One page, two ticks, and a car out of an estate without opening probate. It is the form a surviving spouse or the next surviving heir signs to take a vehicle whose sole owner has died, and the two boxes on it are two different statutes doing two different jobs - one about selecting property from an estate, one about an estate that will never be probated at all. It has to be notarised.
Written against PS2071 (08/26), issued under Minnesota Statutes 524.2-403 and 524.2-201.
This form only reaches a vehicle titled in the deceased person's own name. A car titled to a trust is transferred by the trustee with a copy of the trust document instead - and if the vehicle was never titled in the trust's name, the trust documents cannot be used at all.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank PS2071 from the assets.dps.mn.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual PS2071, rendered from the PDF the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services 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 whole form as published, completed on the surviving-spouse route. The second box is left grey because the two certifications are alternatives - one is a spouse selecting property from an estate, the other is an heir taking a vehicle out of an estate that will never be probated. The signature cell and the notarisation block on the right carry no fillable box, which is the department's way of saying both are done in ink and in person.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
Somebody else fills this in
Title number and vehicle
Title number, model year, make and vehicle identification number, copied from the certificate.
Watch out: If the title cannot be found, apply for a duplicate first. DVS will only issue one to the owner or a legal representative, which for an estate means the paperwork has to be in order before the duplicate is.
2
Somebody else fills this in
Name of the deceased
Last, first, middle - spelled as the title spells it, not as the death certificate does.
Watch out: Where the two documents differ, take the title's spelling here and let the deputy registrar see both. A form that does not match the record is a form that cannot be matched to a vehicle.
3
Somebody else fills this in
Date of death
The box beside the name.
Watch out: It has to agree with whatever proof of death you attach. A memorial card with a different date is the one thing a counter will notice immediately.
4
Somebody else fills this in
Tick one certification
Surviving spouse under 524.2-403, or not subject to probate under 524.2-201.
Watch out: A surviving spouse uses the first even where the estate will not be probated. The second is for the next surviving heir where there is no spouse.
5
Somebody else fills this in
Relationship to deceased
The box beside the signature rule.
Watch out: Spouse, son, daughter, brother. It is what a deputy registrar reads against the certification you ticked, and vague answers slow it down.
6
Somebody else fills this in
Sign in front of a notary
The signature rule, with the notary block on the right completed.
Watch out: Notarisation is required, in the form's own word, printed above the block. Sign it there and not before.
7
Somebody else fills this in
Attach the three things
The completed Minnesota certificate of title, proof of death, and payment of the title fee and filing fee.
Watch out: Proof of death is generously defined - a memorial card or a newspaper clipping will do - and there is no need to part with an original death certificate.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The vehicle row
Title number, model year, make and vehicle identification number, across the top of the page.
Print name of deceased (vehicle owner)
Last, first, middle - as the title spells it - with the date of death in the box beside it.
Signature and relationship to deceased
One signature rule, and a box for how the signer is related to the person who died.
Surviving spouse
The first tick: I certify I am the surviving spouse of the person named above. I further certify that I have selected this vehicle from the personal property in the estate of the deceased and that this action is permitted by Minnesota Statute 524.2-403.
Not subject to probate
The second tick: I certify the estate of the above-named person has not been and will not be probated and there are no monetary claims or security interests relating thereto. This action is permitted by Minnesota statute 524.2-201.
The following must accompany this document
Three numbered items on the face: a Minnesota certificate of title, properly completed; proof of death - a memorial card, newspaper clipping or copy of a death certificate; and payment of the title fee and filing fee.
Notarization required
A boxed block down the right-hand side: subscribed and sworn to before me, this ___ day of ___ 20___, notary public, county, my commission expires.
What gets this one rejected
•Neither box ticked. They are alternatives and the form does nothing without one of them - a surviving spouse selecting the vehicle is a different claim from an heir taking one out of an estate nobody will probate.
•Both boxes ticked. A surviving spouse uses the first; where there is no surviving spouse the next heir uses the second.
•No proof of death. The form accepts a memorial card, a newspaper clipping or a copy of the death certificate, so this is the easiest of the three attachments to satisfy and the commonest one to forget.
•An unnotarised signature. The notarisation block is printed on the face with the word required above it.
•No title with it. Item 1 on the form is a Minnesota certificate of title, properly completed - and if it cannot be found, a duplicate has to be obtained first.
•Ticking not subject to probate where there is a lien. The certification says there are no monetary claims or security interests relating thereto, and a car with a lender on the title fails that sentence.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It is one of five routes, not the only one. DVS's own page sets out the alternatives: a joint owner with OR on the title needs only proof of death; an estate in probate needs certified letters from a Minnesota court; where there are no legal heirs at all, an Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property does the job.
•The conjunction on the title decides which route. Where OR appears next to the first owner's name, the survivor needs proof of death, the title and the fees - and nothing else. Where it does not, this form or a collection affidavit is required.
•The signer signs in their own name. Nobody signs on behalf of the person who died. The heir signs as themselves, states the relationship, and the vehicle is assigned to them.
Every line here was read off PS2071 (08/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
