How to fill out Alaska Form 827

When a sole owner dies, or two owners joined by AND, the vehicle becomes part of the estate and normally goes through probate. This one page is the way round that for small estates - a sworn affidavit by the successor, with three certifications on it, that lets the Division move the vehicle without a court-appointed representative. Two conditions govern whether it is available at all: the value of the estate, and the fact that no personal representative has been appointed or applied for anywhere. And one sentence on it governs what happens next: the vehicle must be titled in the successor's name before it can be sold to anybody.

Written against Form 827 (Rev 1/2018), issued under 2 AAC 92.060 and AS 13.16.680, the small-estate collection by affidavit provisions the Division relies on. The one thing to establish before anything else is which side of the conjunction the certificate falls on, because it changes the whole job. An OR title needs no affidavit, no waiting period and no valuation of an estate - the surviving owner signs the assignment and the sale proceeds like any other. An AND title, or a sole owner, is where this page starts, and where a family sometimes discovers that the quickest route to selling a car is a court appointment rather than a form.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 827 from the dmv.alaska.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Form 827 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Plate and serial number

   The vehicle as the Division's record identifies it.

   Watch out: Take these off the certificate if the family has it, and off the vehicle if they do not. A missing certificate is a second problem and has its own form.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Year, make, model, body style, colour

   The description row under the identification numbers.

   Watch out: Match the record rather than the vehicle's current appearance - a repaint does not change what the certificate says.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Name of decedent

   The owner as DMV records show them, which the label spells out.

   Watch out: If the record holds a maiden name, a middle initial or a suffix the death certificate does not, sort that out with the Division before filing rather than guessing at a match.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Printed name of the successor

   The person entitled to the vehicle, who will hold the new certificate.

   Watch out: One name. If two children are inheriting jointly, this form and the conjunction question behind it need thinking about before anybody signs.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Sign, and give your identification number

   Signature and ID or driver licence number, witnessed by the notary public or DMV representative below.

   Watch out: You are swearing three things at once, and the middle one - that at least thirty days have elapsed - is a date the officer's own block will sit next to.

What gets this one rejected

• •Filing it before thirty days have passed. The certification is that at least 30 days have elapsed since the death of the owner, and the date on the notary block is what the Division counts from.
• •Using it when probate has started. If an application or petition for a personal representative is pending anywhere, or has been granted, the affidavit cannot honestly be signed - and the representative's own appointment paperwork is what the Division wants instead.
• •Using it where the surviving owner could simply sign. Two owners joined by OR need none of this: the survivor releases the title and the Division asks for no documents related to the deceased at all.
• •Selling the car straight to a buyer from the estate. The vehicle has to be titled to the successor first, which means a title transaction in the successor's name before the sale, not at the same time as it.
• •An estate over any of the three limits. The one people miss is the third: personal property excluding vehicles cannot exceed $50,000, so a modest car and a large bank balance can put an estate outside this route.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The conjunction decides everything first. Before you reach for this form, read the face of the certificate. Joint ownership with OR: the surviving owner may release the title, and no death paperwork is required. Sole ownership, or joint ownership with AND: the vehicle is part of the estate.
• •Probate has three accepted signature formats. Where a representative has been appointed, the Division tells you how they sign: the representative's name followed by Executor, or Executor of the Estate of the deceased owner, or the deceased owner's name by the representative's name, Executor - with the letters testamentary, letters of administration or letter of appointment attached.
• •Thirty days is a floor, not a waiting list. Nothing needs to be done on day thirty-one. But the certification cannot be made before it, so a family clearing an estate quickly still waits.
• •It is sworn, and the officer can be free. Like the rest of the Division's affidavits, this one prints the alternative on its own signature line - a notary public or a DMV representative. Doing it at the counter costs nothing but the trip.
• •It moves the vehicle to a person, not to a buyer. The point of the form is to put the certificate into the successor's name. What that person then does with the vehicle - keep it, sell it, scrap it - is an ordinary transaction with an ordinary assignment.

Every line here was read off Form 827 (Rev 1/2018) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles, Department of Administration pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Alaska seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Alaska involves.