The route out of an estate that avoids probate altogether. On the death of a married Ohio resident who owned at least one automobile, the surviving spouse may take an unlimited number of vehicles up to a combined value, plus one boat and one outboard motor, on this affidavit alone. It is headed for the Court of Common Pleas and it is sworn - five numbered statements, each of which the affiant is certifying under oath.
Written against BMV 3773 (12/25), issued under Ohio Revised Code 2106.18 and 4505.10.
Selling a car that is still in a dead spouse's name is not a paperwork shortcut - it is a sale by somebody who does not yet own it. This affidavit is how the ownership moves first, and it costs one visit.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank BMV 3773 from the dam.assets.ohio.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.
This is the actual BMV 3773, 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 3773. The vehicle block is worth a look: the BMV prints five bare labels there with no ruled line beside any of them, so the values go in the white space to the right of the words.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
The court heading
The county whose Court of Common Pleas the clerk of courts belongs to, and the date of the affidavit.
Watch out: This is a court document as well as a title document, which is why the county at the top matters. Use the county where the title office you are going to sits.
2
You fill this in
In the matter of the Estate of
The decedent's full name, on the rule above the word Decedent.
Watch out: The name as the death certificate spells it, and as the title spells it. Where the two differ, the clerk will want to see why before the affidavit is accepted.
3
You fill this in
Who died, and when
The decedent's name again inside statement one, then the day, month and year of death.
Watch out: The date has to match the certified death certificate you are bringing with it - this is the one figure on the form that is checked against another document at the counter.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle
VIN, make, model description, year and Ohio title number, written beside the printed labels.
Watch out: There are no rules drawn under these five labels, and the space to the right of them is narrower than it looks. Print small and start immediately after the colon.
5
You fill this in
Approximate value
What the vehicle is worth, on the line after the dollar sign.
Watch out: Statement three is a certification about the combined value of everything being transferred this way. If there is a second car, the two figures together are what has to stay under the ceiling.
6
You fill this in
The surviving spouse signature
One line, signed in front of the officer taking the acknowledgement.
Watch out: Having been duly cautioned and sworn - the opening words of the affidavit. It is an oath, not a form.
7
You fill this in
The notary block
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence, then the county the oath was taken in, the state, the seal, the officer's signature and their commission expiry.
Watch out: Take the certified death certificate, the original title, an application on BMV 3774 and photo identification in the same trip. All four are on the BMV's list for this transfer.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Court heading
In the Court of Common Pleas, ______ County, Ohio, and the date.
In the matter of the Estate of
The decedent's name, on a rule with the word Decedent printed under it.
State of Ohio, County of
The venue for the oath, followed by the letters SS.
The five statements
That the affiant is the surviving spouse of the named decedent, who died on a stated day; that the decedent owned the automobile described below; that where more than one automobile is being transferred the combined approximate value does not exceed the statutory ceiling; that the automobile is not being transferred under R.C. 2131.12 or 2131.13 or disposed of by will; and that the affiant is entitled to it under R.C. 2106.18.
Vehicle
Five bare labels with no ruled lines beside them - VIN, Make, Model Description, Year and Ohio Title Number - then an approximate value with a dollar sign, and the replica question with its own make, model description and year.
Surviving spouse signature
One line, above the notary block.
Notary
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence this ___ day of ______, 20 ___ in ______ County, State of ______, with the seal, signature and commission expiry.
What gets this one rejected
•A vehicle that is already going somewhere else. Statement four rules out anything passing under joint ownership with right of survivorship, to a transfer-on-death beneficiary, or specifically disposed of by will.
•A combined value over the ceiling printed in statement three. The affidavit is a small-estate route and the figure on the form is the limit of it.
•An approximate value left blank. The whole eligibility test is a value test, and the block is where the affiant states it.
•Someone other than the spouse swearing it. The form is titled surviving spouse affidavit and statement one is a certification of that relationship.
•Filing it without a certified copy of the death certificate. The BMV's list for this transfer asks for the original Ohio title, the certified death certificate, an application for title on BMV 3774 and this affidavit listing the vehicle's make, model, year, body type, vehicle identification number and value.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•A lien survives the transfer. The BMV states it plainly: this transfer does not affect any liens upon the vehicle, and if a lien exists it will be carried forward.
•It travels with an application. This affidavit establishes the entitlement; the new certificate still has to be applied for, on BMV 3774, at a county clerk of courts title office.
•No odometer disclosure is required. R.C. 4505.06 exempts a transfer to a survivor under 2106.18 from giving odometer information - which is why there is no mileage block anywhere on this form.
Every line here was read off BMV 3773 (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.
