How to fill out South Carolina TOD-1

The step South Carolina would rather you took while everyone is alive. Naming a beneficiary on the certificate now means the car moves on a death certificate later instead of through the Probate Court - and the SCDMV is blunt about the alternative, saying that in general it does not interpret or accept wills for titles.

Top of the blank South Carolina TOD-1, Application for Transfer on Death, as the agency publishes it

Step 1 · the form itself Blank TOD-1 — Application for Transfer on Death PDF at dmv.sc.gov · new tab View the blank TOD-1

Part of page 1 of our filled-in example of South Carolina TOD-1, Application for Transfer on Death, showing the filled-in entries

Step 2 · how to fill it in Our filled-in TOD-1 guide PDF · 3 pages · 700 KB · new tab See our filled-in example

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank TOD-1 from the dmv.sc.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our TOD-1 guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.

Written against TOD-1 (07/2025), issued under S.C. Code Ann. 62-6-401. The alternative route is heavier than people expect. Where nobody was named, the SCDMV's instruction is that a personal representative appointed by the Probate Court signs the back of the title as the seller with (PR) beside their name, with the court's certificate attached - and where there is no personal representative, a Small Estate Affidavit lets the vehicle be titled to one named person and does not let that person sign it over to anyone else.

Last updated August 22, 2026.

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is all 2 pages of the actual TOD-1, rendered from the PDF the South Carolina 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

South Carolina form TOD-1 filled in: Delphine R. Ravenel of Summerville adds her daughter Nathalie R. Ravenel, born 19 July 1991, of 214 Meeting House Rd, Summerville, SC 29483, as transfer on death beneficiary of a 2017 Honda Pilot, vehicle identification number 5FNYF6H52HB412907, and prints her name on the certification. — Page 1 of 2.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Check the conjunction on the certificate first
Whether the title reads AND or OR between two owner names, or names only one owner.
Watch out: An AND title cannot carry a beneficiary at all. That has to be changed before this form is any use, and changing it is itself a title transaction.
2
You fill this in
Beneficiary's name and date of birth
The person who will take the vehicle, with their address, customer or licence number and phone.
Watch out: Spell the name the way their identification does, because the certificate is about to be reissued carrying it and a mismatch surfaces at the worst possible moment.
3
You fill this in
Add beneficiary or remove beneficiary
One of two tick boxes. The same form does both jobs.
Watch out: Removing is the box people forget exists. A divorce does not undo a TOD designation in South Carolina, and the form says so on its own face.
4
You fill this in
The vehicle
Year, make, vehicle identification number and model.
Watch out: One vehicle per form. A second car with the same beneficiary needs its own TOD-1, its own certificate and its own $15.
5
You fill this in
Sign the certification
Printed name and signature of the vehicle owner, under the declaration about civil liability and criminal penalties.
Watch out: No notary and no witness. Where there are co-owners, they print and sign in Section B and every one of them has to.
6
You fill this in
Send it with three other things
A completed Form 400, the certificate of title or the lienholder's written request, and the $15 title fee.
Watch out: A lienholder holding your certificate has to release it for this. An electronic lienholder does not send a certificate at all - only the signed request.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
The overview	A printed summary at the head: only owners of titled personal property can add or remove a beneficiary; the owner must be an individual, not a business; all owners must be in agreeance; and the package is a $15 title fee, the certificate of title and this form.
Lienholders	Three printed rules. A lienholder holding the certificate must provide it with a signed written request; an electronic lienholder need only send the signed request; and an individual listed as a lienholder may provide a signed letter with a copy of their licence or a witness signature.
Ownership restrictions	Two more: a beneficiary cannot be added where ownership is designated as an AND relationship, and the beneficiary has no interest or control over the vehicle until the transfer occurs.
Transferring to the beneficiary	What happens afterwards - the title, the $15 fee and a certified death certificate; where more than one owner is on the title the beneficiary cannot take it until all owners are deceased; and where two or more beneficiaries survive, the property must be titled in an AND relationship.
Section A	Beneficiary's name and date of birth, an add-beneficiary or remove-beneficiary tick, a residence address, a mailing address, a customer or driver's licence number, a phone number, then the vehicle's year, make, VIN and model.
The divorce note	A printed sentence: neither divorce nor annulment will automatically revoke the TOD designation on this governing instrument, and a TOD-1 must be submitted to remove it.
The certification	A declaration that the information is true and correct with a warning of civil liability and civil or criminal penalties, then a printed name and a signature of vehicle owner.
Section B, vehicle co-owners	Four rows for owners two to five, each with a full name and a signature.
Section C and page two	Used only where there is more than one beneficiary and more than one vehicle owner, with a continuation page for additional beneficiaries.

What gets this one rejected

•Filed on a title that reads AND. The restriction is printed on the form: a beneficiary cannot be added where ownership is designated as an AND relationship.
•Filed by a business. The owner must be an individual, and a company or a trust cannot name a beneficiary this way.
•One owner's signature where the certificate names two. All owners must be in agreeance, and Section B exists to collect the rest of them.
•Sent without the certificate. The overview names three things - the fee, the title and this form - and a certificate held by a lienholder has to come from the lienholder with a written request.
•Sent without a Form 400. The instruction at the foot of the overview is that customers must also submit a completed Form 400.
•Relied on after a divorce. The form warns that neither divorce nor annulment revokes the designation and that a second TOD-1 is needed to remove it.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•It is a $15 transaction twice. $15 to add the designation and issue a new certificate carrying it, and $15 again when the beneficiary later titles the vehicle in their own name.
•Two beneficiaries become joint owners. Where two or more beneficiaries survive, the titled personal property must be titled in an AND relationship - so both of them will have to sign together on any future sale.

Every line here was read off TOD-1 (07/2025) itself — the PDF is here — and off the South Carolina 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.

Forms that go with this one

Whether you name a beneficiary now or deal with a title after a death, our Charleston page lists the SCDMV branches in West Ashley, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant.

Back to all South Carolina seller paperwork, or what selling a car in South Carolina involves.

How to fill out South Carolina TOD-1

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Check the conjunction on the certificate first

Beneficiary's name and date of birth

Add beneficiary or remove beneficiary

The vehicle

Sign the certification

Send it with three other things

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

Forms that go with this one

Want the paperwork handled instead?

Or send the details — we'll come to you