For a car left by somebody who made a will that was never probated, or was probated without administration. The person inheriting swears this, has it notarised, and takes it to the county treasurer with Form 411007. It carries the odometer disclosure inside it, because the person inheriting is treated as the owner's agent for that purpose - which is the neat trick that makes the transfer possible at all.
Written against 411083 (07-23), issued under Iowa Code s. 321.47(2), transfer of a decedent's vehicle without administration.
The form's own instruction 1 sets the boundary: it may be used if a decedent dies testate, but the will is not probated or is probated without administration. If an executor has been appointed and the estate is being administered, this affidavit is the wrong document and the county will want the court's paperwork instead.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 411083 from the iowadot.forms.govos.com copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual 411083, rendered from the PDF the Iowa Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division 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
Rendered from the department's own published form and completed by the person inheriting, because the owner cannot sign. Grey marks the notarial block. Every name, date, address and number is invented for the sample.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
Somebody else fills this in
Decedent information
First and last name, date of death, last address, city, state and zip.
Watch out: Use the name exactly as it is printed on the front of the title. A shortened first name here against a full one on the certificate is a question at the counter.
2
Somebody else fills this in
Transferee / inheritor information
Name or organisation, an identifying number, and a current address.
Watch out: The identifying number can be a driving licence, a state identification card, a social security number, or a federal employer number for an organisation. One of the four is enough.
3
Somebody else fills this in
Vehicle information
Year, make, model and title number on one row; VIN, plate number and title state of issuance on the next.
Watch out: Title number and plate number are both marked if known. The VIN is not - that one has to be right.
4
Somebody else fills this in
The odometer reading
Whole miles, inside the affidavit, with two notation boxes underneath.
Watch out: Read it off the car rather than off an old service record. The affiant is standing in for the owner on this disclosure and is swearing to it.
5
Somebody else fills this in
Read the three numbered statements
That the vehicle was titled and registered in the decedent's name; that under Iowa law and the will the affiant is entitled to it; and an indemnity to the county treasurer.
Watch out: The middle statement is the one that has to be true. If more than one person is entitled under the will, this affidavit alone is not the right route.
6
Somebody else fills this in
Sign in front of a notary
Transferee signature and date, then the notarial block: state, county, the date signed or attested, the notary's name, seal and signature.
Watch out: Iowa requires the notarisation on this form and on its intestate twin. It is one of only a handful of vehicle documents in the state that needs one.
7
Somebody else fills this in
Take it in with Form 411007
The affidavit and the title application go to the county treasurer together.
Watch out: And take the plates off the car first. A transfer by operation of law is still a transfer, and s. 321.47(3) wants the plates surrendered.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Decedent information: first name, last name; date of death; last address; city, state, zip
The left-hand block. Six boxes about the person who died.
Transferee / inheritor information: first name, last name or organization; DL, ID, SSN or FEIN; current address; city, state, zip
The right-hand block, and it accepts an organisation as well as a person.
Vehicle information: Year, Make, Model, Title number (if known)
Four boxes across the first row of the vehicle block.
VIN, Plate number (if known), Title state of issuance
Three boxes across the second row.
I state that the odometer now reads ___ (no tenths) miles
The mileage box, sitting inside the affidavit rather than on a separate form.
Two odometer notations
In excess of mechanical limits; NOT the actual mileage, WARNING - ODOMETER DISCREPANCY. Neither is ticked where the reading is true.
Affidavit of Transferee / Inheritor
Three numbered statements: that the vehicle was titled and registered in the decedent's name, that under Iowa law and the decedent's will the affiant is entitled to possession and ownership, and an agreement to indemnify and hold the county treasurer harmless.
Transferee signature (or person authorized for organization) and Date
Two boxes.
For witnessing or attesting signature: State of, County of, signed before me on, name of notary, notary seal, signature of notary
The notarial block at the foot.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it where the estate is being administered. This affidavit is for a will that is not probated or is probated without administration; where there is an administration, 761 IAC 400.13(4) wants a certified copy of the court order or the letter of appointment instead.
•An unnotarised affidavit. The department's own second instruction is that the completed and signed affidavit must be notarized.
•Filing it on its own. The third instruction sends the transferee to the county treasurer with Form 411007, Application for Certificate of Title and Registration.
•Leaving the odometer blank on a 2011 or newer. The mileage statement is part of this form, and s. 321.47(2)(b) makes the affiant the owner's agent for exactly that purpose.
•Leaving the plates on the car. s. 321.47(3) applies to every transfer by operation of law: the registration plates shall be removed and forwarded to any county treasurer.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•A surviving spouse pays no title fee at all. s. 321.47(2)(a) requires the department to waive the certificate of title fee and the surcharge where the person entitled to possession and ownership is the surviving spouse of the decedent.
•The affiant is the owner's agent for the mileage. s. 321.47(2)(b) says so in terms, solely for the purpose of completing the odometer disclosure statement under s. 321.71 and 49 CFR pt. 580 - and lets the disclosure be submitted with the affidavit.
•An organisation can inherit. The transferee block accepts a name or an organization, and asks for a federal employer identification number where it is one.
•The transfer is by operation of law. Which brings the damage disclosure rules in 761 IAC 400.43 with it: the buyer completes Section 2 of Form 411108 rather than waiting for a statement from a person who has died.
•A transfer by operation of law is charged like any other title. s. 321.47(1) sets the fee for issuing a title on this route, and s. 321.52A adds the same certificate-of-title surcharge it adds everywhere else. Only the surviving spouse escapes both.
