How to fill out Wisconsin MV2300

Two pages that move a vehicle out of a dead person's name without probate, and a grid of twenty relationship boxes that decides whether the transfer fee is charged at all. Wisconsin waives the title fee and the replacement title fee for a long list of relatives and charges the full amount for anybody else - and it makes the person signing personally liable in ways the form spells out.

Written against MV2300 (7/2024), issued under Wis. Stat. ss. 342.14(3), 342.14(3m), 342.17(4)(b) and 867.03. The relationship grid is the whole form. Read it before you sign, because ticking None of the above changes both the fee and what happens to the plates, and the two declarations at the foot are legally different statements about the estate.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MV2300 from the wisconsindot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Step 1 · the form itself Blank MV2300 — Statement of Transfer of Vehicles To or By a Surviving Family Member, Domestic Partner, or Heir PDF at wisconsindot.gov · new tab

Filled in

What a completed one looks like

This is the actual MV2300, rendered from the PDF the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 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

A completed Wisconsin Statement of Transfer of Vehicles To or By a Surviving Family Member, Domestic Partner, or Heir, form MV2300, for a 2017 Ford F-150 belonging to a decedent from Wausau: the vehicle identification number, year, make, model and colour, a maximum vehicle value, the decedent's name and date of death, the I am transferring the vehicle to myself box ticked, the surviving daughter's name, Wisconsin driver licence number and address, and the Child relationship box ticked in the grid. — One tick in that grid of twenty is the difference between the full transfer fee and nothing at all. Section C below is greyed here because there is only one new owner - two would need both blocks, and three would need a second copy of the whole form. Names, dates and numbers invented for the sample.

Field by field

Every line, in the order you meet it

1
You fill this in
Section A, the vehicle
Year, make, model, colour and a seventeen-cell VIN comb across the top of the page.
Watch out: Take all five from the certificate rather than from the registration. The title is the document the department is going to reissue.
2
You fill this in
Maximum Vehicle Value
What the vehicle is worth, in the box beside the decedent's name.
Watch out: It is not the sale price and there is no sale here. Where the signer is not a spouse, the whole route depends on the estate staying under the $50,000 ceiling in s. 867.03.
3
You fill this in
Name of Decedent and Date of Death
Two boxes on the same row, and the anchor for everything below.
Watch out: The name has to match the title. If the decedent's name on the certificate is a maiden name or an initial, use that and expect to explain it.
4
You fill this in
To myself, or to someone else
Two ticks with different consequences: who submits the MV1, and whether an MV2488 odometer statement is also needed.
Watch out: To someone else means the new owner files, not you. If you are the executor arranging a sale, that is the box - and you are not the one paying the fee.
5
You fill this in
Section B, the surviving family member or heir
Their name, a fourteen-cell Wisconsin driver licence comb, and their address.
Watch out: The address here is where the new title is posted. It is worth being sure of it before you send the form rather than filing a correction afterwards.
6
You fill this in
My relationship to the decedent
Twenty boxes in a grid, plus None of the above (Heir) underneath them.
Watch out: This single tick decides the fee and the plates. Spouse of grandchild is on the list; a nephew is not, and would be ticking None of the above.
7
You fill this in
Section C
The whole of Section B again, for a second new owner.
Watch out: Leave it blank if there is only one. Three or more owners need a second copy of the form, which the instructions say in terms.
8
You fill this in
The two declarations and the signature
A spouse or domestic partner accepts personal liability for the decedent's debts to the value of the vehicle; everybody else declares the estate is under $50,000.
Watch out: They are different statements and you sign under the one that fits. Read both before signing - a surviving spouse is agreeing to something a sibling is not.

At a glance

What goes where

On the form	What to put in it
Section A, Year / Make / Model / Colour / VIN	The vehicle, with the identification number in a seventeen-cell comb across the top right.
Maximum Vehicle Value	The value being claimed for the vehicle. It matters because the alternative route, s. 867.03, has a $50,000 ceiling on the whole estate.
Name of Decedent, and Date of Death	Two boxes on the same row as the value.
I am transferring the vehicle to myself	The first of two ticks, with its own list of what else to submit: this form, the MV1, the fees, and an MV2119 if the title is lost.
I am transferring the vehicle to someone else	The second tick. The new owner submits the paperwork, and an MV2488 may also be needed.
Section B, Name of Surviving Family Member, Domestic Partner or Heir	Who is taking the vehicle, with a fourteen-cell comb for a Wisconsin driver licence beside it.
Street Address, City, State, Zip Code	Their address, which is where the new title goes.
My relationship to the decedent is	Twenty tick boxes in a grid - spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, stepparent, stepchild and the spouse of each - plus None of the above (Heir).
None of the above (Heir), and the warning under it	Ticking it changes the money: title fee is required, even if another owner is a qualifying family member, and the decedent's plates cannot be transferred.
Section C	The whole block repeated, for a second surviving family member or heir.
Signing as Surviving Spouse or Domestic Partner	A declaration of personal liability for the debts and charges of the decedent, to the extent of the value of the vehicle, subject to s. 859.25.
Signing as Other Surviving Family Member or Heir	A different declaration: that the decedent has no solely-owned property exceeding $50,000 in value, under s. 867.03.
Two signature rules	One for each person named in Sections B and C. No notary.

What gets this one rejected

•Sending it without the certificate of title and an MV1. The instructions ask for the Wisconsin certificate of title, the MV1, the fees and a lien release if applicable.
•More than two new owners on one sheet. The form says to submit additional MV2300 forms as needed.
•Ticking a relationship the signer does not have. The fee waiver depends on it and the declaration is signed under the penalties in ch. 342.
•Assuming a lost title needs no application. The replacement title fee is waived for qualifying family members, but the MV2119 itself is still required.
•Using it where the estate is being probated and a court has appointed somebody. This is the no-probate route; the personal representative has a different one.
•Forgetting that the plates follow the relationship. An heir who is not a qualifying family member cannot transfer the decedent's plates unless another owner qualifies, or the plate type stays with the vehicle anyway.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

•The fee waiver has a defined list and it is generous. Spouse, domestic partner under ch. 770, grandparent, parent, sibling, child, stepchild, stepparent, grandchild - and the spouse of each. All owners on the new title have to be Wisconsin residents and related in one of those ways.
•An heir who is not on the list pays in full. The form is blunt about it, twice: title fee is required, even if another owner is a qualifying family member.
•A spouse or domestic partner accepts liability for debts. The declaration reads: I shall be personally liable for the debts and charges of the decedent, to the extent of the value of the vehicle(s), subject to Wis. Stat. s. 859.25.
•Everybody else declares a $50,000 ceiling. The other declaration is that the decedent has no solely-owned property that exceeds $50,000 in value, according to the requirements of Wis. Stat. s. 867.03.
•The odometer statement can still be required. MV2300 names the MV2488 - the secure-stock form a private person orders on a DT1435 - where the transaction requires an odometer reading.
•A lender who holds the title still holds it. The instructions end where they have to: if the lender holds the current title, contact the lien holder for the current title and lien release if applicable.

Every line here was read off MV2300 (7/2024) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 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.

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

How to fill out Wisconsin MV2300

What a completed one looks like

Every line, in the order you meet it

Section A, the vehicle

Maximum Vehicle Value

Name of Decedent and Date of Death

To myself, or to someone else

Section B, the surviving family member or heir

My relationship to the decedent

Section C

The two declarations and the signature

What goes where

What gets this one rejected

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

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