Sahvelo

Transferring a vehicle in Virginia after someone dies

Virginia decides this with one word. If the word between the two names on the title is “or”, the survivor owns the car and can remove the other name online. If it is “and”, they cannot, and the route depends on whether anybody has been appointed. And if there is a beneficiary named on the title, there are 120 days — a deadline that, unusually, actually expires.

State Virginia

The procedure is set by the state that issued the title, not by where the owner lived.

Sahvelo publishes 50 states for this topic. If the title came from another state, that state's motor vehicle agency is the authoritative source until we publish it. See what's published.

Paths
4 in this state

The paths this state offers

Every route Sahvelo has verified for transferring a vehicle after a death in this state, side by side. The guided questions identify which one applies to you.

Path When it applies Court involvement Tax owed Speed Authority
Surviving co-owner Or between the names, or or survivor after them None Not established for this route Fastest — it can be done online Virginia DMV — transfer vehicle ownership
Transfer-on-death beneficiary A beneficiary is named on the certificate and survived the owner None Not established for this route Fast, but 120 days and then the entitlement ends Virginia DMV — designate a beneficiary on a vehicle title
Executor or administrator Somebody has qualified on the estate Yes — qualification is before the circuit court clerk Not established for this route Depends on the qualification, not on this transaction Va. Code § 46.2-633; Virginia DMV
Heir certification (VSA 24) Nobody has qualified and none is expected to None None — the Department states no Sales and Use Tax is required Fast, but every other interested person signs the consent Virginia DMV form VSA 24

Is the vehicle titled in Virginia?

Everything on this page is Virginia procedure, and it governs Virginia titles. The Department of Motor Vehicles makes the point on the form itself: do not use the heir certification if the vehicle is titled outside Virginia.4

Somebody who retired to Virginia and never retitled the car still holds an out-of-state title, and that state's agency governs the transfer. The estate itself can still be a Virginia estate; only the vehicle follows the certificate.

The word between the names is the whole test

Virginia gives the test twice, once for each answer, and neither version asks what the couple intended. You are a co-owner with the right of survivorship if your name is on the title as one of the owners and the word or appears between the names, or if the words or survivor appear after them. You are a co-owner without it if the word and appears between the names, or if the words or survivor do not appear.2

Where the survivorship wording is there, this is the easiest transaction in any state Sahvelo publishes: the Department says a surviving co-owner may remove the deceased owner online. In person it is a certified or notarized death certificate, the title, and the fee.2

Do not carry an assumption in from another state. Georgia's instruction for ordinary joint ownership is to use “and” instead of “or” — the same two words, the opposite meaning. Each state was read at its own source and neither is inferred from the other.2

A beneficiary has 120 days, and then cannot get a title

Virginia lets an owner name a beneficiary on the certificate, listed after the owners' names as transfer on death, or TOD. Ownership passes on the death of the last surviving owner, and while the owners lived the beneficiary had no say — their signature was not required for any transaction relating to the vehicle.3

Act on this first if it applies to you. The Department states that the beneficiary must apply for a certificate of title within 120 days of the death, and that if they do not, they cannot obtain a title to the vehicle. Every other clock Sahvelo publishes is a duty on the person taking the car. This one ends the entitlement, and it catches the beneficiary's own estate the same way where the beneficiary has also died.3

Four conditions decide whether the designation could exist at all, and two of them are about finance: the beneficiary must be an individual and not a business; a beneficiary cannot be designated if a lien exists on the vehicle; the beneficiary is removed if a lien is added; and the designation is canceled if the vehicle is sold, traded or donated. A family looking at an old certificate should check the current one.3

Setting one up while alive takes the Virginia title, a Beneficiary Transaction Request (VSA 18) signed by all owners, a substitute title application (VSA 67) and a $15 substitute title fee. It can be added, changed or removed at any time.3

One page where nobody has been appointed

Where nobody has qualified on the estate, Virginia is unusually light. The Department takes the Authority to Transfer Virginia Title Certification — form VSA 24 — on its own where there was no will, or together with a copy of the will where there was one. No court, no valuation, and no ceiling stated for either version.•

What the heir certifies is four things: that the owner is deceased; that the person signing is an heir; that there has not been and is not expected to be a qualification on the estate; and either that the debts have been paid or will be paid from the proceeds of a sale, or that the vehicle is included in a claim for family allowance, exempt property or homestead allowance with an attested copy of the claim attached.4

