One page that moves a car out of a small estate without opening probate. The claimant swears to five things - the size of the estate, that five days have passed, that no personal representative has been appointed, that they are entitled to the vehicle, and that it carries no lien that is theirs - attaches a death certificate, and the BMV transfers the title. Four sections and sixteen boxes, which is a remarkably small amount of paper for what it does.
Written against State Form 18733 (R10 / 11-24), issued under IC 29-1-8-1(c).
Read the five bullets as a set before writing anything. They are conditions rather than boxes - if one of them is not true on the day you sign, the affidavit is not merely incomplete, it is a false statement about a probate estate.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank State Form 18733 from the forms.in.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual State Form 18733, rendered from the PDF the Indiana Bureau 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
The entire form is amber except the printed statute, because there is nothing on it that belongs to anybody else - no branch block, no notary and no second signature. The five bullets above the signature are the whole legal test, and they are worth reading in the order they are printed.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Wait five days
The second bullet and the statute quoted above it both require that five days have elapsed since the death of the decedent.
Watch out: It is the shortest wait in Indiana's title system and there is no way round it. Signing on day four makes the affidavit untrue on its face.
2
You fill this in
Check nobody has opened probate
The third bullet reaches any jurisdiction, not just Indiana.
Watch out: Ask the family before you sign, not afterwards. A personal representative appointed in another state is exactly the situation this bullet is written to catch.
3
You fill this in
Section 1, the claimant
Your name in the order last, first, middle initial, and your legal address.
Watch out: The claimant is the distributee - the person entitled to the vehicle. If that is more than one person, the form's preamble expects it to be executed by the distributees, and a branch will want to see how that was decided.
4
You fill this in
Section 2, the decedent
The deceased owner's name as the certificate carries it, and the date of death.
Watch out: As the certificate carries it. A married name on the death certificate and a maiden name on the title is a one-and-the-same problem on top of a probate one.
5
You fill this in
Section 3, the vehicle
Identification number, Year, Make, Model and the Title Number.
Watch out: The title number is not marked optional on this form. If the certificate cannot be found, that is a separate problem to solve before this one.
6
You fill this in
Read the five bullets
Nothing to tick - they are certifications, and signing below adopts all five.
Watch out: The first one is about the whole gross probate estate, not about the car. A modest vehicle in a large estate does not qualify, however small the vehicle.
7
You fill this in
Attach the death certificate
A copy, required by instruction 3 in addition to the affidavit.
Watch out: A copy is enough here, which is unusual - but it has to be a death certificate rather than an obituary, a funeral notice or a letter.
8
You fill this in
Sign it
Signature of Claimant, printed name and date.
Watch out: Under penalty of perjury and with nobody watching. Every one of the five statements above the line is one you are personally swearing to about somebody else's estate.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
SECTION 1 - CLAIMANT / DISTRIBUTEE OF THE ESTATE
The claimant's name in the order last, first, middle initial, then a legal address with city, state and ZIP.
SECTION 2 - DECEDENT INFORMATION
The deceased owner's name and the Date Deceased in month, day and four-digit year.
SECTION 3 - VEHICLE / WATERCRAFT INFORMATION
The Identification Number in its own banded box, then Year, Make, Model and Title Number.
SECTION 4 - AFFIRMATION OF FACTS
A block of statute text followed by five bulleted certifications, each sworn under penalty of perjury.
The five bullets
That the gross probate estate less liens and encumbrances does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000); that five (5) days have elapsed since the death; that no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; that the claimant is entitled to ownership; and that the vehicle is not subject to any liens that are the responsibility of the claimant.
Signature of Claimant
One signature row with a printed name and a date. No notary, and no space for a second claimant.
What gets this one rejected
•An estate over the ceiling. The first bullet caps it at $100,000 for the gross probate estate less liens and encumbrances, wherever the estate is located.
•Filing it too soon. The second bullet requires that five (5) days have elapsed since the death of the decedent, and the statute quoted above the bullets says the same.
•Filing it when probate is open, or about to be. The third bullet covers both - no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction.
•No death certificate. Instruction 3 requires a copy in addition to this affidavit, and the affidavit alone transfers nothing.
•A claimant who is not entitled to the vehicle. The fourth bullet is a statement about inheritance, and the form's own preamble says the affidavit must be duly executed by the distributees of the estate.
•Signing the decedent's name on the certificate. That is not what this form replaces and it is not a shortcut anybody should be tempted by.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It quotes its own authority on the page. Section 4 opens with the statutory sentence - that the transfer shall not be prohibited if five days have elapsed and no appointment of a personal representative is contemplated - so the reader can see the test being applied.
•The estate can be anywhere. Instruction 2 says an estate, wherever located, so an Indiana-titled car in an out-of-state estate uses the same route.
•Watercraft too. The form's title and section 3 both cover a vehicle or watercraft, which saves a second process where a boat and a car pass together.
Every line here was read off State Form 18733 (R10 / 11-24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Indiana Bureau 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.
