How to Fill Out and Submit Missouri Form 4441: Statement of Trust

Missouri Form 4441, the Statement of Trust, is a one-page certification that tells the Department of Revenue which trustees have authority to title a vehicle, vessel, outboard motor, or manufactured home in a trust’s name. You fill in the trust’s name and date, its federal EIN or the grantor’s Social Security number, the grantor’s name and address, and every currently serving trustee; each of those trustees signs under penalty of perjury; and the completed form goes in with your title application. No notary is needed.¹

When You Need Form 4441

The Department of Revenue’s trust titling guidance points to four situations:²

Adding a trust as co-owner alongside your name on an existing title.
Adding a trust as a transfer-on-death beneficiary so the asset passes outside probate.
Transferring a vehicle, boat, outboard motor, or manufactured home you already own into a revocable or irrevocable trust.
Titling a newly purchased asset directly in the trust’s name from the start.

The form covers any asset the Department of Revenue titles, which includes watercraft, outboard motors, and manufactured homes in addition to cars and trucks.¹

What the Form Asks For

Form 4441 is a single page. Each field needs to match your trust documents and your title application exactly, so work from the trust agreement itself rather than from memory.¹

Trust Name. The full legal name as written in the trust agreement, for example “The John and Jane Smith Revocable Living Trust.”
Trust Date. The date the trust was originally established, in MM/DD/YYYY format.
Federal Identification Number or SSN of the Decedent. Enter the trust’s EIN if one has been assigned. Many revocable living trusts use the grantor’s Social Security number instead; the “Decedent” wording applies once the grantor has died and the trust is being administered after death.
Grantor’s Name. The person who created the trust.
Grantor’s Address. Street, city, state, and ZIP code.
Trustee(s) Currently Serving. Every trustee who presently has authority to act. If the grantor is also the trustee, list the grantor. If a successor has taken over, list only the current successor, not any prior trustee.
County (or City of St. Louis). Where the form is being signed.
Date of Execution. The date the trustees sign.
Trustee Signatures. Every currently serving trustee named on the form must sign.

By signing, the trustees certify under penalty of perjury that they hold unlimited authority under the trust agreement to sell, assign, or transfer interest in vehicles, vessels, outboard motors, or manufactured homes to or from the trust.¹

No Notary Required

Form 4441 has no notary block. Trustee signatures given under penalty of perjury are enough on their own.¹ Other documents in your title packet, such as an assigned title from a previous owner, may still need to be notarized separately.

Form 4441 or a Copy of the Trust Agreement

The Department of Revenue will accept either the completed Statement of Trust or a copy of the full trust agreement.² Form 4441 exists so you do not have to hand a license office clerk a lengthy legal document that often contains unrelated financial details.

Submitting the full agreement does become useful in one case: when the trust limits trustee authority, for example by requiring co-trustee approval for transfers above a certain amount. In that situation, the Department needs to see the actual language to confirm the scope of authority, and the one-page certification will not substitute.

What to Submit With It

Form 4441 does not travel alone. Attach it to a title application along with the other documents the Department of Revenue requires:²

Form 108 (Application for Missouri Title and License) for motor vehicles, ATVs, trailers, and manufactured homes, or Form 93 for boats, vessels, and outboard motors.
Form 4441 or a copy of the trust agreement.
An ownership document: an assigned title from the previous owner, a Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin for a new vehicle, or a bill of sale if the unit is a trailer, watercraft, or outboard motor coming from a state that does not title those assets.
Lienholder authorization or a lien release, if an existing lien is on the vehicle.

Fees

There is no separate charge for Form 4441 itself. The fees apply to the underlying title application:²

Title fee: $8.50 for a motor vehicle, ATV, or trailer; $7.50 for a watercraft; $5.00 for an outboard motor.
$9.00 processing fee.
State and local sales tax on the net purchase price when the transaction involves a purchase. Transferring a vehicle from an individual to that individual’s own revocable trust typically does not trigger sales tax because beneficial ownership does not change.
Registration fees, which vary by vehicle type and weight, if you are registering as well as titling.

Where to Submit

You can file the completed package in person at any Missouri license office, or mail it to the Motor Vehicle Bureau in Jefferson City:

Motor Vehicle Bureau
301 West High Street
PO Box 3355
Jefferson City, MO 65105-3355

Names must line up across the stack. The owner’s name on the title application and any lien documents has to match the purchaser’s name in the assignment area of the ownership document.² If the trust is the buyer, the trust’s full legal name should appear the same way on every page. Listing your personal name on Form 108 but the trust’s name on the assigned title is one of the most common causes of processing delays.

Common Mistakes

Most problems with a trust title filing come from the surrounding paperwork rather than the Statement of Trust itself. A few recurring issues:

Listing a trustee who no longer serves. If the original trustee has died or resigned and a successor has taken over, only the current successor belongs on the form, and only that person signs.
Using a Social Security number when an EIN is required. After a revocable trust’s grantor dies, the trust generally needs its own federal EIN. Check whether one has been issued before filling in the identification field.
Forgetting the ownership document. Form 4441 certifies trustee authority; it does not transfer title. Without an assigned title, Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin, or bill of sale, the Department has no ownership chain to record.
Assuming every trust transfer is tax-free. Moving your own vehicle into your own revocable trust usually avoids sales tax, but a transfer into an irrevocable trust or into a trust controlled by someone else may be treated as a taxable sale. Confirm with the license office before submitting.

1
Missouri Department of Revenue. Form 4441 – Statement of Trust
2
Missouri Department of Revenue. Titling in the Name of a Trust