Then the fifth item, which decides how hard this is. The heir lists all other persons having an interest in the vehicle, and the form carries a consent section that each of them signs — there is space for six. One who will not sign, or cannot be found, closes the route.4

It is signed under penalty of perjury, and the form warns that knowingly making a false statement on it is a criminal violation. The certification about no expected qualification is the one to think about hardest, because it is a statement about the future.4

No sales tax, and a registration that is canceled

The tax answer is short and good. On the route where somebody inherits the vehicle and nobody has been appointed, the Department says in one line: if the vehicle is transferred to you, you will not be required to pay Sales and Use Tax.•

The registration answer is the one most families get wrong. Section 46.2-633 directs the Department to cancel the registration of the vehicle and issue a new certificate of title to the person entitled to it. Canceled — not carried over, and not left running to the end of the year the way Michigan leaves a plate valid. A Virginia family should not assume the car can be driven on the existing plate while the title is sorted out.1

Sahvelo has not established how the Department treats Sales and Use Tax on the beneficiary route, which is a different transaction from the heir route the exemption sentence is written about. Ask before assuming.•3

Two small-estate figures, and only one of them is the statute

The Department's transfer page offers, as one of the three documents a family without an appointment can bring, an affidavit that the estate falls under the small estate laws — and puts the figure at under $50,000.•

The Virginia Code sets the small estate affidavit at $75,000 of personal estate. It has its own conditions, and they are strict in a different way: every known successor has to sign it, and the one who collects takes on a fiduciary duty to the rest.5

There is also a route below the affidavit entirely, at § 64.2-602. Under $35,000, sixty days after the death, Virginia allows a bank simply to pay a successor with no affidavit at all — and again, the person who takes the money owes the others a duty for it.•

Sahvelo publishes both figures because a family will meet the Department's and be governed by the Code's. The circuit court clerk in the county or city where the person lived is the office to put it to.•5

What to do, step by step

The order of operations for each path. Only one of these applies to you — the guided questions will say which.

Surviving co-owner

The word or is between the names, or the words or survivor follow them. This can be done online.

  1. First

    Read the word between the names

    Or, or the words or survivor after them, is a right of survivorship in Virginia. And is not.

  2. First

    Remove the deceased owner online

    The Department offers this to a surviving co-owner without a visit.

  3. First

    Or do it in person

    With a certified or notarized death certificate, the vehicle title and the fee. Where the title is lost or stolen, add a VSA 67; where it is damaged, a VSA 67 and the damaged title.

  4. First

    Sort out the registration before driving

    Section 46.2-633 has the Department cancel the registration and issue a new title. Do not assume the existing plate stays valid.

Transfer-on-death beneficiary

A beneficiary is named on the certificate. There are 120 days, and the Department says the entitlement ends after that.

  1. Start this one first

    The beneficiary must apply for a certificate of title within 120 days of the death. The Department states that if they do not, they cannot obtain a title to the vehicle.

  2. First

    Check the current certificate, not an old one

    A lien added after the designation removes the beneficiary, and selling, trading or donating the vehicle cancels a certificate carrying one.

  3. First

    Apply for a certificate of title with death certificates

    The Department notes that other documents may also be required, so allow time inside the 120 days rather than leaving it to the end.

  4. First

    Ask about Sales and Use Tax

    The Department's exemption sentence is written about the heir route rather than this one, and Sahvelo has not established how the beneficiary route is treated.

Executor or administrator

Somebody has qualified on the estate. The Department says they handle the transfer.

  1. First

    Get the certificate of qualification

    From the circuit court clerk in the county or city where the person lived. It is the document of authority section 46.2-633 asks for.

  2. First

    The executor or administrator handles the transfer

    The Department says so directly where somebody has been appointed and you are set to inherit the vehicle.

  3. First

    Sort out the registration before driving

    The Department cancels the registration and issues a new title to the person entitled to it.

Heir certification (VSA 24)

Nobody has qualified. One page, and everybody else with an interest in the car signs it.

  1. First

    Settle the qualification question first

    The form certifies that there has not been and is not expected to be a qualification on the estate. It is sworn under penalty of perjury, so this is a decision to make rather than a box to tick.

  2. First

    List everybody else with an interest in the vehicle

    The form asks for their names, and each of them signs the consent section. There is space for six.

  3. First

    Complete and sign the VSA 24

    Four certifications: the death, that you are an heir, that no qualification is expected, and either that the debts are paid or will be paid from the proceeds, or that the vehicle is in a family allowance, exempt property or homestead allowance claim with an attested copy attached.

