How to Fill Out and Submit Indiana State Form 18733: Decedent Title Affidavit

Indiana Form 18733 is a one-page affidavit that transfers a deceased person’s vehicle or watercraft title into your name without opening a probate estate. You fill it out, attach a copy of the death certificate, and take both to any Indiana BMV branch with the $15 title fee. The form is authorized by Indiana Code 29-1-8-1(c) and is available only when the estate is small, no one has been appointed to administer it, and at least five days have passed since the death.¹

Who Can Use the Affidavit

Every one of these conditions has to be true before you sign:

The gross probate estate, after subtracting liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses, is $100,000 or less. That cap applies to the entire estate, not just the vehicle.
At least five days have passed since the date of death.
No one has applied for or been appointed as personal representative (executor or administrator) in any jurisdiction.
You are a distributee, meaning you are entitled to inherit the vehicle under the will or Indiana’s intestacy rules.
The vehicle or watercraft is not subject to any liens that are your responsibility as the claimant.

These are the sworn statements built into the affidavit, and they track Indiana Code 29-1-8-1(b) and (c).¹ If any one fails, the BMV cannot process the transfer on this form.

Filling Out the Form

Download the form from the Indiana BMV’s title forms page and complete it in blue or black ink, or print it from a computer.²³ There are four sections.

Claimant Information

Enter your full legal name (last, first, middle initial) along with your street address, city, state, and ZIP code. You are the claimant, called the distributee of the estate on the form. If more than one person is inheriting the vehicle, every distributee who needs to appear on the new title has to be identified and must sign.

Decedent Information

Provide the deceased person’s full legal name and the date of death in month/day/year format. Match the death certificate exactly. A middle name on one document and a middle initial on the other is the kind of mismatch that stalls a branch visit.

Vehicle or Watercraft Information

Fill in the VIN (or HIN for a watercraft), year, make, model, and the title number from the existing Indiana certificate of title. Copy the VIN and title number straight from the title or registration to avoid transposed digits. If you cannot find the paper title, you may still be able to proceed at the branch, but the title number makes the transaction faster.

Affirmation and Signature

This is where you swear, under penalty of perjury, that the five conditions above are met. Sign, print your name, and date it. A false statement here is perjury under Indiana law, so if you are unsure about the estate’s total value or whether anyone has filed to administer it, confirm before signing.

What to Bring to the BMV

At the branch you will need:

The completed Form 18733, signed by each distributee claiming the vehicle.
A copy of the death certificate. The form instructions require it.³
The existing paper title, if you have it.
Valid government-issued photo ID.
The $15 title fee.⁴

Where to File

Form 18733 is processed in person at any Indiana BMV license branch. Branches accept walk-ins, and you can also book an appointment online.⁵ The BMV processes the transfer when it receives the affidavit and supporting documents.¹ In most cases the new title is issued the same day or mailed shortly after.

When Form 18733 Is Not the Right Form

Several common situations fall outside this affidavit.

If the existing Indiana title names a transfer-on-death beneficiary, the vehicle passes directly to that person. They bring the TOD title and a death certificate to a BMV branch; no affidavit is needed.⁶

If the vehicle is titled jointly with rights of survivorship, the surviving co-owner brings the existing title and the death certificate to the BMV and has the title reissued in their name alone. Form 18733 does not come into it.

If the probate estate is worth more than $100,000, or if someone has already petitioned to serve as personal representative, the small-estate shortcut is off the table. The vehicle has to pass through formal probate, and the court-appointed representative handles the transfer using documentation from the probate court.

If the title still shows a lienholder, the lien has to be satisfied or released before the BMV will issue a clean title in your name. Contact the lender about payoff or loan assumption before going to the branch.

Mistakes That Get Affidavits Rejected

A few recurring problems send people home to try again:

Decedent’s name on the affidavit does not match the death certificate.
No death certificate copy brought to the branch.
A single transposed digit in the VIN or title number.
Filing before day five. The waiting period runs from the date of death, not the date you received the death certificate.
Underestimating the estate. The $100,000 cap covers all probate assets (bank accounts, personal property, and everything else), not just the vehicle. Add it all up before you sign, because swearing to a false figure is perjury.

Verify each field against the source document before the branch visit, and the transfer is usually a single trip.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-8-1 – Small Estates; Payment Upon Affidavit
2
Indiana State Government. Title Forms
3
Indiana State Government. Affidavit for Transfer of Certificate of Title for a Vehicle/Watercraft Without Administration – State Form 18733
4
Indiana State Government. BMV Fee Chart
5
Indiana BMV. Indiana BMV Branch Appointment Scheduling
6
Indiana State Government. Titles: Transfer on Death