A small form for one specific stuck moment: the title says OR, the car is sold, and the other name on it cannot be got hold of. Connecticut's joint ownership carries the right of survivorship and needs only one signature to transfer - but the department still wants it on the record that the missing co-owner was told. This is that record, and it is the only Connecticut form whose scope is printed as a sentence directly under its own title.
Written against H-119 (New 10-2004), issued under Conn. Gen. Stat. s. 14-179(e), transfer by one of two or more joint owners, subscribed under penalty of false statement per s. 14-110 and s. 53a-157b.
Read your certificate before you reach for this form. Everything about it turns on one printed word between two names, and getting that word wrong sends a straightforward transfer into the Probate Court instead.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank H-119 from the portal.ct.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual H-119, 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 the case the form was written for: a title joined by OR, a co-owner who cannot be reached, and a sale that has already happened. The DECEASED tick and its date box are greyed because the missing owner is alive. Every name and number here is invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Title Number and Registration Plate Number
Two of the five identification boxes across the top.
Watch out: The title number is printed on the certificate and noted on the registration. Give both numbers rather than one; this form has no address block to fall back on.
2
You fill this in
Vehicle Identification Number, Make, Year
The rest of the top row.
Watch out: Copy the VIN from the certificate you are assigning, because this attestation will be read alongside it.
3
You fill this in
Owner's Name and Co-Owner's Name as on title
Both names, in the two boxes either side of the printed word OR.
Watch out: The word between them is printed on the form because the form only works for OR titles. If yours says AND, stop here.
4
You fill this in
Name of Buyer, and the AND/OR tick if there are two
Who took the car, and how the new owners want their own names joined.
Watch out: This tick sets up the same decision for the next sale. OR for a couple who want either of them to be able to sell it; AND where both should have to agree.
5
You fill this in
Unavailable or Deceased as of
One of two ticks, with a date box on the second and a requirement for a death certificate.
Watch out: Unavailable is a statement that they were notified, not that they could not be found. Read the sentence above the ticks before choosing one.
6
You fill this in
Comments, and the signature row below it
The only free-text box on the sheet, with the printed rules for one signature, a printed name and a date underneath.
Watch out: Use the comments box. A line saying how and when the other owner was notified turns an attestation into something an examiner can act on without ringing you. Then one signature, from whichever owner is present - no notary and no witness, because what carries the weight is the false statement certification printed above the line.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The scope line, under the title
To be used only when the vehicle title has the conjunction "OR" indicating joint ownership of the vehicle, and one co-owner is unavailable or deceased.
Title Number, Registration Plate Number, Vehicle Identification Number, Make, Year
Five boxes across the top row.
Owner's Name as on Title, then the printed word OR, then Co-Owner's Name as on Title
The conjunction is printed between the two boxes, because it is the fact the whole form depends on.
Name of Buyer, Check one if co-owned: AND or OR, Name of Buyer
Two buyer boxes with the conjunction the new owners want between them.
The certification
The information provided to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles herein is subscribed by me, under penalty of false statement ... The undersigned hereby state(s) that the vehicle described on this attestation was transferred to the buyer(s) specified above.
Any living joint owner not signing below has been notified of the transfer. Joint owner not signing is:
The attestation itself, followed by two ticks.
UNAVAILABLE
The first tick. It says nothing about where they are, only that they were told.
DECEASED AS OF: ____ (Death certificate required)
The second tick, with a date box and an attachment requirement.
Comments
One free-text box, and the only place on the form to explain anything.
Signature of Owner or Co-Owner, Printed Name of Owner or Co-Owner, Date Signed
Three boxes at the foot. One signature, from whichever of the two owners is present.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it on a title that says AND. The scope line restricts it to OR, and a common-ownership title needs every owner's signature or a probate document.
•Ticking DECEASED with no death certificate. The form's own parenthesis requires one.
•Ticking neither box. The attestation is that the non-signing owner was notified, and the two ticks are the only ways the form allows that to be true.
•Using it where the other owner is simply unwilling. Unavailable is not a synonym for refusing, and this form is an attestation made under the false statement penalty.
•Using it to transfer a vehicle that never had a title. On a non-titled car the transfer runs on a Q-1 and there is no title conjunction to rely on.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•OR means survivorship, and one signature. The department's definition: joint ownership is characterized by the right of survivorship. When a Certificate of Title is in two names and one owner dies, the surviving owner would acquire the interest of the deceased owner.
•AND means the Probate Court. Common ownership has no survivorship. Upon the death of one of two owners the Probate Court appoints a fiduciary to convey the deceased owner's interest, and a copy of the probate document is attached to the certificate.
•No conjunction at all is the easiest case. The department's answer where two names are printed with nothing between them: either party can transfer ownership; only one signature is required.
•Vessels are the exception. The same page adds it: to transfer ownership on a titled vessel, signatures from both owners are required regardless of conjunction.
•It is an attestation, not a substitute signature. The form does not sign for the missing owner. It records that they were told, which is a different and smaller claim - and it is made under penalty of false statement.
Every line here was read off H-119 (New 10-2004) 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.
