How to fill out Montana MV10

For a vehicle you own but cannot prove you own - bought years ago on a handshake, inherited from a shed, taken in payment for work, with a previous owner who cannot be found to sign anything. The manual's own description: the break/bond process may be used when an applicant cannot provide a certificate of title assigning the prior owner's interest. Only Montana residents can apply. Three pages, and the middle one is the whole argument: whether the vehicle is in mechanically functional condition, and what it is worth, decide between no bond at all and a three-year surety bond for the vehicle's full value.

Written against MV10 (7/26), issued under MCA 61-3-208, affidavit and bond for certificate of title. This is one of the two Montana title transactions where a notary genuinely survives. MCA 61-3-208(2)(a) requires the affidavit to be signed and sworn to before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and instruction 5 requires a notarised MV24 wherever the vehicle is not mechanically functional - so a seller who assumes the October 2025 change swept all of that away arrives at the counter with unsworn documents.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV10 from the mvdmt.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV10 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Section 1: the applicant, and the residency rule

   Legal name and identification number, mailing and residential addresses with counties, phone and email.

   Watch out: Only Montana residents can apply for a bonded title. There is no version of this route for an out-of-state owner of a Montana car.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Section 2: the vehicle, and the ten-year line

   VIN, year, make, model, body style, colour and ton - with the vessel row left alone on a road vehicle.

   Watch out: A vehicle ten years and newer sitting in another state has to be brought to Montana for its inspection. An older one can be inspected where it stands, by a sworn officer of that state, on the Montana form.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Section 2a: which certification is true

   The first box confirms every step to locate the existing title or secure a replacement has been exhausted; the second is for a vehicle that came through the abandoned vehicle process.

   Watch out: These are not two ways of saying the same thing. The second certifies two unsuccessful attempts using a statutory abandonment procedure, and ticking it about a private purchase is a false certification.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   How you came by it

   Who from, when, their address, and the vehicle's value.

   Watch out: Write the actual story and attach the proof of purchase instruction 2 asks for - a bill of sale, a cancelled cheque cleared by the bank, an invoice.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Section 3: the security interest question

   No continues; yes sends you to an MV81B with $8.24 for each interest.

   Watch out: The statute requires the affidavit to disclose liens known to you. Not knowing of one and saying no are the same answer, but a loan the previous owner mentioned is something you know about.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Section 4: mechanically functional, or not

   The form's definition is needing only minor reconditioning, mostly usable as-is - and expressly not a parts car or a non-runner.

   Watch out: Certifying that it does NOT meet the condition triggers instruction 5: a completed and notarised MV24 to certify the value. That notary is not optional.

7. 7
   You fill this in

   The value branch

   $1,000 or more means a three-year surety bond equal to the vehicle value; less than $1,000 means no bond.

   Watch out: A vehicle thirty years old or older needs no bond whatever its condition or value - the exemption is printed inside section 4 itself, and it is the line most people miss.

8. 8
   Somebody else fills this in

   Sections 5 and 6 are other property

   A manufactured home valued by the Department of Revenue's Property Assessment Division; or a camper, off-highway vehicle, boat, personal watercraft, sailboat or snowmobile, which need no bond at all.

   Watch out: On a car, leave both alone. Filling in the manufactured-home valuation because it looks like a value box is the commonest way this page goes wrong.

9. 9
   You fill this in

   Section 7: sign it - and get it sworn

   Printed name, signature and date under MCA 45-7-203.

   Watch out: MCA 61-3-208(2)(a) still requires this affidavit to be signed and sworn before an officer authorized to administer oaths. The October 2025 change removed the notary from title transfers, not from this.

What gets this one rejected

• •A bill of sale that is not notarised on a non-functional vehicle. Instruction 5 is explicit: if the vehicle is not in mechanically functional condition, attach a completed and notarized Bill of Sale (MV24) to certify value - and the MV24 prints the same requirement on its own second page.
• •No VIN inspection. Instruction 1 is the first thing on the page: have a law enforcement officer complete a Stage 1 Vehicle/OHV Identification Number Inspection Form, or the vessel version for a boat.
• •Photographs missing where they are required. Three are asked for with the inspection - the majority of the vehicle, the public VIN, and for a 2011-or-newer vehicle the odometer at the time of inspection - though a vehicle inspected inside Montana need not send them unless the department asks.
• •The abandoned-vehicle box ticked on a car that was simply bought privately. It certifies two attempts using the abandoned vehicle process, which is a different procedure with its own steps.
• •A non-resident applying. The manual's first line on the process: only Montana residents can apply for a bonded title.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •Thirty years old, and the bond question disappears. Printed inside section 4 itself: vehicles 30 years and older do not require a Surety Bond regardless of condition.
• •The bond is three years and the full value. Not a fraction and not open-ended - a three-year bond from a surety company authorized to do business in Montana, in an amount equal to the vehicle value.
• •A thousand dollars is the line below that. Value less than $1,000 as determined by a national appraisal guide, such as J.D. Power, needs no bond at all.
• •Out-of-state inspections have their own rules. A vehicle 10 years and newer must be inspected by a law enforcement officer in Montana; an older one may be inspected by a sworn officer of the state it is in, or by a third party where that state uses them - with a photocopy of the officer's identification or the third party's credential, and always on the Montana form.
• •Titling and registering are different errands. To title and register, take the documents to a participating county treasurer's office - and the form says call ahead to make sure the county is willing to complete the transaction. To title only, post them to the Vehicle Services Bureau with $12.36 for a light vehicle, truck or bus of one ton or less, or $10.30 for anything else.
• •A national database check can stop it. The form's own disclaimer: the information is checked against a national database of current and past title details from other states, the results may delay or prevent the issuance of a title, and the vehicle history may also require a brand to be placed.

What it costs

Every line here was read off MV10 (7/26) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division, Vehicle Services Bureau 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 Montana seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Montana involves.