  4. First

    Gather what goes in with it

    A certified or notarized death certificate, the vehicle title or a VSA 67, proof of address, a copy of the will if there was one, and the fee.

  5. First

    Submit it to the Department

    No Sales and Use Tax is payable on this route.

Documents and forms

Each name below links to the official form or the agency page that issues it.

Needed on every path

Needed on some paths

  • Authority to Transfer Virginia Title Certification (VSA 24)

    Applies to Nobody qualified — one page, and everybody else with an interest signs it

    The heir's certification where nobody has qualified, including the consent signatures of everybody else with an interest in the vehicle.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

  • A copy of the will

    Applies to Nobody qualified — one page, and everybody else with an interest signs it

    Submitted with the VSA 24 where the person left a will. Where there was no will, the VSA 24 goes in on its own.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

  • Small estate affidavit

    Applies to Nobody qualified — one page, and everybody else with an interest signs it

    An alternative to the VSA 24 where the estate falls under Virginia's small estate laws. Every known successor has to sign it, and the successor who collects takes on a duty to the rest.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

  • Certificate of qualification

    Applies to Somebody has qualified. The Department says they handle the transfer

    Issued by the circuit court clerk to an executor or administrator. Section 46.2-633 asks for whatever documents of authority the law requires, and this is that document for an estate somebody has qualified on.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

  • Beneficiary Transaction Request (VSA 18)

    Applies to A beneficiary is named — and there are 120 days, after which the route closes for good

    How a beneficiary designation is added, changed or removed while the owners are alive. It must be signed by all owners.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

  • Proof of address

    Applies to Nobody qualified — one page, and everybody else with an interest signs it

    Required where the person inheriting applies themselves because nobody has been appointed.

    Link checked 2026-08-18

Where and how to file

  • Online

    Virginia DMV online services

    A surviving co-owner with survivorship wording on the title may remove the deceased owner online rather than attending in person.

    Start the application

    Applies to The word is or. You can remove the deceased owner online

  • In person

    A DMV customer service center

    Appointments can be scheduled, and the Department publishes a local office finder.A death certificate request can be submitted to the Office of Vital Records or brought to a DMV customer service center — which is useful where the certified copy is the missing piece.

    Find an office

    Applies to every path

What it costs

Fees change, and the agency's own schedule is the only current source. Where Sahvelo cannot verify a fixed amount, it links the schedule rather than quoting a number.

FeeAmountNotesFee schedule
Title and registration fees Published by the agency The Department asks for payment of the appropriate fees on each route without stating a figure on these pages. Sahvelo has not established the amount: the Department's fee chart was not retrievable and select.dmv.virginia.gov, which serves the Vehicle Licensing Guide, refuses automated retrieval. Current fee schedule
Sales and Use Tax Published by the agency The Department states that where the vehicle is transferred to the person inheriting it and nobody has been appointed, no Sales and Use Tax is required. Sahvelo has not established how the beneficiary route is treated. Current fee schedule
Substitute title fee Published by the agency Payable when adding, changing or removing a beneficiary designation on a vehicle already titled in the applicant's name, alongside a VSA 18 and a VSA 67. Current fee schedule

After you file

  • Section 46.2-633 directs the Department to cancel the registration of the vehicle and issue a new certificate of title to the person entitled to it. The registration is canceled rather than carried across, so the new owner deals with plates as a separate matter.That is the opposite of what some states do — Michigan leaves a dead owner's plate a valid registration until the end of the registration year — so it is not a safe assumption to carry across a state line.

    Applies to every path

  • The 120 days runs from the death, not from when the family found the paperwork. The Department says other documents may also be required, so an application started late can still miss it.

    Applies to A beneficiary is named — and there are 120 days, after which the route closes for good

If your situation doesn't fit one of these paths

Common complications, and what each one changes.

