Georgia Form T-8 is the Department of Revenue’s limited power of attorney that lets a vehicle owner authorize someone else to handle title and registration paperwork at a county tag office. The form is a free one-page PDF on the Department of Revenue’s website, it must be notarized, and it expires twelve months after the owner signs it.1Georgia Department of Revenue. T-8 Limited Power of Attorney/Motor Vehicle Transactions Your representative takes the original to the tag office in the county where you, the owner, live.
When to Use Form T-8
Use the T-8 when the person named on the title cannot appear at the tag office in person. A seller who has moved out of state, a family member picking up a vehicle for you, or a deployed service member who needs someone at home to handle the registration are all typical situations. The form authorizes a specific list of motor vehicle transactions: applying for an original or replacement title, transferring a title to a new owner, and updating a vehicle’s registration.
This is a limited power of attorney. It gives your representative no authority over bank accounts, real estate, or anything outside the Department of Revenue’s motor vehicle transactions. For broader authority, you would sign a separate document under Georgia’s Uniform Power of Attorney Act.2Justia. Georgia Code 10-6B-5 – Execution of Power of Attorney
Filling Out the Form
Every blank must be completed. The form itself warns that empty sections can cause rejection, and it states across the top that entering false information is a felony. Check every entry against the title and your ID before you sign.
Start with the owner’s information. Enter your full legal name and current mailing address exactly as they appear on your Georgia driver’s license or state ID. Then fill in the vehicle details:
- Year, make, and model, copied from the front of your current title or the registration card.
- The full seventeen-character Vehicle Identification Number. It appears on the title, on the driver’s-side dashboard, and inside the driver’s door jamb. A single transposed character will cause a rejection, so verify each digit.
Below the vehicle information, enter the full legal name and address of the person you are authorizing (your attorney-in-fact). The form then lists the specific transactions the representative is authorized to perform. Fill in the date and the county where you will sign. The county should match where the notarization takes place.
Signing and Getting It Notarized
You sign the T-8 in front of a commissioned notary public. The notary verifies your identity, witnesses your signature, and applies an official seal. Georgia caps the fee a notary can charge at two dollars per notarial act.3FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 45 Public Officers and Employees 45-17-11 If the notary also provides a certificate from the Clerk of Superior Court confirming their active commission, the total can reach four dollars.
The representative does not sign the T-8. Their signature comes later, at the tag office, on the actual title or registration documents. A T-8 that lacks the notary’s seal and signature will be rejected, so confirm that section is complete before you leave.
Georgia’s general Power of Attorney Act requires both a witness and a separate attesting officer, but the T-8 is a department-specific form. Its printed instructions call for the owner’s signature and notarization and include no separate witness line. Follow the instructions on the form itself.
What Your Representative Brings to the Tag Office
The T-8 alone is not enough. The tag office needs supporting documents for whatever transaction the form authorizes. For a title transfer, the most common reason people use the T-8, your representative should bring:
- The original notarized T-8. The tag office keeps it.
- The vehicle title signed by the seller, or a bill of sale if the vehicle’s age means no title is required.
- A Georgia driver’s license for each new owner listed on the title application.
- The $18 title fee, payable to the county tag office.4Georgia Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicles Fees, Fines, and Penalties
- Title Ad Valorem Tax (TAVT), which Georgia charges in place of annual vehicle property tax. The amount depends on the vehicle’s fair market value.
If the vehicle had a lien, the representative also needs a lien release from the previous lienholder. If your name has changed since the title was issued, bring a court document such as a marriage certificate or divorce decree. These supporting items trip people up more often than the T-8 itself. A perfect power of attorney will not save a transaction if the lien release is missing.
Where to Submit It
The representative must go to the county tag office in the county where you, the owner, live.5Georgia Department of Revenue. Local County Tag Offices Georgia routes motor vehicle transactions through the owner’s county of residence, so any tag office in the state will not do. The Department of Revenue lists every county tag office online.
At the counter, the clerk verifies the notary’s credentials and checks the vehicle information against state records. Once the T-8 is accepted, the representative signs the title application or other documents on your behalf and the transaction proceeds as if you were there. For a straightforward title transfer, that usually means walking out with a new title or confirmation that one will be mailed.
Keep a photocopy of the completed T-8 before handing over the original. The tag office retains what is submitted, and a copy protects you if a question comes up later about what was authorized.6Justia. Georgia Code 10-6B-6 – Validity of Power of Attorney
How Long It Lasts and How to Revoke It
The T-8 is valid for twelve months from the date of execution. After that, it expires automatically and your representative can no longer act under it. If the transaction has not been completed within that window, sign and notarize a fresh T-8.
You can revoke the T-8 at any time before it expires. Under Georgia law, a power of attorney terminates when the owner revokes it, when the representative dies or becomes incapacitated, or when the purpose of the document has been accomplished.7Justia. Georgia Code 10-6B-10 – Termination of Power of Attorney If the owner dies, the authority ends immediately, and the representative cannot use the T-8 to complete any pending transaction.
To revoke, notify the representative in writing and, if you can, retrieve the original T-8 so it cannot be presented at a tag office. If the form has already been submitted but the transaction is still pending, contact the county tag office directly to flag the revocation. There is no separate state revocation form for the T-8; a written, dated notice from the owner stating that the authority is revoked is sufficient under Georgia’s general power of attorney provisions.