The only document in the Connecticut seller's set that needs anybody else in the room. If you cannot be at the DMV - or cannot sign the paperwork yourself - this appoints somebody who can, for motor vehicle registration and title business and for nothing else. It takes your signature, two witnesses and an officer authorised to take acknowledgments, and it is returned to you rather than kept by the department.
Written against A-83 (Rev 6-2008), issued under Conn. Gen. Stat. s. 45a-175(b) for the accounting provision, executed as an acknowledged instrument before a notary public, justice of the peace or commissioner of the Superior Court.
This form is from 2008 and its acknowledgment block still assumes a Connecticut county. It works, but do not add anything to it - a special power of attorney that has been amended by hand is a document an examiner has to decide about, and the whole point of using the department's own form is that it does not have to.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank A-83 from the portal.ct.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual A-83, rendered from the PDF the Connecticut Department 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
Filled in for a seller who cannot get to a DMV office and is appointing an adult child to do it. Rendered from the department's own PDF: the four signature lines carry no fillable boxes because they are printed rules, which is exactly what a document requiring wet signatures should look like. Every name and date here is invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Print your full name
The principal. Printed above the line that reads Print your full name above.
Watch out: Use the name that appears on the title and the registration. This document has to match the record it will be used against.
2
You fill this in
Print the full name of your agent
One named person. The grant will not stretch to anybody else.
Watch out: Naming a dealership rather than a person is a common mistake. The form appoints an attorney-in-fact, and an attorney-in-fact is somebody who can sign.
3
You fill this in
The date in the witness clause
Day, month and year, on the line beginning IN WITNESS WHEREOF.
Watch out: This date and the date in the acknowledgment block below should be the same day, because the acknowledgment is of a signature made in front of the officer.
4
You fill this in
The name in the acknowledgment block
Your name again, this time as the person who personally appeared before the officer taking the acknowledgment.
Watch out: It has to be the same name as the principal at the top. The whole block is the officer's record that the person who signed is the person named.
5
Somebody else fills this in
The acknowledgment date, and the four signatures around it
Day, month and year in the acknowledgment. Around them sit four printed rules with no boxes behind them - your signature marked (L.S.), two witness lines, and the officer's line above their commission expiry.
Watch out: Do not sign at home. The clause reads attested and subscribed in the presence of the Principal and subsequent to the Principal subscribing same - you sign first, in front of the two witnesses and the officer. A notary public, a justice of the peace or a commissioner of the Superior Court will all do, and banks and law offices are the usual places to find one at short notice.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Know all persons by these presents, that I, [print your full name above]
The principal. The person whose authority is being delegated.
do hereby appoint [print full name of your agent above], as my attorney-in-fact
The agent. One named person, and the power cannot be used for anybody else's transaction.
The grant
To act in my name, place and stead in any way which I myself could do, as if I were personally present, to the full extent permitted by law to act as an agent, to make, to complete, and to execute any application or other written document or form that is required to be filed with the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles ... in connection with the registration of any motor vehicle or the certificate of title to any motor vehicle.
The limit
This Special Power of Attorney is granted and is valid only for the express purposes stated herein, and may not be used for any transaction involving any other person or party who is not named herein.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name below on this ___ day of ___, 20___
Three date boxes on one line.
Principal: ____ (L.S.)
The principal's signature, with the letters L.S. beside it - locus sigilli, the place of the seal.
Two witness signature lines
Attested and subscribed in the presence of the Principal and subsequent to the Principal subscribing same. Two separate lines side by side.
State of Connecticut, County of ____, SS:
The acknowledgment block.
Personally appeared [full name of principal], signer and sealer of the foregoing Power of Attorney, who acknowledged the same as his or her free act and deed, before me, this ___ day of ___, 20___
The acknowledgment itself, with its own three date boxes.
Notary Public / Justice of Peace / Commissioner of the Superior Court, My commission expires ____
The officer's signature line and the seal area.
What gets this one rejected
•A signature with no witnesses. The form's note 1 requires your signature, the signature of two witnesses, and the signature of an officer authorized to take acknowledgments.
•A photocopy. Note 3 is explicit: this Special Power of Attorney, bearing original signatures must be shown and will be returned to you.
•A partially completed sheet. Note 1 begins: this form must be completed in its entirety.
•Using it for a driver's licence errand. Note 2 excludes it - the power does not authorize your agent to perform transactions related to your motor vehicle operator's license or identification card.
•Using one drawn in favour of a different agent. The grant is valid only for the express purposes stated and may not be used for any transaction involving any other person or party who is not named.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Three officers will do, not just a notary. A Notary Public, Justice of the Peace, or Commissioner of the Superior Court. Connecticut's commissioners of the Superior Court include every attorney admitted in the state, which is often the quickest of the three.
•It is shown, not surrendered. The department inspects the original and gives it back, which means one properly executed power can cover more than one visit.
•A lienholder applying for a replacement title needs one. The H-6B's rule: if a lien is still outstanding, the lienholder shall apply for a replacement certificate of title with a power of attorney, by mail only.
•Estates are a different route. Where the owner has died, the authority comes from the Probate Court rather than from a power of attorney - a certified PC-160, PC-212B, PC-260, PC-264, PC-264S or PC-450.
•Either party can ask a court to account. Note 4 on the form: the grantor of any Special Power of Attorney or the attorney-in-fact may make application to any Court of Probate for an accounting, as provided in subsection (b) of section 45a-175.
Every line here was read off A-83 (Rev 6-2008) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
