Missouri's bill of sale, and the second document that satisfies the thirty-day notice requirement - the Department names it alongside Form 5049 for exactly that job. It is laid out for four kinds of property at once, with separate blocks for a motor vehicle, a boat, an outboard motor and a unit taken in even trade, and a notary block at the foot that is only used in two narrow situations.
Written against Form 1957 (Rev 08-2019), issued under RSMo 301.196.
One form, four kinds of property and three sale-date boxes. Fill in the block that matches what you sold and leave the other three empty rather than repeating the vehicle details down the page - a boat block completed for a car is a discrepancy, not a belt and braces.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Form 1957 from the dor.mo.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual Form 1957, rendered from the PDF the Missouri Department of Revenue 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
Only the top two columns and the motor vehicle block are amber. Everything grey belongs to a transaction this is not - a vessel, an outboard motor, an even trade - and the notary block at the foot stays empty because a private car sale is neither a rebuilt vehicle nor a case the Department has asked to see sworn. The two signature rules under the perjury declaration are blank because the Department's fillable PDF puts no box behind them: they are meant for a pen, and we do not draw a rectangle the agency has not.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The two columns at the top
Purchaser's names typed or printed on the left with their address beneath, seller's on the right with yours.
Watch out: They are not in the order you expect. The buyer is the left-hand column on this form, and writing your own details there is the commonest way it comes back.
2
You fill this in
Year, make and title number
The motor vehicle band, taken off the face of the certificate.
Watch out: The title number is the long number printed at the top right of a Missouri title, not the vehicle identification number - both have a box on this row.
3
You fill this in
Vehicle identification number
Seventeen characters, in the widest box on the row.
Watch out: Read it back against the title once you have written it. This form may end up standing in for the bill of sale when the buyer titles the car, and a wrong character makes it useless for that.
4
You fill this in
Sale date and sale price
Eight date cells and a price, both in the motor vehicle block.
Watch out: Where you are using this instead of Form 5049, the sale date is what the thirty days runs from - and the Department wants it to match the date on the title assignment.
5
You fill this in
The even-trade half
Blocks for a boat, a trailer and an outboard motor, and a Unit or Vehicle Traded For band underneath them.
Watch out: Leave all of it empty on an ordinary cash sale. The form's own note is only to complete the traded-for section if an even trade occurred.
6
You fill this in
Sold for destruction
A Yes and a No box beside the signature lines.
Watch out: No, unless the car is genuinely going to a scrapyard. It is a declaration about the unit rather than a description of its condition, and it follows the vehicle.
7
You fill this in
One signature from each side
Signature of One Purchaser and Signature of One Seller, under the perjury declaration.
Watch out: One of each is enough on this form even where two people own the car - which is the opposite of the title assignment, where every owner on the face has to sign.
8
You fill this in
The notary block, usually empty
The whole band at the bottom of the sheet, from the stamp box on the left to the expiry date on the right.
Watch out: Read the line above it before you book anything. Notary required for rebuilt vehicle or when specifically requested to be notarized by the Department of Revenue - on an ordinary sale, neither applies.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Purchaser and seller columns
Two columns across the top - names typed or printed, address, city, state and ZIP for each side. The buyer is on the left, you are on the right.
Motor Vehicle
Year in four cells, make, title number and vehicle identification number, then the sale date in eight cells and the sale price.
Boat and Trailer
A pair of blocks for a vessel and a trailer, each with year, make, title number, an identification number, its own sale date and its own price.
Outboard Motor
Year, make, title number, motor identification number, horsepower, sale date and price.
Unit or Vehicle Traded For
Year, make, title number and vehicle identification number of whatever came the other way in an even trade.
Unit or Vehicle Sold For Destruction
A Yes or No pair of boxes beside the signature line, which changes what the buyer can do with the unit.
Signatures
Signature of One Purchaser and Signature of One Seller, under a declaration that reads: under penalties of perjury, I declare that the information I have provided and any attached supplement is true, complete, and correct.
Notary block
A wide band across the foot: a space for the embosser or rubber stamp, the day, the month and the year written out, then the jurisdiction, the officer's signature, their name typed or printed, and an eight-cell expiry date. It is headed with the condition rather than the instruction - required for a rebuilt vehicle, or when the Department specifically asks.
What gets this one rejected
•Leaving the sale price out. On a bill of sale that is the point of the document, and where it stands in for a notice of sale the Department is reading it for the price.
•Filling in the even-trade half of the form when nothing was traded. The traded-for block describes a second unit changing hands, not a part exchange against cash.
•Getting it notarised when nothing calls for it, or skipping the notary when something does. The printed condition is proof of ownership on major component parts of a rebuilt vehicle, or a specific request from the Department.
•Using it as a substitute for assigning the title. Missouri transfers ownership by assignment of the certificate under RSMo 301.210; a bill of sale records the transaction and does not move the title.
•Ticking Sold For Destruction on a car that is going to be driven. It is a statement about the unit's future, and it is beside the signature for a reason.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•It counts as your notice of sale. The Department's selling page lists a completed Notice of Sale (Form 5049) or Bill of Sale (Form 1957) as the two ways of reporting the sale within thirty days.
•A license office will notarise it for two dollars. Printed on the form: Note: License Office notary service - $2.00. That is the same counter that takes the buyer's title application.
•It also buys a temporary permit. A bill of sale on this form is one of the ownership documents the Department accepts when a buyer with no plates asks for a thirty-day permit.
Every line here was read off Form 1957 (Rev 08-2019) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Missouri Department of Revenue pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
