For a car left by somebody who died without an executor and without probate. It is not a supporting document - the DMV's own instruction is that this affidavit replaces the transfer of ownership on the back of the title, which should now be left blank. The heir swears they are the sole heir, assigns the vehicle straight to a purchaser, and discloses the mileage in the same breath.
Written against Sole Heir Affidavit (Rev 07/20), issued under R.I. Gen. Laws § 31-3.1-14.
The affidavit and the certificate cannot both carry the transfer. If the back of the title has already been signed in the decedent's name, or signed by an heir in the seller area, this affidavit no longer describes what happened - and there is no route back except a duplicate certificate on the TR-2/TR-9, notarised and paid for again.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Sole Heir Affidavit from the dmv.ri.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Sole Heir Affidavit guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual Sole Heir Affidavit, rendered from the PDF the Rhode Island Division 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
One sheet that does the whole job of the assignment block. The line across the bottom is a document, not a warning - a certified copy of the death certificate goes with it. And because this affidavit replaces the transfer on the back of the title, that side of the certificate is left blank.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Name the decedent and the date of death
Two rules in the opening sentence, sworn under penalty of perjury.
Watch out: Spell the name as the certificate of title or the registration spells it, then check it against the death certificate you are attaching. Those two documents are what the Research Office reconciles.
2
You fill this in
Read the sole-heir paragraph before you sign anything
A printed declaration that you are the sole heir under Rhode Island law, that no letters testamentary or of administration have been issued, and that no petition is pending.
Watch out: If probate has been opened, or an executor has been appointed, this is the wrong form entirely - the administrator signs the title as seller and the DMV's Transfer at Death route applies.
3
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year, make and identification number, after the printed statement that there are no liens or encumbrances on it.
Watch out: That statement is part of what you are swearing. A car with a loan outstanding cannot go on this affidavit at all.
4
You fill this in
Assign and warrant title to the purchaser
Printed name, residence address and signature of whoever is taking the car.
Watch out: This block is doing the work the back of a certificate normally does. Write the buyer's name off their licence, and have them sign it where you can see.
5
You fill this in
The odometer reading
Whole miles, with the two numbered alternatives beneath - in excess of mechanical limits, or not the actual mileage with the odometer discrepancy warning.
Watch out: The federal warning printed above the line is the real one: failure to complete or providing a false statement may result in fines and/or imprisonment. An heir who does not know the car's history still has to write what the dial says.
6
You fill this in
Sign as heir, and state the relationship
One of three paired rules - signature on the left, relationship to decedent on the right.
Watch out: Daughter, son, brother. If more than one person is swearing this, each of them uses their own pair of rules and each states their own relationship.
7
You fill this in
Answer the disclosure question
Yes or no on release of personal information from the motor vehicle record.
Watch out: It is about the record rather than about the estate, and it is easy to tick through without reading. Decide it deliberately.
8
Somebody else fills this in
Swear it in front of a notary
The jurat at the foot: subscribed and sworn this day, with the notary's signature and commission expiration date.
Watch out: The commission expiration date is marked mandatory on the form. A Rhode Island notary's stamp has to be inked, not embossed.
9
You fill this in
Attach a certified copy of the death certificate
The line in capitals across the bottom of the sheet.
Watch out: Certified, not a photocopy. On the DMV's separate Transfer at Death route an original is asked for and copied at the counter, which is worth knowing before you post the only one you have.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
The decedent and the date of death
Two rules in the opening sentence, sworn under penalty of perjury.
The sole-heir declaration
A printed paragraph: that under the laws of the State of Rhode Island the signatories are the sole heir or heirs, that no letters testamentary or letters of administration upon the estate have been issued, and that no petition therefore is pending.
The vehicle
Year, make and vehicle identification number, following the printed statement that there are no liens or encumbrances on it.
Assign and warrant title to
The purchaser's printed name, residence address and signature - the words assign and warrant are the same words section 31-3.1-12 uses for the block on the back of a certificate.
The odometer statement
A federal warning that you must state the mileage upon transfer of ownership and that failure to complete or providing a false statement may result in fines and/or imprisonment, then the reading in whole miles marked no tenths and the two numbered alternatives.
Signature of heirs, and relationship to decedent
Three paired rules - a signature on the left and the relationship on the right.
Disclosure consent
A yes or no tick on release of personal information from the motor vehicle record.
Notary
Subscribed and sworn to me this day, with the notary's signature and a commission expiration date marked mandatory.
What gets this one rejected
•An affidavit filed without a death certificate. The line across the foot is in capitals: CERTIFIED COPY OF DEATH CERTIFICATE REQUIRED WITH THIS DOCUMENT.
•An estate that has been through probate. The sworn declaration is that no letters testamentary or letters of administration have been issued and no petition is pending - where an executor or administrator exists, the DMV's Transfer at Death route applies instead and the administrator signs the title as seller.
•A vehicle with a lien on it. The affidavit states there are no liens or encumbrances, and there is no block to release one.
•Both the affidavit and the back of the title completed. The DMV's instruction is that this affidavit replaces the transfer of ownership on the back of the title, which should now be left blank.
•A missing relationship. Each heir's signature has a relationship to decedent rule beside it and the affidavit's whole claim rests on them.
•An un-notarised affidavit, or one with the commission expiration date left blank - the form marks it mandatory.
•A mileage figure carried to a tenth, in a block that prints no tenths beside the line.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•A surviving spouse does not need this at all. Section 31-3.1-37 passes a decedent's vehicles to the surviving spouse unless the will says otherwise, and no fee shall be charged to the surviving spouse for issuance of a new certificate of title. The DMV's Surviving Spouse page tells them to sign the vehicle over to themselves in both the buyer and seller areas on the back of the title instead.
•It assigns straight to the buyer. The block is headed and hereby assign and warrant title to this vehicle to, with the purchaser's name, address and signature. There is no intermediate step where the car passes into the heir's name first.
•The old-car rule reaches this group too. The DMV's Transfer at Death page splits on the same 2001 line: a Rhode Island vehicle of model year 2000 or older first registered to the deceased before 1 January 2024 needs a bill of sale or gift letter and valid proof of ownership in the deceased person's name, not a title.
•Three rules for heirs, and they are all signatures. The affidavit anticipates more than one person swearing it. If there are two of you, both sign and both state a relationship - the word sole in the title is about the class of heirs, not the number of them.
Every line here was read off Sole Heir Affidavit (Rev 07/20) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Rhode Island Division 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.
