The other end of the beneficiary route. Where a title already names a transfer-on-death beneficiary, this is what that person files after the owner dies. One page, one signature, and a short list of things to staple to it.
Written against VSD 774 (VSD 774.5, March 2026), issued under 625 ILCS 5/3-104.
Bring it to a facility rather than posting it. The instruction on the form is to submit the completed affidavit and its documentation to an Illinois Secretary of State facility when applying for an application for title.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VSD 774 from the ilsos.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual VSD 774, rendered from the PDF the Illinois Secretary of State 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
The actual VSD 774. The odometer block here has three boxes and the instruction check only one - unlike the certificate itself, which has two and treats an empty pair as the actual-mileage answer. Note the tick box beside the title number: Illinois expects that a beneficiary may not have the paper title, and gives them a way to say so.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
The buyer fills this in
Your name, then the deceased owner's
Both inside the opening certification: the individual named as Transfer on Death Beneficiary certifies that the applicant is the TOD Beneficiary of the named deceased.
Watch out: Your name has to match the title's beneficiary block exactly. If it does not, the fix is a VSD 393 at item 6 and it is easier to bring both than to be sent away.
2
The buyer fills this in
who departed this life on
The date of death, in the sentence.
Watch out: As the certified death certificate has it. The two documents are read together.
3
The buyer fills this in
The vehicle
Year, make, model and body type across a row, then the VIN in its comb.
Watch out: One character per box in the VIN row. It is the only combed field on the sheet.
4
The buyer fills this in
Current Title Number, and the box beside it
The number from the certificate - or the tick box for being unable to surrender it.
Watch out: If you tick the box, attach something showing the vehicle was last titled in Illinois. A Secretary of State title screen print is named as acceptable.
5
The buyer fills this in
The odometer statement
The reading with no tenths, and one of three boxes: actual mileage, in excess of mechanical limits, or not the actual mileage.
Watch out: Check only one, and check one - unlike the title, an empty set of boxes here is an unanswered question rather than an answer.
6
The buyer fills this in
Sign, print and date
One signature. The line above swears the statement is true and correct and acknowledges severe penalties for false statements under oath.
Watch out: Then assemble the rest: proof of the Illinois titling and the beneficiary designation, a certified death certificate, a VSD 190 with the title fee, and the tax form with a cheque to the Department of Revenue.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The certification sentence
The individual named as Transfer on Death Beneficiary (TOD), ______, certifies that the applicant is the TOD Beneficiary of ______, name of deceased.
who departed this life on
The date of death, inside the sentence.
Year, Make, Model, Body Type
Four boxes across a row.
Vehicle Identification Number
A comb of character boxes.
Current Title Number
Plus a tick box beside it: check box if you are unable to surrender the current title.
The odometer certification
Check only one of three: actual mileage, in excess of its mechanical limits, or not the actual mileage - warning, odometer discrepancy. Plus the reading itself, no tenths.
Applicant Signature, Printed Name and Date
The beneficiary's, at the foot.
What gets this one rejected
•Filing it without the death certificate. The instructions ask for a copy of a certified death certificate for the owner shown on the Illinois title.
•Filing it alone. It goes in with a completed VSD 190, the applicable title fee, any registration fee if plates are wanted, and a tax form with a cheque payable to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
•Expecting the plates too. The instructions say plainly that the beneficiary does not have rights to the deceased owner's vehicle registration.
•A name that does not match. If the beneficiary's name on the title is not identical to the name on their own paperwork, the instructions send them to VSD 393, item number 6.
•Ticking two odometer boxes, or none. The line says check only one.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Three boxes here, two on a title. This form gives the odometer statement three options rather than the certificate's two, because it adds an explicit actual mileage box. On the title, actual mileage is what you are certifying by leaving both boxes empty. Here you have to say it.
•The title can be missing. There is a tick box for being unable to surrender the current title, which is more forgiving than most of the Illinois set. Attach documentation that the vehicle was last titled in Illinois instead - the instructions accept a Secretary of State title screen print.
Every line here was read off VSD 774 (VSD 774.5, March 2026) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Illinois Secretary of State pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
