through Section 13, the Release of Heirs, on the 82040.

Myth 2: “A bonded title is the best way to handle an inherited car with no paperwork.” The reality: a bonded title is for a private sale where a title was lost, and it is generally not issued for a vehicle acquired by inheritance. Florida expects heirs to follow the deceased-owner procedures — the 82040 with a lost-or-destroyed affidavit, or an 82101 duplicate, alongside a certified death certificate and proof of heirship.

Myth 3: “A surviving spouse has to pay full title fees to move the car into their own name.” The reality: § 319.32(7) prohibits the Department and the tax collector from charging a fee or service charge for a title issued solely to remove a deceased co-owner where the other co-owner is the surviving spouse, and FLHSMV administers the surviving spouse transfer on the 82152 as a no-fee transaction. Registration and tag fees still apply if you plan to drive it.

Myth 4: “A clear title means the estate’s debts have been erased.” The reality: debts do not die with the borrower. A clear title means no active lien on the vehicle. The estate is still required to settle what it owes, and if the estate is insolvent, even a vehicle that would otherwise be exempt may have to be sold to satisfy administrative costs or a perfected security interest.

Frequently asked questions

Do you need probate to transfer a car in Florida? Often not. Section 319.28 lets FLHSMV issue a new title by operation of law where the estate is not indebted and the surviving spouse and heirs have agreed on how the estate is divided. A surviving spouse has an even simpler route on the HSMV 82152, and where there is a will, a Florida attorney’s affidavit under § 319.28(1)(c) can complete the transfer without any probate order.

Who inherits a car in Florida if there is no will? Under § 732.102, a surviving spouse takes the entire intestate estate where all of the decedent’s descendants are also the spouse’s and the spouse has no others, and half where either has a child from another relationship. Where there is no surviving spouse, § 732.103 passes the estate to descendants per stirpes, then to parents, then to siblings.

Does the surviving spouse automatically get the car in Florida? A surviving spouse may claim up to two motor vehicles as exempt property under § 732.402, provided each weighs no more than 15,000 pounds and was regularly used by the family. It is a right that must be claimed — a petition must be filed within four months of the notice of administration, or forty days after any will proceeding ends.

What if two names are on the title — “and” or “or”? “Or” creates a joint tenancy and the survivor takes automatically, even between spouses. “And” between a married couple is treated as tenancy by the entirety, and the surviving spouse also takes automatically. “And” between two people who were not married, with no survivorship wording, means the decedent’s share is estate property and the personal representative or heirs must sign.

Does Florida have a transfer on death form for a car title? No. Florida does not permit a transfer-on-death or beneficiary designation on a vehicle title and there is no HSMV form for one. Chapter 711, Florida’s transfer-on-death statute, applies only to securities.

Can a Florida attorney transfer the title without filing the will? Yes. Where the owner died testate, § 319.28(1)(c) allows an affidavit attested by a Florida attorney in good standing to establish a presumption of ownership and right of possession, and the statute expressly provides that no copy of the will or other testamentary instrument need accompany the application.

Can an executor sell a car before probate is finished? Yes. Section 733.612(21) allows a personal representative to sell any personal property of the estate without a court order. The court-approval requirement in § 733.613 reaches real property, not vehicles.

Is title jumping a felony in Florida? Usually it is a first-degree misdemeanor under § 319.22(5) — transferring title when the purchaser’s name does not appear on it, knowingly and willfully, with intent to defraud. It becomes a third-degree felony under § 319.33 where a signature is forged, a VIN is altered, or a false statement is made in a title application, and the vehicle itself can be seized as contraband.

What happens to a car loan when someone dies in Florida? The loan does not disappear. It becomes an obligation of the estate, and the lender’s perfected security interest survives — which is why exempt property under § 732.402 does not defeat a car loan. The estate pays it off, someone assumes it with the lender’s consent, or the car goes back to the lender and the deficiency becomes a claim.

Do you pay sales tax on an inherited car in Florida? No. A transfer by inheritance under § 319.28 happens by operation of law, not by sale, so no sales tax is due. If the estate then sells the car to a buyer, that is an ordinary sale and ordinary sales tax applies before the new title issues.

Can I drive a deceased person’s car in Florida? No statute forbids it, but the insurance is the problem. Section 627.733 requires continuous coverage on a registered vehicle, and an owner without coverage at the time of an accident loses tort immunity and becomes personally liable for PIP benefits. Combined with Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine, that exposure runs to the estate. Call the carrier before anyone drives it.

How much does it cost to transfer a car title after death in Florida? The statutory title fee is $70 plus a $4.25 service charge, with $10 more if the vehicle was previously titled out of state. A surviving spouse removing a deceased co-owner pays no fee at all under § 319.32(7). File more than thirty days after delivery and § 319.23(6)(a) adds a $20 penalty.

Need help with an estate vehicle title in Florida?

At Lorenzo Law we help families navigate the intersection of FLHSMV and the probate court — the place where a simple piece of paperwork turns into a legal problem.

If a loved one has died and the car is still in their name, the fastest route is usually not the one families assume. A surviving spouse can often finish at the counter in a single visit. Where there is a will, an attorney affidavit under § 319.28(1)(c) can move the title in days without filing the will at all. And where the estate has debts, heirs who disagree, or a title that has already been signed by someone who should not have signed it, the sooner we look at it the cheaper it is to fix.

Call (305) 224-6811 or send us a message. A short call will tell you which route you are on and what your deadlines are, at no cost.

Florida communities we serve

Lorenzo Law represents families across the entire state, including South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach), Central Florida (Orange, Osceola and Seminole), Tampa Bay (Hillsborough and Pinellas), and North and Southwest Florida (Duval, Leon, Lee, Collier and Sarasota).