How to fill out Nevada VP 188, the Trust Appointment and Powers Affidavit
Proves you are a trustee and that the trust gave you power to sign for a vehicle it owns. A car titled to a family trust cannot be signed over by whoever happens to be holding the keys — the DMV needs to see the authority, and this is where you declare it.
Written against VP 188 (2/2023), issued under NRS 163 and NRS 482.215.
February 2023 revision. One sentence on this form decides whether the rest of it is any use: the affiant completing it must be the same person who signs the certificate of title. Two trustees cannot split the job between them.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank VP 188 from the dmv.nv.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our VP 188 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual VP 188, rendered from the PDF the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles 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
VP-188 completed by a trustee selling a 2012 Camry held by a family trust. The mailing city, state and ZIP are grey because the mailing address matches the physical one.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Your name as trustee
The opening line: "I ___ declare that I have been appointed as a Trustee of ___".
Watch out: This has to be the same person who will sign the certificate of title. Decide now which trustee is doing the whole job.
2
You fill this in
Name of the trust
The trust's name, 50 characters or fewer.
Watch out: As the trust document names it. If the full registered name runs past 50 characters, ask the DMV how they want it entered rather than inventing a short form.
3
You fill this in
Year, make and model
The vehicle the trustee power is being declared over.
Watch out: Copy from the title. One affidavit covers one vehicle, so a trust selling two cars needs two of these.
4
You fill this in
Vehicle Identification Number
One character per box.
Watch out: Check it against the title before you sign. Nothing on this form can be corrected once it has been witnessed.
5
You fill this in
Affiant's printed full legal name
Your name again, printed.
Watch out: It repeats deliberately, and it has to match the opening line and the signature on the title. The DMV is building a chain between three documents.
6
You fill this in
Licence number or date of birth
Nevada driver's licence or identification number, or date of birth.
Watch out: Yours as trustee, not the trust's tax number. The trust is not the person swearing this.
7
You fill this in
Physical address
Street, city, state and ZIP.
Watch out: Where you live. Check the insurance card before you go in: the name on it has to match a trustee or the trust.
8
You fill this in
Mailing address
Where post goes, if different.
Watch out: "Same as physical" when they match, which leaves no doubt that the block was read rather than skipped.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Trustee
Your name and the name of the trust, 50 characters or fewer.
The vehicle
Year, make, model and VIN.
Affiant
Printed full legal name, licence or ID number or date of birth, physical and mailing address.
Notarization
Signed under oath in front of a notary, or a Nevada DMV representative who can witness.
What gets this one rejected
•One trustee swearing the affidavit and another signing the title. The form requires them to be the same person.
•A trust name that will not fit. The field allows 50 characters or fewer; a longer registered name has to be resolved with the DMV rather than abbreviated on a whim.
•An insurance card in the wrong name. NRS 482.215 requires Nevada evidence of insurance at registration, and the form states the insured name must match either a trustee or the trust, as the vehicle will be registered.
•Signing before you reach the notary, or changing anything after it is witnessed.
•Using it for a deceased person's vehicle that is not in a trust. That is the estate route, not this one.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The affidavit is your declaration under penalty of perjury that you hold the trustee power to sign for the transfer of that specific vehicle.
•It is written against one described vehicle. A trust holding three cars needs three affidavits.
•NRS 163 is Nevada's trust chapter, which is what the citation at the top of the form is pointing at.
Every line here was read off VP 188 (2/2023) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
