Ten fields that turn a vehicle into a thing that passes outside probate. The owner completes it while alive and it sits with the certificate of title doing nothing; on death, the beneficiary presents the death certificate with this form and an ordinary title application, and the vehicle moves. It is also the one document the department names as a substitute for letters of testamentary or administration, but only where the owner filled it in beforehand.
Written against DR 2009 (12/15/23), issued under C.R.S. 42-6-110.5.
This form is worth ten minutes to anyone selling a car late in life, because the alternative for the family is a court appointment. It is not something a buyer or an heir can put right after the fact.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank DR 2009 from the dmv.colorado.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual DR 2009, rendered from the PDF the Colorado Department of Revenue, Division of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
Completed by a sole owner during his lifetime, which is the only time it can be completed at all. The co-owner signature row is washed grey because the certificate names one person.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Name of Owner and Co-Owner
The owner or owners exactly as the face of the certificate of title prints them.
Watch out: If the certificate names two people, both are designating and both sign. A designation by one owner of a jointly held vehicle does not do what it looks like it does.
2
You fill this in
Transfer on death to
The beneficiary, one name, on one rule.
Watch out: Spell it the way their identification spells it. The beneficiary will be applying for title in that name and a mismatch means a statement of one and the same on top of everything else.
3
You fill this in
Year, Make, Model and VIN
The vehicle, across three rules.
Watch out: Copy the identification number from the certificate. This designation attaches to one vehicle and does not follow you into the next one.
4
You fill this in
Signature of Owner and Date
Under the certification made under penalty of perjury in the second degree.
Watch out: Then put it with the certificate of title, not with the will. The beneficiary needs to be able to find it alongside the document it refers to.
5
You fill this in
Signature of Co-Owner and Date
The second row, used only where the certificate names two owners.
Watch out: Leave it empty rather than having a spouse who is not on the title sign it. A signature from somebody with no interest in the vehicle proves nothing.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Name of Owner and Co-Owner
One rule, covering both where a certificate names two.
Transfer on death to
The beneficiary. One rule, and there is no room for alternates or for a share split.
Year and Make
Two boxes on one rule.
Model
Its own rule.
VIN
Its own rule under the model.
The certification
One sentence certifying under penalty of perjury in the second degree that the above facts are true and accurate to the best of the owner's knowledge.
Signature of Owner and Date (MM/DD/YY)
The owner's row.
Signature of Co-Owner and Date (MM/DD/YY)
The second row, for a certificate issued to two people.
The instruction across the top
Upon death of the owner(s), the beneficiary must present the death certificate(s), accompanied by this form and the DR 2395 Application for Title and/or Registration.
What gets this one rejected
•Completed by anybody after the owner has died. The signature is the owner's and cannot be supplied by an executor or an heir.
•A co-owner row left blank on a two-owner certificate. Both owners are designating, so both sign.
•Presented without a death certificate. The instruction at the head of the form names it first among the three documents required.
•Naming a share, an alternate or a trust arrangement. There is one Transfer on death to rule and nothing on the form supports anything more elaborate.
•A vehicle identification number that does not match the certificate. The designation attaches to one described vehicle, not to a category of them.
•Used where the owner had already designated a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. That is a different route and it is settled on the face of the certificate.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is completed in advance or not at all. The department's line is that this can be used in lieu of letters of testamentary or administration or small estates if it was previously completed by the deceased owner.
•One form, one vehicle. There is a single description block. A household with three vehicles designating the same beneficiary fills in three of these.
