How to fill out Nebraska Decedent Affidavit

Nebraska's route around probate for a car in a dead relative's name, and the statute is printed under the form's own title: s. 30-24,125. A claiming successor swears five numbered things - that the value of all personal property in the decedent's estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed one hundred thousand dollars (real estate not counted); that thirty days have elapsed since death with the death certificate or abstract of death attached; the relationship, or the basis of the claim where there is none; that no other person has a right to the decedent's interest; and that the claimant is entitled to the title. Two conditions ride below the oath: no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted, or ten years have elapsed since the estate closed. The successor's signature is notarised - the DMV's page says so in terms - and the title issues in the successor's name only. It cannot issue to a purchaser, however ready the purchaser is.

Written against Decedent Affidavit (Rev 09/2024), issued under Neb. Rev. Stat. s. 30-24,125, collection of personal property by affidavit; filed with the county treasurer where the successor resides. The affidavit asks you to swear a negative - that no other person has a right to the interest of the decedent - and that is the line to slow down on. Siblings, a surviving spouse's allowances, a will nobody has read yet: each can put a right in someone else's hands, and the oath is sworn under the perjury statute with the county keeping the paper. Where the family tree has any complexity, the DMV's own decedent-vehicle line at 402-471-3918 answers this exact category of question, and asking first is cheaper than amending sworn filings later.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Decedent Affidavit from the dmv.nebraska.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Decedent Affidavit 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

   Gather before you write: death certificate, title, day count

   The death certificate or abstract of death must attach; the Nebraska title attaches if available; thirty days must have passed since the death.

   Watch out: If the title cannot be found, call the DMV before filing so a record search confirms a Nebraska title exists - and add the odometer statement to the packet for a motor vehicle.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Venue and claimant lines

   The county where you will swear it, then each claiming successor's name and full address.

   Watch out: Two successors can claim together on one affidavit, and both then appear on the new title - decide the ownership answer before the notary, not at the counter.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Name the decedent, and your relationship

   The deceased owner's name in the claiming sentence, then the relationship line - or the basis of the claim where no relationship exists.

   Watch out: Write the relationship as the death certificate and your own documents would support it. This is the line a county compares against the surname that does not match.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Tick the condition that is true

   No personal-representative petition pending or granted, or the estate closed more than ten years ago.

   Watch out: If neither box is honestly tickable, the affidavit route is closed and the estate needs the courthouse - a court-appointed representative then assigns the title with their letter of appointment attached.

5. 5
   You fill this in

   Describe the vehicle

   Title number if known, the VIN, year, make and model.

   Watch out: The registration certificate in the decedent's papers carries the title number and VIN both - worth finding before the notary visit.

6. 6
   You fill this in

   Swear it, stamp it, file it where you live

   Sign before a Notary Public or designated County Official, then file with the county treasurer where the successor resides, attachments and all.

   Watch out: The title that issues names you. Selling the car is then a second transfer with its own Seller's section, odometer certification and Form 6 - plan the timeline as two transactions, because Nebraska will not compress them into one.

What gets this one rejected

• •Skipping straight to the buyer. The instruction is unambiguous - the title must be issued in the name of the successor(s); it cannot be issued in the name of the purchaser - so the sale is a second, ordinary transfer after this one completes.
• •Filing before day thirty. The statute and the form both require that thirty days have elapsed since death, and the county counts from the death certificate attached to the affidavit.
• •Swearing it while a probate petition is pending. The affidavit route exists only where no personal representative has been sought or appointed - a pending petition, even one the family plans to withdraw, makes the box untickable.
• •Leaving the Nebraska title off without telling anyone. The certificate must be attached if available; if it cannot be found, the DMV must be contacted first to search for the record, and an Odometer Disclosure Statement joins the packet for a motor vehicle.
• •Treating an unreleased lien as the estate's problem to ignore. The form's first instruction warns that any unreleased lien on the title will transfer to the new title - the successor takes the car with the debt still noted on it.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •The $100,000 ceiling is the whole estate, not the car. The oath covers the value of all personal property in the decedent's estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances - a modest car in a large estate fails the test even though the car itself is cheap. Real estate is excluded from the count.
• •Where it files is fixed by the living, not the dead. The affidavit and its attachments go to the county treasurer in the county where the successor resides - not where the decedent lived or the car is parked.
• •Survivorship titles skip this form entirely. A title naming two owners joined by OR, or carrying With Rights Of Survivorship, passes to the survivor on a death certificate alone - the survivor assigns to a buyer directly or takes a title in their own name first to quiet identity-theft worries. Names joined by AND without those words go to probate, not to this affidavit.
• •Transfer On Death outranks it too. Where the certificate carries a TOD tag, ownership vests in the beneficiary at the death, subject to lienholders' rights - the beneficiary titles on a death certificate and an ordinary application, and the affidavit never enters the story.
• •Out-of-state titles change the recipe. A decedent titled in another state routes through that state's estate paperwork: Nebraska accepts the foreign title assigned by a court-appointed administrator with the letter of appointment attached, and this affidavit stays in the drawer.

Every line here was read off Decedent Affidavit (Rev 09/2024) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles, Driver and Vehicle Records Division 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 Nebraska seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Nebraska involves.