How to Complete the California DMV Power of Attorney Form (REG 260)

The California DMV Power of Attorney, Form REG 260, is a one-page form that lets a vehicle or vessel owner authorize someone else to sign DMV paperwork for a specific car, truck, motorcycle, or boat. The authority is narrow by design: it covers only the vehicle or vessel identified on the form, and only DMV transactions tied to it. You download REG 260 as a fillable PDF from the DMV website; it is not stocked as a hard copy at field offices.¹

What REG 260 Lets Your Agent Do

REG 260 appoints an “attorney-in-fact” to complete the documents needed to transfer ownership or otherwise handle DMV business for one specific vehicle or vessel. People typically use it when the owner can’t come to the DMV in person: a private-party sale while the seller is out of state, a request for a duplicate title, or a routine registration update. Licensed dealers and lienholders also rely on it to process trade-ins and loan payoffs without waiting for the owner’s signature in person.¹

The DMV will also accept a general power of attorney or a restricted power of attorney drafted for a particular transaction. REG 260 is simply the DMV-issued standard form, and it is the one most private parties and dealers use.

What It Can’t Be Used For

Several uses are off-limits, and submitting REG 260 for any of them will get the transaction rejected:¹

Odometer disclosure. Mileage reporting requires the separate Secure Power of Attorney, Form REG 262.
Signing a Statement of Facts (REG 256) to certify something only the owner would know. The one exception is certifying the disposition of the original title when applying for a duplicate.
Reassigning the authority. The agent cannot hand their POA privileges to a third person.
Appointing an attorney-in-fact on behalf of a deceased owner. Executors and administrators can’t use REG 260 to delegate estate duties.
Delegating all administrative duties of a trust. A trustee can authorize an agent for a specific vehicle or transaction, but not for everything the trust does.

REG 260 or REG 262

Form REG 262 (Vehicle/Vessel Transfer and Reassignment Form) has a power of attorney section built in, so some transactions don’t need a separate REG 260 at all. One practical difference matters when you’re deciding how to send things: REG 262 is a secure document used for odometer disclosure, and the DMV will not accept photocopies or faxes of it. Photocopies and faxes of REG 260 are fine.¹

Filling Out the Form

REG 260 is short, but each field has to match DMV records exactly. A single wrong digit in the VIN or a misspelled name sends the form back. Work from the title or registration card rather than from memory.

Vehicle or Vessel Description

The top block identifies the specific asset. You’ll enter:

The 17-character Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) for a motor vehicle, or the Hull Identification Number (HIN) for a vessel. Copy it from the title or registration card, not off the dashboard or hull.
Year model and make, as they appear in DMV records.
The current license plate number for a vehicle, or the CF (Certificate of Number) for a vessel.
The motorcycle engine number, if the vehicle is a motorcycle.

Appointment of Attorney-in-Fact

The middle block is the grant of authority itself. The owner (the principal) prints their full legal name and the full legal name of the person they’re authorizing. The preprinted language appoints the attorney-in-fact “to complete all necessary documents, as needed, to transfer ownership as required by law.” Both names should match government-issued identification exactly.

Signature and Declaration

At the bottom, the principal signs in ink and provides their printed name, address with city, state, and zip code, the date, and their California driver’s license number, state ID number, or dealer number. The form carries a declaration under penalty of perjury that the information is true and correct. The attorney-in-fact does not sign the REG 260 itself; their signature appears later, on the transaction documents they handle for the owner.¹

Signing in Ink and When You Need a Notary

The principal must sign in ink. No electronic signatures. When REG 260 is used for a title transfer, the principal’s signature has to be either witnessed by a DMV employee or notarized. If the owner won’t be visiting a DMV office, notarization is the practical route.¹

A California notary verifies the principal’s identity and attaches a certificate of acknowledgment in the form prescribed by California Civil Code Section 1189. That certificate carries a boxed disclaimer at the top stating that the notary verifies only the signer’s identity, not the truth of anything in the document.²

How the Agent Signs Transaction Documents

When the attorney-in-fact later uses REG 260 to sign DMV paperwork for the owner, the signature follows a specific format: the agent signs their own name, then writes “for [Owner’s Name], POA.” If Jane Lee is acting for Robert Park, she signs “Jane Lee for Robert Park, POA.” When a business is the attorney-in-fact, the countersignature includes the business name, for example “Robert Park by ABC Lending Co. by Jane Lee as POA.” Using the wrong format is a reliable way to get the transaction kicked back.¹

Submitting the Form

REG 260 is never submitted on its own. It travels with the paperwork it supports: a title transfer, a duplicate title request (REG 227), a registration renewal, or a similar filing.

The agent can bring the whole packet to any California DMV field office, which is the fastest option because a clerk can flag problems in person. For mail submissions involving vehicle registration and title documents, the DMV directs USPS mail to Vehicle Registration Operations, Department of Motor Vehicles, PO Box 942869, Sacramento, CA 94269-0001, and courier shipments (FedEx, UPS, and similar) to 2415 1st Ave., Mail Station C271, Sacramento, CA 95818-2606.³ If you’re sending originals, use a trackable service. A lost REG 260 with a notarized signature means doing the notarization over.

If anything is wrong or missing, the DMV flags the filing as an incomplete application and may collect any fees already due while you fix the problem.⁴ The common triggers are mismatched VINs, missing notarization on a title transfer, and the wrong agent signing format.

Fees

There is no separate fee for REG 260 itself. You pay the fees for the underlying transaction. A duplicate title (REG 227) is $28.⁵ Title transfer fees vary with the vehicle and the type of transfer, and the DMV’s online fee calculator will give you an estimate. On a private-party purchase, California also charges use tax at the sales tax rate for the address where the vehicle is registered.⁶

Processing times depend on the transaction and the submission method. The DMV’s current estimates put online title transfers at about four weeks and replacement titles at two to three weeks,⁷ and notes elsewhere that titles generally arrive by mail within 15 to 30 days.⁸ Applications that need extra review take longer.

When the Power of Attorney Ends

The principal can revoke REG 260 at any time before the transaction is completed. The standard approach is a written, signed, and dated revocation delivered to the attorney-in-fact and to any third party (such as a dealer or buyer) relying on the original. If the REG 260 was notarized, notarizing the revocation adds proof, though California law does not strictly require it.

REG 260 also ends on its own in several circumstances under the California Probate Code:

Death of the principal. The authority ends when the owner dies, though an agent or third party acting in good faith without actual knowledge of the death is protected for transactions completed before learning of it.
Incapacity of the principal. REG 260 is not a durable power of attorney, so it ends if the owner loses the mental capacity to contract. Good-faith actors without knowledge of the incapacity are again shielded.
Completion of the purpose. Once the specific transaction is finished, the authority expires.
Death or incapacity of the agent. The authority does not pass to anyone else.

If you’re the agent and the owner dies, stop. You no longer have authority to act, and any transaction completed after you learn of the death can be challenged by the estate. The vehicle will need to move through probate or trust administration instead.

1
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – Signature by Power of Attorney (POA)
2
California Secretary of State. Acknowledgments
3
California DMV. Contact Us
4
California DMV. Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual – Definitions for Clearing Suspense and Incomplete Applications
5
California DMV. Appendix 1F – Fees
6
California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Tax Guide for Purchasers of Vehicles
7
California Department of Motor Vehicles. Processing Times
8
California DMV. Title Transfers and Changes