How to fill out Rhode Island Gift Letter (non-family)
The same gift, one step outside the family, and Rhode Island wants two things for it that the family version does not need: a notary, and a second document. The letter itself is shorter than the family one - there is no plate block on it at all - and its own note explains why it never travels alone.
Written against Gift Letter (non-family) (no revision printed), issued under RI Division of Taxation, gift exemption outside immediate family.
Do not let a notary date this letter on a different day from the SU 87-65 that goes with it. The two documents describe one transfer, the affidavit swears to the date of the gift, and a mismatch between them is the sort of thing the Excise Tax Section reads as two separate events.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank Gift Letter (non-family) from the dmv.ri.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our Gift Letter (non-family) guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual Gift Letter (non-family), 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
Shorter than the family version and heavier going. The recipient's name comes first and the giver's second, there is no plate block at all, and the notary panel at the foot is what makes the letter worth anything - with an inked stamp, which Rhode Island prints as a requirement rather than a preference.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Date of gift
The head of the letter, and it has to match the date sworn on the SU 87-65.
Watch out: Fill both documents in at the same sitting. Two dates for one gift is the easiest way to have the Excise Tax Section ask questions.
2
You fill this in
Print the recipient's name
The first block on this letter, and printed name only - the recipient does not sign here.
Watch out: Their sworn signature belongs on the SU 87-65, which is the affidavit the Division of Taxation actually relies on. This sheet is the covering letter.
3
You fill this in
The vehicle block
The year, make and model, the identification number, and the mileage.
Watch out: Copy the identification number from the certificate or the registration and check it against the car. It appears again on the SU 87-65 and the two have to agree.
4
You fill this in
Print and sign as the person gifting
Two rules near the foot, with the two-owner instruction on both.
Watch out: Do not sign until you are in front of the notary. A signature that predates the notarisation is what an inked commission stamp is there to prevent.
5
Somebody else fills this in
The notary completes the block at the foot
Signature, printed name, commission expiration date and today's date.
Watch out: Rhode Island notaries require an inked stamp - the heading says so on the form. An embossed impression alone is refused at the counter.
6
You fill this in
Attach the SU 87-65
The Affidavit of Gift of Motor Vehicle, sworn by the person receiving the car.
Watch out: The note on this letter is not a suggestion: an Affidavit of Gift of Motor Vehicle (SU 87-65) is required in addition to the Vehicle Gift Letter. One without the other is an incomplete claim.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Date of gift
A single tick box at the top of the letter.
Name of the person(s) receiving the vehicle
Printed name only. Unlike the family letter, the recipient does not sign.
Vehicle information
Year, make, model, vehicle identification number and mileage.
Name of the person(s) gifting the vehicle
Printed name and signature, with the same two-owner instruction on both rules.
Notary public
Signature, printed name, commission expiration date and today's date, under a heading that states the Rhode Island rule: Rhode Island notaries require an inked stamp.
What gets this one rejected
•An un-notarised letter. The DMV's tax page requires a signed and notarized letter of gift for a transfer outside immediate family, and the notary block on this sheet is not optional.
•A notary who embosses without inking. The heading over the block says Rhode Island notaries require an inked stamp.
•This letter on its own. Its own note is explicit: an Affidavit of Gift of Motor Vehicle (SU 87-65) is required in addition to the Vehicle Gift Letter.
•A plate written on to it. There is no plate block here, and the note says a separate plate gift letter must be used for non-immediate family members.
•A commission expiration date left blank, which every Rhode Island form carrying a notary block treats as mandatory.
•Using it for a spouse, parent, stepparent, child, step-child, sibling or step-sibling - those are the immediate-family letter's, and it needs no notary.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•Two documents, always. The letter proves the gift and the SU 87-65 swears that nothing of value changed hands. The Division of Taxation wants both, and the DMV's checklist lists them as separate line items.
•The recipient does not sign this one. The family letter has the giver print and sign; this one has the recipient's printed name only, and the sworn signature the Division of Taxation relies on is the grantee's on the SU 87-65 instead.
•A gift is not a way round the tax on a sale. The SU 87-65 that accompanies this letter is sworn under penalty of perjury that no monies, services, barter arrangements, or other articles or things of value or consideration in any form were paid or given. It says on its face what happens if that turns out to be untrue.
•The plate stays behind. Rhode Island registers plates to people, and this letter carries no plate block. If a plate is to move as well it is a separate letter and, for a preferred plate outside the family, a separate office - the Governor's Office rather than the DMV.
Every line here was read off Gift Letter (non-family) (no revision printed) 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.