  • The title says and, not or

    There is nothing to be done about it after the death, and Virginia says so about as plainly as a state can. You are a co-owner without the right of survivorship if the word and appears between the names, or if the words or survivor do not appear after them. A surviving co-owner in that position is in the estate routes with everybody else: the executor or administrator handles it if somebody has qualified, and if nobody has, the heir certification applies — with the other co-owner's share belonging to their estate and every other interested person signing the consent.2•4

  • The 120 days have already gone by

    This is the one place in this corpus where a missed deadline is stated by the agency to end the entitlement rather than to breach a duty. The Department says that if the beneficiary does not apply for a certificate of title within 120 days of the owners' deaths, they cannot obtain a title to the vehicle — and says the same about the beneficiary's own estate where the beneficiary has died. Sahvelo has not established what the Department does with a late application in practice, or whether any relief exists, and does not assert that none does. Where the time has passed, the Department is the place to ask immediately rather than the place to assume about.3

  • A beneficiary was named, and then the car was refinanced

    Virginia removes the designation when a lien is added. The conditions are stated as four separate rules: the beneficiary must be an individual and not a business entity; a beneficiary cannot be designated if a lien exists for the vehicle; the beneficiary will be removed if a lien is added to the vehicle; and a certificate with a designated beneficiary is canceled if the vehicle is sold, traded or donated. So a family who remember a designation being made should check the current certificate rather than the one in the file, because a later loan will have quietly undone it.3

  • The DMV says under $50,000 and the Code says $75,000

    Both are published here because a family will meet one and be governed by the other. The Department's transfer page offers an affidavit that the estate falls under the small estate laws and gives the figure as under $50,000. Virginia Code § 64.2-601 sets the small estate affidavit at $75,000 of personal estate. The Code is the statute. The affidavit has conditions of its own that matter more than the figure for most families: every known successor has to sign it, and the successor who collects takes on a fiduciary duty to the rest. And there is a route below it — under $35,000, sixty days after the death, a bank may simply pay a successor with no affidavit at all. The circuit court clerk in the county or city where the person lived is the office to put the question to.•5•

  • Whether the car can be driven while this is happening

    Virginia's answer runs the other way from several states. Section 46.2-633 directs the Department to cancel the registration of the vehicle and issue a new certificate of title to the person entitled to it — so the registration does not survive the transfer, and Sahvelo has not established what the Department expects between the death and the new title. Michigan, by contrast, leaves the dead owner's plate a valid registration until the end of the registration year. Do not carry that assumption into Virginia; ask the Department.1

  • One of the other heirs will not sign the consent

    The VSA 24 asks the heir to name all other persons having an interest in the vehicle, and each of them signs a consent to the transfer. There is no majority and no substitute. Before treating that as the end of it, two other routes are worth checking: the small estate affidavit under the Code, which reaches a larger estate but also needs every known successor to sign, and the informal payment route below $35,000 sixty days after the death, which works differently again. If none fits, somebody qualifies on the estate before the circuit court clerk and the Department then says the executor or administrator handles the transfer.•45•

  • The title is lost, stolen or damaged

    It does not stop any of these routes. Where the existing title is lost or stolen, an Application For Replacement and Substitute Titles (VSA 67) goes in instead. Where it is damaged, the VSA 67 goes in as well as the damaged title, which is surrendered. Establish the wording on the title before replacing it, though — or between the names, or or survivor after them, is what decides the whole route, and that is easier to read off the original than to reconstruct.2

Questions people ask about this

  • Both our names are on the title. Does the car come to me?

    It depends on the word between them. Virginia treats or between the names, or the words or survivor after them, as a right of survivorship — and the word and as not. Where the survivorship wording is there you can remove the deceased owner online. Where it is not, you are in the estate routes with everybody else. Do not assume from another state: Georgia's instruction for ordinary joint ownership is to use and rather than or, which is the same two words meaning the opposite thing.2

  • Do we have to open an estate just to transfer the car?

    Usually not. Where nobody has qualified, Virginia takes a single form — the Authority to Transfer Virginia Title Certification, VSA 24 — on its own if there was no will, or with a copy of the will if there was one. No court, no valuation and no ceiling stated. What it does require is that everybody else with an interest in the vehicle signs a consent on the same form.•4

  • There is a beneficiary named on the title. Is there a deadline?

    Yes, and it is the one deadline on any Sahvelo state page that the agency says actually ends the right. The beneficiary must apply for a certificate of title within 120 days of the death, and the Department states that if they do not, they cannot obtain a title to the vehicle. The same applies to the beneficiary's estate where the beneficiary has died too. If this is your situation, start with it.3

  • Is there tax to pay?

    On the heir route, no. The Department states that if the vehicle is transferred to you, you will not be required to pay Sales and Use Tax. Sahvelo has not established how the beneficiary route is treated — the exemption sentence is written about a different transaction — so that one is worth asking about rather than assuming.•

  • Can we keep driving it in the meantime?

    Do not assume so. Section 46.2-633 directs the Department to cancel the registration of the vehicle and issue a new certificate of title to the person entitled to it — the registration is canceled rather than carried over. Sahvelo has not established what the Department expects between the death and the new title, and the Department is the place to ask.1

  • Which small-estate figure is right — $50,000 or $75,000?

