How to fill out Delaware MV386

The only Delaware document that lets a name other than yours go on the seller's line of a certificate. It appoints a named person as your attorney in fact to sign all papers and documents that may be necessary in order to conduct motor vehicle business for one described vehicle - and it is sworn in front of a notary, which is one of the five places Delaware does want a notarial seal.

Written against MV386 (Rev 02/22), issued under the owner, who appoints an attorney in fact before a notary and indemnifies the State against the consequences. Read what you are signing away. This grants authority to sign all papers and documents necessary to conduct motor vehicle business for the vehicle, and it carries an indemnity in your name protecting the State from whatever follows. Name a date on it, keep the original in your hand until it is needed, and appoint somebody who will be at the counter rather than somebody who might be.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV386 from the dmv.de.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV386 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

   Your name, on the undersigned line

   The principal. As the certificate carries it, not a shortened version.

   Watch out: If two names are on the front of the title joined by AND, this document needs both of you and the co-owner line at the foot is where the second signature goes.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Your address, city and state

   Street on one row, then City of and State of on the next.

   Watch out: The address the Division holds for you. A mismatch here is one more thing for a clerk to query on a document whose whole job is to be unquestionable.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Appoint: the attorney in fact

   The full legal name of the person you are authorising to sign for you.

   Watch out: One person. This form has no room for alternates, and a name written in later is an alteration on a notarised document.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Their address, city and state

   The same three rows again, for the person being appointed.

   Watch out: They will need a copy of their own photo identification when they use it. Tell them that now rather than at the counter.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Make of Vehicle

   First of three boxes on the vehicle line.

   Watch out: The authority reaches this vehicle and no other. A second car needs a second form.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Year of Vehicle

   The model year as the certificate states it.

   Watch out: From the front of the title. Model year and build year are not always the same number.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   Vehicle Identification Number

   All seventeen characters, in the widest of the three boxes.

   Watch out: This is what ties the authority to the car. A transposed character makes the document authorise nothing.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Date and Signature of Owner

   Date on the left, signature on the right, and the printed indemnity sitting above both.

   Watch out: Do not sign until you are in front of the notary. The block at the foot says the Subscriber personally came before me, and that has to be true.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Signature of Co-Owner

   The second line, under the first, for a title that names two owners joined by AND.

   Watch out: Both of you in front of the same notary on the same day is the simple version. Delaware does not print two notarial blocks on this form.

10. 10
    Somebody else fills this in

    The notarial block

    State of Delaware, County of ______, be it remembered that on this ___ day of ______, A.D. ______, the Subscriber personally came before me - then the notary's own signature.

    Watch out: The Division wants the original of this back. Photocopy it for your records and send the signed original with whoever is acting for you.

What gets this one rejected

• •A photocopy. Every Delaware title application that accepts a power of attorney demands the original: original documents are required when a Power of Attorney is used, and the Division repeats it on the duplicate title procedure as an original notarized power of attorney.
• •The wrong signature format. The Division prints the pattern twice on its own title application so it cannot be misread: John Smith by Shannon L. McDonald POA - the owner's name, then by, then the attorney's name, then POA, signed and printed that way on every document.
• •A form that is half typed and half handwritten. The MV212's instructions require a power of attorney to be either all typed or all handwritten and to include all vehicle information.
• •A vehicle description left vague. Make, year and VIN are three separate boxes and the authority granted reaches the vehicle they describe and nothing else.
• •One owner signing where the title carries two names joined by AND. The form prints a co-owner signature line for exactly that reason.
• •No notary. The block at the foot is not decoration - it is what makes this a Delaware power of attorney rather than a letter.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •What it is not. It is not permission to hand paperwork across a counter. Anybody can do that - the Division's own answer to whether someone can bring your paperwork in is yes, as long as all the requirements are met. This form exists for the harder case: somebody signing in your name.
• •A company granting or receiving it needs more. For an entity, whether granting or being granted a power of attorney, the Division wants both a copy of the representative's photo identification and a notarized letter of signature authority on company letterhead connecting the signing representative to the entity.
• •An individual needs photo identification either way. For an individual, whether granting or being granted the authority, a copy of photo ID is required. That applies to both people, not just the one signing.
• •Leases have their own version. Where a leased vehicle is involved, the Division must have a notarized power of attorney from the lessor to the lessee to sign the title application - that is the MV35's own bullet, and it is a different document from this one.

Every line here was read off MV386 (Rev 02/22) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Delaware Division 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.

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