How to fill out Maryland VR-448

For the title that still carries the name you had before a marriage, a divorce or a court order - or before somebody at a counter mistyped it. Maryland will not simply accept a signature in a different name from the one printed on the face of the certificate, so this is the repair that has to happen before the sale rather than during it, and it has an order of operations attached.

Written against VR-448 (04-26), issued under Maryland Transportation Article, Section 13-118. There is an easy confusion here worth avoiding. This form changes a name; it does not add or remove an owner. Adding or deleting somebody from a title is done by assignment on the reverse of the certificate, and the VR-103 instructions describe exactly how.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VR-448 from the mva.maryland.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VR-448 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank VR-448 — Application for Corrected Title Due to a Name Change PDF at mva.maryland.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in VR-448 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual VR-448, rendered from the PDF the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration 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 Maryland VR-448 application for corrected title filled in: the Marriage reason box ticked, owner Rosalind T. Purnell with a date of birth and driver's licence number, a Salisbury residential address, current MD title number 41027365 for a 2021 Mazda CX-5 with VIN JM3KFBCM0M0357418, the secured party lines left empty, and her signature over a day, month and year written into the certification line. — The actual VR-448 at revision 04-26. The certification is a dated one - day, month and year go into the printed sentence itself rather than into a box beside the signature, which is easy to skip past.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Reason for name change
One tick from Marriage, Divorce, Court Order, Common Law or Error, or a written explanation on the Other line.
Watch out: Pick the one that describes the document you can produce. The reason ticked here tells the MVA what evidence to expect in the envelope.
2
You fill this in
Owner's Full Name
The name you are moving to, not the one printed on the certificate.
Watch out: It has to match the corrected driver's licence exactly. If the licence still says the old name, this application is premature and will come back.
3
You fill this in
Date of Birth and Driver's License Number
Two boxes beside the name, with a co-owner row underneath.
Watch out: The licence number does not change when a name does, which is what lets the MVA connect the two records.
4
You fill this in
Current Residential Address
Street, city, state and ZIP, with a mailing address row below where they differ.
Watch out: Tick the new address box if you have moved as well. It is common for a name change and a house move to arrive in the same year and the form handles both at once.
5
You fill this in
Current MD Title Number
First box of the vehicle row, from the certificate you are surrendering.
Watch out: You are sending the certificate in with this, so copy the number before it goes. It is also on the registration card.
6
You fill this in
Vehicle Make, Year, Vehicle Identification Number
The other three boxes of the vehicle row.
Watch out: All three are read off the face of the certificate. Nothing about the vehicle is changing here - only the name printed above it.
7
You fill this in
Name of Secured Party
The lender still showing on the record, with its address on the row underneath.
Watch out: Leave it empty only if the record genuinely shows no lien. The MVA-use block at the foot chooses between issuing with the lien shown and issuing without it, and this is the box that decision reads.
8
You fill this in
This day of, year, and Owner's Signature
Three short blanks inside the certification sentence, then the signature underneath.
Watch out: Fill the date into the sentence. An unsigned or undated certification is the commonest reason a straightforward correction takes two rounds of post.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The note at the top	Maryland Law requires that you correct your driver's license or identification card within 30 days of a name change. This must be completed prior to the issuance of a corrected title. The current title must be submitted with this completed application.
Reason for name change	Five ticks: Marriage, Divorce, Court Order, Common Law, Error - and an Other line to explain.
Owner block	Full name, date of birth and driver's licence number, with a matching row for a co-owner.
Business block	Business name, a tick to say the business name has changed, and a FEIN.
Addresses	Current residential address and current mailing address, each with city, state and ZIP, and a tick for a new address.
Vehicle block	Current MD title number, vehicle make, vehicle year and vehicle identification number.
Secured party block	Name of secured party with street address, city, state and ZIP, for a lender still on the record.
Certification	A penalty-of-perjury line with day, month and year written into it, then owner and co-owner signatures.
MVA Use Only	Record examined and issuance approved by, a choice between OK to issue and show lien and OK to issue without lien, the type of identification provided, and a method of payment box.

What gets this one rejected

•Applying before the driver's licence has been corrected. The note at the top makes the licence the first step and this the second.
•Sending the application without the current certificate, which has to be surrendered with it.
•A business name change with no documentation verifying it, which the note asks for specifically.
•No copy of the newly issued identification reflecting the name change, which the MVA-use block at the foot expects to be attached.
•A reason left unticked. Marriage, divorce, court order, common law and error are five different evidential routes.
•A lender on the record and the secured party block left blank, which decides whether the corrected certificate issues showing the lien or without it.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Correct it before you list the car. A buyer standing in your driveway with cash is the worst moment to discover that the certificate says one name and your licence says another. This is a separate application with its own fee and its own turnaround.
•Error is a real option on the list. The fifth tick is for a name that was never right - a transposed middle initial, a misspelling that came off an old record. It does not need a marriage certificate behind it, only the correct identification.

Every line here was read off VR-448 (04-26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration 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 Maryland seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Maryland involves.

How to fill out Maryland VR-448

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Reason for name change

Owner's Full Name

Date of Birth and Driver's License Number

Current Residential Address

Current MD Title Number

Vehicle Make, Year, Vehicle Identification Number

Name of Secured Party

This day of, year, and Owner's Signature

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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