    The Code says $75,000 of personal estate for the small estate affidavit; the Department's transfer page says under $50,000. Both are published here because a family will meet the page and be governed by the Code. For most families the figure is not the hard part anyway — the affidavit needs every known successor to sign, and the person who collects takes on a duty to the others. Below $35,000, sixty days after the death, Virginia allows payment to a successor with no affidavit at all.•5•

  • What kind of death certificate do we need?

    Certified or notarized — the Department asks for that rather than a plain copy on these routes. A request can be submitted to the Office of Vital Records or brought to a DMV customer service center, which is useful when the certified copy is the only thing missing.2

What the terms mean

5 terms used on this page, defined from the statute
Or survivor
The wording Virginia treats as creating a right of survivorship on a vehicle title, alongside the simple word or between two owners' names. Where it appears, the surviving co-owner takes the car and can remove the deceased owner online. Where the word between the names is and, or where or survivor does not appear, there is no right of survivorship and the estate routes apply. Virginia DMV — transfer vehicle ownership
Qualification
Virginia's word for being appointed executor or administrator of an estate, which happens before the circuit court clerk in the county or city where the person lived. Having a will is not the same as anybody having qualified. The heir certification requires a statement that there has not been and is not expected to be a qualification, sworn under penalty of perjury. Virginia DMV form VSA 24
VSA 24
The Authority to Transfer Virginia Title Certification. A single page on which an heir certifies the death, their status as an heir, that no qualification on the estate has happened or is expected, and that the debts are paid or will be paid from the proceeds — or that the vehicle is in a family allowance, exempt property or homestead allowance claim. It also lists everybody else with an interest in the vehicle, each of whom signs a consent. Virginia DMV form VSA 24
Transfer on death designation
A beneficiary named on a Virginia certificate of title, shown after the owners' names as transfer on death or TOD. The owners may add, change or remove it at any time and the beneficiary's signature is never needed while they live. It cannot exist alongside a lien, is removed if a lien is added, and is canceled if the vehicle is sold, traded or donated. The beneficiary has 120 days from the death to apply for a title. Virginia DMV — designate a beneficiary on a vehicle title
Small estate affidavit
Virginia's affidavit route under § 64.2-601, reaching $75,000 of personal estate. Every known successor has to sign it, and the successor who collects the property takes on a fiduciary duty to the rest. The Department of Motor Vehicles accepts an affidavit that the estate falls under the small estate laws as one of the three documents on the no-qualification route, and states the figure differently — as under $50,000. Va. Code § 64.2-601, Virginia DMV — transfer vehicle ownership

See the full glossary across every state

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Sahvelo gives information drawn from statutes, agency guidance and official forms. It is not legal advice for your particular situation. Terms & disclaimer.

Sources

Every rule on this page traces to one of the following. The Code of Virginia is published by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems; the transfer guidance, the beneficiary guidance and the forms are the Department of Motor Vehicles' own.

  1. Va. Code § 46.2-633 — transfer of a certificate of title by operation of law

    How a title passes to a legatee, distributee or surviving joint owner, what documents of authority the application must carry, and that the Department cancels the registration and issues a new title.

    law.lis.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-15

  2. Virginia DMV — transfer vehicle ownership after a death, co-owner with right of survivorship

    The survivorship test on the wording of the title, the online option for a surviving co-owner, the three documents accepted where nobody has qualified, and the Sales and Use Tax answer.

    dmv.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-18

  3. Virginia DMV — designate a beneficiary on a vehicle title

    How a transfer-on-death designation is made and removed, the four conditions on it, and the 120 days deadline after which a title cannot be obtained.

    dmv.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-18

  4. Virginia DMV form VSA 24 — authority to transfer Virginia title certification

    The four certifications an heir makes, the list of everybody else with an interest, and the consent section each of them signs.

    dmv.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-18

  5. Va. Code § 64.2-601 — payment or delivery of a small asset by affidavit

    The affidavit route reaching $75,000 of personal estate, the requirement that every known successor signs it, and the duty the successor who collects takes on.

    law.lis.virginia.gov Checked 2026-08-15

Sources last reviewed 2026-08-18. Sources are re-checked on a schedule, and this date changes when they are. Where a source is marked pending re-verification, the page says so wherever the claim appears.

Related from the Sahvelo Journal: What Happens to a Car When Someone Dies?

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