The cover sheet for a title that a judge, rather than a seller, has ordered into being - a divorce decree awarding the car, a judgment, an estate's order. The form itself decides nothing: it is a summary of the attached court order and supporting documents, a quick reference for the Department of Revenue - Motor Vehicle Services, so the examiner can act on the order without hunting through it.
Written against 78-301 (09/17), issued under the Department's title examiners, as a routing sheet for the attached order.
Court-ordered and inherited are different doors: a death without a probated will goes through the 78-014 heirship affidavit, not through this summary. This form wants an actual order with a filing date - a will alone is not one.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank 78-301 from the dor.ms.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our 78-301 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual 78-301, rendered from the PDF the Mississippi Department of Revenue, Motor 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 actual 78-301, summarising a chancery decree that awarded the sedan in a divorce. Every line on it is copied from either the decree or the existing title record - the one judgment call is answered by the printed note itself, which says the order's filing date will be used as purchase date on the new certificate.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The vehicle, from the order
Year, make, model and VIN as the court order describes the vehicle.
Watch out: If the decree's VIN is wrong, stop - the summary cannot fix an order, and the correction happens at the courthouse, not the Department.
2
You fill this in
The existing-title question
Check yes or no, and supply the Mississippi title number if one exists.
Watch out: For a car your ex-spouse still holds the certificate to, yes is the answer even though you cannot produce the paper - the number, not the paper, is what the examiner needs.
3
You fill this in
New or used, and the filed date
Used, for any vehicle that has lived a life; the date the order was filed at the courthouse.
Watch out: That filing date becomes the purchase date on your record - note it, because your registration clocks read from it.
4
You fill this in
Owner name and Mississippi address
The awardee's name exactly as the order gives it, and a Mississippi address for the new certificate.
Watch out: Match the decree to the letter; a maiden name restored by the same decree belongs here only if that is how the order names the awardee.
5
You fill this in
Attach, file, pay like any title
Staple the summary to a certified copy of the order and take the package to the designated agent's counter.
Watch out: Certified copy, not a photocopy of one - courts sell them for a few dollars, and examiners can tell the difference by touch.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The vehicle
Year, make, model and serial number / V.I.N., one per line.
The title question
Is there an existing Mississippi title - check one - and if yes, please provide Mississippi title number.
New or used, and the date
To be titled as new or used, and the line that does quiet work: date court order filed (will be used as purchase date) - the decree's filing date becomes the purchase date on the new record.
The new owner
Owner name and Mississippi address - the person the order awards the vehicle to, exactly as the order names them.
What gets this one rejected
•The summary without the order. The form is a summary of the attached court order - unattached, it summarises nothing and titles nothing.
•An order that does not actually award the vehicle. The examiner reads the decree; a property settlement that never mentions the truck cannot be summarised into mentioning it.
•A name that differs from the decree. The owner line must carry the name as the court wrote it - the certificate will be issued to the order's awardee, not to a nickname.
•Guessing at the existing title number. The check-one question exists because the answer routes the file - if a Mississippi title exists, find its number through the record rather than leaving the examiner to reconcile two files.
•Expecting it to skip the counter. The new owner still applies through a designated agent with fees and taxes as applicable - the order replaces the seller's assignment, not the titling process.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Why sellers meet this form. Because divorce is a way cars change owners without a sale. If the decree gave you the vehicle and your ex-spouse's name is on the certificate, this summary plus a certified copy of the decree is how the title becomes yours to sign when you eventually sell - and doing it now, rather than at your buyer's counter visit, is the difference between a sale and a scramble.
•The purchase-date line matters later. Whatever date the order was filed becomes the purchase date on the record, and every later clock - registration windows, penalty ladders - reads from it. A decree filed months before anyone visits the counter has already been running those clocks.
