How to fill out Montana MV40

A vehicle titled in the name of a trust cannot sign anything, so somebody has to prove they may sign for it. This is that proof: a one-page statement naming the trust, its trustee and any secondary or successor trustee, its grantor, and how many trustees have to sign before title to trust property can move. It comes out whenever a Montana title reads in the name of a family trust - increasingly often on a car that came through an estate plan rather than through probate - and it saves handing a county treasurer a forty-page trust instrument to read at the counter.

Written against MV40 (10/19), issued under prescribed by the Motor Vehicle Division for a vehicle held in trust; signed under MCA 45-7-203. Answer the how-many-trustees question from the trust instrument, not from what feels reasonable. If the deed requires all trustees to act together and this form says one may sign, the title transfer that follows was made by somebody who did not have authority to make it - and that is a problem that surfaces long after the car has gone.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV40 from the mvdmt.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MV40 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank MV40 — Statement of Trustee PDF at mvdmt.gov · new tab Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in MV40 guide PDF · print and keep beside you

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual MV40, rendered from the PDF the Montana Department of Justice, Motor Vehicle Division, Vehicle Services Bureau 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 completed Montana MV40 Statement of Trustee, made in the State of Montana, County of Fergus. Delphine R. Kowalchuk certifies that the Kowalchuk Family Revocable Living Trust dated 14 March 2011 has been created, that she is the trustee, and that the grantor was Orval T. Kowalchuk. The first tick option is marked, settling how many trustees may sign to transfer title to trust property, and the statement is dated 07/09/2026. The second-line continuation fields, the secondary and successor trustee blocks and the attorney's date line are shaded grey. — Rendered from the division's own PDF and completed by a sole acting trustee. The successor-trustee blocks are shaded because the original trustee is the one signing - they are the fields that matter when the person named in the trust deed has died and somebody else has stepped in.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Where the statement is made
State and county.
Watch out: This form carries no notary block, so these two lines are simply where you are. They are not an acknowledgement and no seal belongs beside them.
2
You fill this in
The trust, by its full name
The name of the trust as the title records it, with a second line for a long one.
Watch out: Include the date in the name if the title does - Kowalchuk Family Revocable Living Trust dated 14 March 2011 and the same trust without a date read as two different owners at a counter.
3
You fill this in
Trustee, successor trustee, grantor
Who is acting, who steps in, and who created the trust.
Watch out: Fill the successor line even when the original trustee is signing today. It is the field a treasurer looks at first when the person on the title deed has died.
4
You fill this in
How many trustees may sign
One of three tick options, with a number where a specific count applies.
Watch out: Take this from the trust instrument. It is the only fact on the form the county cannot check any other way, and it is the one that authorises the signature on the title.
5
You fill this in
Sign and date it
One signature, with a separate date line beneath for the trust's attorney where one is involved.
Watch out: The statement travels with the title paperwork it describes. Sent on its own, it is a document about a trust with no vehicle attached to it.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
State of, County of	Where the statement is made.
I, ... having the authority to make this statement, certify that	The person signing, and the assertion that they have authority to make the statement at all.
The following named trust has been created	The trust's full name, over two lines, as the title records it.
and the Trustee(s) is	The acting trustee or trustees, over two lines.
or the Secondary or Successor Trustee(s) is	The person who steps in - the block that matters when the original trustee has died or resigned.
And the grantor(s) is	Who created the trust.
The appointment and authority statement	That the named person was appointed trustee, is acting as trustee, and has full power and authority to transfer title to all property held by the trust, including motor vehicles and vessels; and that the vehicle identified in the attached title paperwork is part of the trust.
How many trustees may sign	Three tick options with a number blank, settling whether one trustee, all trustees, or a stated number may sign to transfer title to all property.
Signature and date	One block, with a second date line beneath for the trust's attorney where one signs.

What gets this one rejected

•A trust name that does not match the title. The certificate names the trust; a statement about a differently named trust proves nothing about this car.
•No answer to the how-many-trustees question. It is the operative fact for the counter, and a form that leaves it blank has not answered the question it was written for.
•A successor trustee asserting authority with no supporting document. The manual takes documents appointing a trustee or conservator as part of the transaction, and a successor's authority usually needs the instrument behind it.
•A statement filed without the title paperwork. Its own wording ties it to the vehicle identified in the attached title paperwork; on its own there is nothing for it to attach to.
•A trustee signing the title without the trust's name. The manual's format rules for signing on behalf of another apply here as everywhere - the entity, then the person, then the capacity.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•Trust-held vehicles are ordinary otherwise. Every form in this section carries the same line - if signing for a business entity or trust, I have full authority to do so. This statement is the evidence behind that sentence.
•A trustee can get a replacement title. The manual: a guardian, trustee or conservator can apply for a replacement title, with the documents appointing such officers submitted alongside the application.
•It is not a beneficiary designation. A trust owns the car outright; MCA 61-3-226's beneficiary designation is a transfer at death. The two solve different problems and the manual treats them separately.
•The connector rule applies to trustees too. Where a document appoints more than one person and joins their names with and, all of them sign; jointly or severally means one will do. The tick boxes here record which.
•No notary. The form carries none, and since October 2025 the title it accompanies does not either - the certification under MCA 45-7-203 is what stands behind both.

Every line here was read off MV40 (10/19) 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.

How to fill out Montana MV40

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Where the statement is made

The trust, by its full name

Trustee, successor trustee, grantor

How many trustees may sign

Sign and date it

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Want the paperwork handled instead?

Or send the details — we'll come to you