How to fill out Delaware MV71

The shortest form in the Delaware set and the one with the widest consequences. It gives permission for the purpose of switching licence plate numbers to respective vehicles, and its operative clause is the same one as the release affidavit: I/We wish to give up my/our rights to this/these license plate number(s) listed above. Nine fields, one notary, and a plate number that is no longer yours afterwards.

Written against MV71 (Rev 6/06), issued under the plate holder or holders, sworn before a notary, giving permission for the numbers to be switched between vehicles. Nine boxes and no vehicle description anywhere on the page. That is the thing to notice about this form: it identifies plates and people and nothing else, which means every question about which number ends up on which car is answered at the counter rather than on the paper. Go with everyone who has to sign it, and go with both registrations.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV71 from the dmv.de.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV71 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank MV71 — Affidavit for License Plate Switch PDF at dmv.de.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in MV71 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual MV71, rendered from the PDF the Delaware 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

A Delaware MV71 Affidavit for License Plate Switch filled in: Merrick A. Dunavant and Verena D. Dunavant give permission to switch Delaware license plate numbers PC 2946 and PC 87310 to respective vehicles, with both signature and printed-name rows completed and the notarial block at the foot showing the day, month and year for the notary. — The whole form. Two plate numbers, two people, one notary and no vehicle description anywhere - which is exactly why the Division makes you do this at a counter with both registrations in your hand rather than by post.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
I/We, the plate holders
The names of everyone who holds the numbers being switched, completing the opening sentence.
Watch out: Everyone whose name is on either plate. The form gives two signature rows and that is not a coincidence.
2
You fill this in
The plate numbers
The numbers being switched, in the gap in the middle of the sentence. Two boxes are printed for them.
Watch out: With prefixes. The Division's plate classes - PC, C, CL, MC and the rest - are part of the number, not a category above it.
3
You fill this in
Read the give-up clause
I/We wish to give up my/our rights to this/these license plate number(s) listed above. Printed, and there is nothing to fill in.
Watch out: This is the sentence people miss. A switch is not a loan of a number to another car; on this form's own wording it ends your claim to it.
4
You fill this in
First signature
Signed in front of the notary, under the perjury certification.
Watch out: Wait until you are there. Everything sworn in the Delaware set fails the same way, by being signed too early.
5
You fill this in
First printed name
Beside the first signature.
Watch out: A printed name is what lets a clerk find the plate record. Treat it as a required field, because the box is there.
6
You fill this in
Second signature
The second row, for the other party to the switch.
Watch out: If both plates are yours alone, this row stays empty - but if either number is held jointly, everyone on it signs.
7
You fill this in
Second printed name
Beside the second signature.
Watch out: Same rule. Print it as the Division holds it, not as you sign it.
8
Somebody else fills this in
The notarial block
The day, the month and the year the affidavit was sworn, then the Notary Public's own signature under them.
Watch out: Original only. PLEASE FILM at the foot is the Division telling its own staff to microfilm the paper it receives, which tells you what it thinks of copies.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
I/We ______	The plate holder or holders, completing the opening sentence.
switching my/our license plate number(s) ______	The numbers being moved. Plural throughout, because a switch involves at least two.
to respective vehicle(s)	Printed, not filled - the form does not ask which vehicle goes with which plate, which is why the Division's counter does.
I/We wish to give up my/our rights to this/these license plate number(s) listed above	The give-up clause, printed.
The perjury certification	I/We certify, under penalty of perjury, that the statements made herein are true and correct to the best of my/our knowledge, information and belief.
Two Signature and Printed Name pairs	Two rows, each with a signature line and a printed name beside it.
The notarial block	Printed in capitals on this one: sworn to and subscribed, with a day, a month and a year, then a Notary Public signature line.
PLEASE FILM	Printed above the form code at the foot. An instruction to the Division's records staff.

What gets this one rejected

•Reading it as a temporary arrangement. The printed sentence gives up your rights to the numbers listed. There is no undo.
•A blank printed name beside a signature. Both rows carry a printed-name box for a reason.
•No notary. Sworn to and subscribed, at the foot, and the Division wants the original.
•Using it to move your own plate onto your own next car. That is retention, and it is a different transaction with a different fee.
•Using it to send a plate with a sold car. Where the number is low enough for that to be allowed, it takes the seller's low-digit affidavit and nothing else.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•What a switch actually is. The Division's published fee table carries a line called Switch Tag Fee, charged per tag and title, which is the transaction this affidavit authorises. Because a title is reissued for each vehicle involved, a switch is two title transactions rather than one plate move.
•It is not the same as retention. Retention holds a number in your own name for your own next vehicle. A switch moves numbers between vehicles and, on this form's own wording, ends your rights in them - which is why it is sworn and retention is not.
•Insurance follows the vehicle. The Division asks for proof of Delaware insurance whenever a plate is moved onto a vehicle. Have it in hand for whichever car is receiving which number before you go.
•Antique plates cannot be switched. A special antique plate is surrendered to the Department on a transfer of ownership, and there is no version of this affidavit that keeps one.

Every line here was read off MV71 (Rev 6/06) 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.

How to fill out Delaware MV71

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

I/We, the plate holders

The plate numbers

Read the give-up clause

First signature

First printed name

Second signature

Second printed name

The notarial block

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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