The California DMV REG 5 form, officially the Affidavit for Transfer Without Probate, lets an heir transfer a California-titled vehicle or vessel out of a deceased owner’s name without opening a probate case, provided the estate meets the statutory limits. You submit it to the DMV with a certified copy of the death certificate, either in person at a field office or by mail.1California Department of Motor Vehicles. Title Transfers and Changes
If someone handed you a note saying to get a “TRE 5,” they almost certainly meant the REG 5. There is no form called TRE 5 in the DMV’s catalog.
What the REG 5 Does
The REG 5 is narrow by design. It handles one situation: moving a vehicle or vessel from a person who has died into the name of the heir entitled to it, without a probate court order. The affidavit is sworn, so the person signing it is attesting under penalty of perjury that they are the lawful successor and that the estate qualifies for the no-probate route.
Because the form covers only this scenario, it is not the right paperwork for a gift between living people, a sale, a family transfer that doesn’t involve death, a name change, or any of the other everyday title situations. Those run through different forms, most often the REG 256 Statement of Facts.
How to Submit the REG 5
The affidavit does not travel alone. At a minimum you will submit it with a certified copy of the death certificate. In most title transfers it also accompanies the title certificate itself and payment of the applicable transfer fees.
You have two ways to file. You can bring the packet to any California DMV field office, which lets you ask questions and get the transaction confirmed on the spot. Or you can mail it to:
Department of Motor Vehicles
Vehicle Registration Operations
PO Box 942869
Sacramento, CA 94269-00012California Department of Motor Vehicles. Updating Your Registration Information
There is no online filing path. Processing times vary with DMV workload, and if anything is missing the office may write back asking for more documentation. Blank forms can be downloaded from the DMV website or picked up at any field office.3California Department of Motor Vehicles. Forms
Fees and Use Tax on the Transfer
The affidavit itself has no filing fee, but the title transfer it supports does. The standard California title transfer fee is $15, with another $15 penalty if the transfer is filed late.4California Department of Motor Vehicles. Calculate My Fees
Use tax is the bigger line item in most private-party transfers. California applies it at the local sales tax rate, which runs from 7.25% up past 10% depending on city and county. On a $15,000 vehicle that is roughly $1,100 to $1,500. Inheritances qualify for a use tax exemption, but the exemption is claimed on a separate form (the REG 256), not on the REG 5 itself. If you are inheriting the vehicle, do not skip that claim or you will be billed for tax you do not owe.
When You Need the REG 256 Instead
The REG 256, Statement of Facts, is the DMV’s catch-all sworn declaration and it comes up constantly in title work, which is probably why “TRE 5” gets used loosely for both. The REG 256 is what you file when no one has died and you need to tell the DMV something a standard application has no space for.3California Department of Motor Vehicles. Forms Common uses:
- Claiming a use tax exemption on a gift or a transfer between qualifying family members. Spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren, and minor siblings related by blood or adoption qualify for the family exemption; a gift to anyone else still qualifies for the gift exemption, but the word “gift” must be written on the back of the title where the purchase price would go.5California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – Transactions Not Subject to Use Tax
- Claiming a smog certification exemption, such as for vehicles less than four years old or transfers between qualifying family members.6California Department of Motor Vehicles. Smog Inspections
- Correcting a voided odometer disclosure, filed alongside a new REG 262 with the correct reading.7California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form (REG 262)
- Confirming that two different-looking names belong to the same person, correcting a misspelling, or formally changing a name on a title. A full name change on a registration is submitted in person with a REG 227.2California Department of Motor Vehicles. Updating Your Registration Information
- Declaring vehicle body changes, such as modifications affecting body type, motive power, weight, or axles.
The REG 256 is signed under penalty of perjury, the same as the REG 5. Everything written on either form carries legal weight: claiming a sale was a gift to dodge use tax, or misstating an odometer reading, is exactly the kind of false statement the perjury declaration targets.
One quick clarification worth knowing before you start pulling forms: Planned Non-Operation, which lets you avoid renewal fees on a vehicle you are not driving, uses the REG 102, not the REG 256 and not the REG 5.8California Department of Motor Vehicles. File for Planned Non-Operation If your situation is really about parking a car rather than retitling one, you are looking at a different form entirely.