Ohio will not move a title into or out of a minor's name on the minor's signature alone. This is the consent of a parent, guardian or other person having custody, for a minor to acquire or dispose of a motor vehicle in the minor's name - notarised, naming the child and the car, and surrendered with the title. It is needed on both sides of a sale: the BMV asks for it whether the minor is the seller or the buyer.
Written against BMV 3751 (12/25), issued under Ohio Revised Code 4505.031.
This is one of the few Ohio title documents where a licensed dealer can take the signature instead of a notary. That exception belongs to the dealer, not to a private buyer who happens to sell cars on the side.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank BMV 3751 from the dam.assets.ohio.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual BMV 3751, rendered from the PDF the Ohio Bureau 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
The actual BMV 3751, completed for a seventeen-year-old selling his own truck. The dealer block at the bottom is greyed because it is an alternative to the notary block above it, not an addition to it.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
County
State of Ohio is already printed; the county where the consent is being sworn goes on the rule beside it.
Watch out: The county here and the county in the notary block are the same one - it is where the signing happens, not where the car is.
2
You fill this in
I, ______
The adult's name: the parent, guardian or other person having custody.
Watch out: The adult is the one certifying, and the certification is about their own relationship to the child. Getting the two names the wrong way round is the single commonest error on this form.
3
You fill this in
having custody of ______, a minor
The minor's name, then their date of birth in the box to the right.
Watch out: The date of birth box carries its own printed slashes. Write the three parts into the spaces between them rather than over the top.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year, manufacturer's serial number, make, model and body type.
Watch out: Manufacturer's serial number means the vehicle identification number. It is the same seventeen characters as everywhere else, under an older name.
5
You fill this in
The adult's signature
One signature line, for the parent, guardian or other person having custody.
Watch out: Signed in front of whoever is taking the acknowledgement, and no earlier. There is no second line, so a second parent does not sign here.
6
You fill this in
The notary block
The officer fills the whole thing in: the day and month, the year after the printed 20, the county, the state, the seal, their own signature and the date their commission runs out.
Watch out: This is the route almost everyone takes. The block below it is only for a signature taken in front of a licensed motor vehicle dealer.
7
Dealers only
For licensed motor vehicle dealer only
A dealer, employee or agent signs and dates to acknowledge that reasonable diligence was used in ascertaining the minor's age and the adult's identity.
Watch out: If that block is signed, the notary block above it is not needed - and the reverse is also true. One or the other, never both.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
State and county
State of Ohio is printed; the county goes on the rule beside it, followed by the letters SS.
The certification
I, ______ hereby certify that I am the parent, guardian, or other person having custody of ______ a minor, whose date of birth is __/__/__ - and hereby grant consent to said minor to acquire or dispose of the following described motor vehicle.
The vehicle
Year, manufacturer's serial number, make, model and body type, then the replica question with its own make, model and year boxes.
Signature
One line: the signature of the parent, guardian or other person having custody.
Notary
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence, the day, month, year, county and state, the seal, the officer's signature and the commission expiry.
For licensed motor vehicle dealer only
A separate block at the foot. Where the adult signs in front of a licensed dealer instead, the form needs no notarisation and no clerk's signature, and the dealer signs to acknowledge that they used reasonable diligence in ascertaining the minor's age and the adult's identity.
What gets this one rejected
•The minor's own signature in the consent block. The person certifying is the adult; the minor is the person named in the second blank.
•A guardian without the court document. The Clerk of Courts Association's guidance is that a guardian must provide the court document showing they are the legal guardian of the minor.
•A form completed but not notarised, where no dealer is involved. The dealer exception at the foot is exactly that - an exception for a signature taken in front of a licensed dealer.
•Leaving the date of birth blank. The whole document turns on the fact that the person named is a minor, and the date of birth is what establishes it.
•Assuming it travels with the child rather than with the car. The vehicle is described on the form, and a different car means a different consent.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Either party being under eighteen triggers it. The BMV lists it under both halves of an electronic-title private sale: if the seller is a minor, form BMV 3751 is required, and the same line appears against the buyer.
•The minor still has to be dealt with in person, or the adult does. The Clerk of Courts Association's guidance is that the minor brings the consent form with the certificate of title to the title office, or the parent or guardian appears in person with the minor at the time of transfer.
Every line here was read off BMV 3751 (12/25) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the Ohio Bureau 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.
