How Missouri’s Transfer on Death Vehicle Registration Works

Missouri lets you name a beneficiary directly on your vehicle title so the car passes to that person automatically when you die, skipping probate entirely. This Missouri transfer on death vehicle registration is authorized by Section 301.681 of the Missouri Revised Statutes. Setting it up costs $17.50 in state fees and takes a single application to the Department of Revenue. The value shows up later: your heirs avoid court filings, estate delays, and attorney fees just to retitle a vehicle.¹

Who Can Add a TOD Beneficiary

Missouri limits TOD designations to sole owners and to co-owners who hold title either as joint tenants with right of survivorship or as tenants by the entirety, a form available only to married couples. On a jointly held title, the vehicle passes to the surviving co-owner first; the TOD beneficiary receives it only after every listed owner has died.¹

Tenants in common cannot use a TOD designation. If you and another person each own a percentage share without survivorship rights, the statute bars issuing a beneficiary-form title.¹ Check the wording between the owners’ names on your current certificate of ownership if you aren’t sure which form you hold.

The vehicle must be titled in Missouri. A Missouri TOD designation has no effect on an out-of-state title, and the DOR will not add a beneficiary to one. You can name a single beneficiary or several; multiple beneficiaries take title together as joint tenants with right of survivorship or as tenants by the entirety.¹ The statute does not allow naming a contingent or backup beneficiary.

How to Set Up the Designation

Submit an Application for Missouri Title and License (Form 108) to the Missouri Department of Revenue, filling in the beneficiary’s name in the TOD section. Surrender your current certificate of ownership so the DOR can issue a new title that includes, after your name, the words “transfer on death to” or the abbreviation “TOD” followed by the beneficiary’s name.¹

The DOR charges an $8.50 title fee and a $9 processing fee for the new certificate.² You can file in person at any Missouri license office or mail the application with your current title. If a lienholder is listed on the existing title, you generally need to clear or coordinate with that lienholder before the DOR will reissue the title, because the lien remains on the new certificate.

Changing or Revoking the Beneficiary

You can change or remove a TOD beneficiary at any time before your death, or before the death of the last surviving owner on a co-owned title. The statute gives you exactly two methods.¹

Sell or otherwise transfer the vehicle. Properly assigning and delivering the certificate of ownership to a new owner ends the TOD designation.
File a new Form 108 with the DOR requesting either no beneficiary or a different beneficiary, along with the title fee.

The beneficiary has no say in either method and does not need to sign anything during your lifetime. On a jointly held title, both owners must sign the application to change or remove a beneficiary while both are alive.

Updating your will does not change the TOD designation. The beneficiary named on the title controls, regardless of what your will says.³ If your estate plan changes and you want a different person to receive the vehicle, update the title itself. This is where mistakes happen most often: people revise their wills, assume the car follows, and the wrong person ends up with it.

What the Beneficiary Does After the Owner Dies

When the sole owner or last surviving co-owner dies, the beneficiary claims the vehicle by giving the DOR proof of death, surrendering the outstanding certificate of ownership, and submitting an application with the fee for a new title.¹ In practice, the beneficiary brings or mails to a Missouri license office:

The original certificate of ownership showing the TOD designation
A copy of the death certificate or other proof of death
A completed Form 108
The $8.50 title fee and $9 processing fee
A personal property tax statement of non-assessment from the county assessor’s office confirming no outstanding taxes are owed on the vehicle⁴

The statute also gives the beneficiary a useful shortcut. Instead of putting the title in their own name, the beneficiary can make one reassignment directly to another buyer or family member, avoiding the cost of two separate title transfers.¹

Any personal property taxes the deceased owner left unpaid on the vehicle must be settled before the transfer clears. The county assessor handles that, not the DOR, so plan on stops at both.

Insurance During the Transition

Between the owner’s death and the title transfer, the vehicle sits in a gray area for insurance. The deceased owner’s auto policy typically stays active for a short window while the estate is handled, but coverage varies by insurer. A named beneficiary should contact the insurer promptly and, if needed, add the vehicle to their own policy before the original one lapses. Driving without confirmed coverage creates liability exposure that is easy to overlook.

What Happens if the Beneficiary Dies First

The statute transfers the vehicle to “surviving” beneficiaries, so a beneficiary who dies before the owner receives nothing. If only one beneficiary was named and that person predeceases the owner, the TOD designation is effectively empty, and the vehicle does not pass automatically to anyone. Section 301.682 then governs, with alternative paths that include a court order, a small estate affidavit, an exempt property claim by a surviving spouse or minor children, or a transfer by the estate’s personal representative.⁵

Because Missouri does not allow a contingent beneficiary, the only safeguard is to check periodically that your named beneficiary is still living and to update the title when circumstances change.

Liens and Creditor Claims

A TOD transfer does not wipe out a lien. The statute says the beneficiary takes the vehicle “subject to any outstanding security interest.”¹ If the deceased owner still owed on a car loan, the beneficiary inherits the vehicle with that debt attached, and the lender keeps its repossession rights if payments stop. Weigh the remaining loan balance against the vehicle’s value before accepting the transfer.

Skipping probate does not put the vehicle out of reach of unsecured creditors either. If the estate goes through probate for other assets, creditors have six months from the first published notice to file claims, or two months from the date notice was mailed or served on a particular creditor, whichever period ends later.⁶ When probate assets are not enough to cover debts, creditors may look to non-probate transfers, including TOD vehicles. A beneficiary who sells the vehicle before creditor claims are resolved could still face liability for its value.

Taxes on the Vehicle

Missouri does not impose an estate tax. The state tax was tied to a federal credit for state death taxes that was eliminated for deaths after January 1, 2005, so no Missouri estate tax applies.⁷ Missouri also has no separate inheritance tax.

If the beneficiary keeps the vehicle, there is no taxable event. If the beneficiary sells it, capital gains tax applies only to any increase in value above the vehicle’s fair market value on the date of the owner’s death, which becomes the beneficiary’s stepped-up cost basis.⁸ Most vehicles depreciate, so gain is unusual. Classic or collectible cars that have appreciated are the exception.

1
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 301.681 – Certificate of Ownership in Beneficiary Form
2
Missouri Department of Revenue. Titling and Registration FAQs
3
Missouri Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Titling and Registration Manual – Section 7
4
Missouri Department of Revenue. Motor Vehicle Titling and Registration
5
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 301.682 – Death of Owner and No Surviving Owner or Beneficiary
6
Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Missouri Revised Statutes 473.360 – Limitations on Filing of Claims
7
Missouri Department of Revenue. Estate Tax – Missouri Estate Tax Filings No Longer Required
8
Internal Revenue Service. Gifts and Inheritances