How to Fill Out Indiana State Form 1940: Vehicle Power of Attorney

Indiana State Form 1940, the Limited Power of Attorney for Vehicle and Watercraft Transactions, lets you authorize another adult to handle title and registration business at the BMV for one specific vehicle or watercraft.¹ To fill it out correctly, you enter your information and the vehicle’s identifying details, name the person you are authorizing, and sign the form in front of a notary public. Without the notarization, the form has no legal effect at a BMV branch.

The authority you grant is narrow. It covers transactions involving the certificate of title and registration for the single vehicle or watercraft you identify, and nothing else.¹ If you need someone to handle two vehicles, you complete two forms. You can download the current version from the Indiana forms portal, and the BMV lists it among its standard title forms.²

What to Gather Before You Start

Have everything in front of you before you pick up a pen. The form must be completed in blue or black ink only, so pencil or other colors will get it rejected at the counter.¹

Your full legal name. If a company owns the vehicle, use the company name exactly as it appears on the title.
Your address. Individuals enter a residential address; companies enter the principal place of business.¹
Your phone number.
The 17-character VIN from the dashboard or driver-side door jamb, or the hull identification number stamped on a watercraft’s transom.
The make and model year.
The title number if you have it. The form says “if known,” so a missing title number will not invalidate the document.
The full name, phone number, and mailing address of the person you are authorizing.

Copy the VIN or HIN directly from the title and compare it against the vehicle. A single transposed digit is the most common reason a form fails at the branch.

Filling Out Each Section

The form is divided into five sections. Work through them in order.

Section One: Customer and Vehicle Information

Enter your name, address, phone number, and the vehicle or watercraft details. If two people co-own the vehicle, each owner must complete their own Limited Power of Attorney; one owner cannot authorize a representative for both, so you will need a second copy of the form for the second owner.¹

For a watercraft, use the hull identification number in the VIN/HIN field and the manufacturer’s name as the make. All watercraft operating on Indiana waterways must be registered with the BMV unless they are exempt, and Form 1940 is the same document used for those transactions.³

Section Two: Attorney-in-Fact Information

Fill in the full legal name, mailing address, and phone number of the person who will visit the BMV for you. This person does not need to be a lawyer or licensed professional. Any adult you trust can serve.

Section Three: Authorization Statement

You do not write anything in this section. It is preprinted language stating that you authorize your attorney-in-fact to complete transactions involving the certificate of title and registration for the vehicle listed in Section One.¹ Read it before you sign so you are clear on what you are granting.

Section Four: Authorizing Signature

Sign and print your name, then enter the date. Do not sign yet if you have not yet reached the notary; the signature is meant to happen in the notary’s presence. If someone else signs on your behalf because you are physically unable, Indiana law requires the notary to state that the signer acted at your direction.⁴

Section Five: Notary Certificate

Leave this section blank. Your notary will fill in the state, county, date, their signature, printed name, commission expiration date, and official seal. The notary certificate can appear on the front of the form itself or on a separate attached sheet.¹

Getting the Form Notarized

Form 1940 is not valid without notarization.¹ Indiana’s general power of attorney statute allows either notarization or signing before witnesses, but the BMV form itself requires a notary, so witnesses alone will not satisfy the form’s instructions.⁴

Do not sign the form before you get to the notary. Many notaries will refuse to notarize a document they did not see being signed, and a pre-signed form defeats the point of the notarization.

Indiana permits remote online notarization. A remote notary commissioned in Indiana can witness signatures through approved audiovisual technology, the session must be recorded, and the notary must use technology approved by the Indiana Secretary of State.⁵ That is a practical option if you are out of state or unable to travel.

What Your Representative Brings to the BMV

Once the form is notarized, your attorney-in-fact takes the original to any Indiana BMV branch along with everything the specific transaction needs. For a standard title transfer, the BMV’s checklist calls for a completed Application for Certificate of Title (State Form 205), the original certificate of title with proper assignment, proof of identity, and any applicable tax forms.⁶ Your representative should also carry their own photo ID.

Send the original notarized form, not a photocopy. The blue-or-black-ink rule and the physical notary seal together indicate the BMV expects the original paper at the counter. The base fee for issuing, duplicating, or replacing a title is $15, with expedited processing adding $25.⁷⁸ Registration fees vary by vehicle and county. Your representative should be prepared to pay at the branch.

Mistakes That Send People Back Home

Before you hand the form off, check for the problems that most often break a transaction:

A VIN or HIN that does not match the title. Compare the form against the title and the vehicle itself, character by character.
No notarization. A signed but un-notarized Form 1940 has no legal effect.
Pencil or the wrong ink color. Blue or black only.
Missing co-owner authorization. Two owners on the title means two separate Form 1940s.
A photocopy instead of the original notarized form.
Blank make, year, or other vehicle details, which create ambiguity about which asset the power covers.

One Thing Form 1940 Does Not Cover: Odometer Disclosure

If your representative is transferring a vehicle title, be aware that Form 1940 cannot substitute for the seller’s odometer disclosure. Under federal regulations, the same person generally cannot sign the odometer statement as both seller and buyer, and a general power of attorney cannot be used to appoint someone to execute an odometer disclosure. Only a state-issued secure power of attorney form meets those fraud-protection requirements when the title is unavailable.⁹

In practice, the odometer disclosure on the title should already be completed and signed by the seller before the paperwork reaches the branch. If the disclosure was not completed on the title itself, the BMV’s checklist calls for a standalone Odometer Disclosure Statement (State Form 43230) rather than treating Form 1940 as sufficient.⁶

Revoking Form 1940

You can revoke the power of attorney at any time by preparing a written revocation that identifies the original Form 1940 and signing it.¹⁰ The revocation is not effective until your attorney-in-fact has actual knowledge of it, so sending it by certified mail with return receipt requested gives you proof of delivery. Under Indiana’s power of attorney statute, the authority also terminates automatically when the principal dies, though it remains effective until the attorney-in-fact has actual knowledge of the death.

1
Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Limited Power of Attorney Vehicle and Watercraft Transactions – State Form 1940
2
Indiana State Government. Title Forms
3
Indiana State Government. Watercraft Registration
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 30-5-4-1 – Validity of Power; Conditions
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 33-42-17-3 – Remote Notary Public Functions; Requirements; Use of Equipment
6
Indiana State Government. Vehicle Title and Registration Application Checklist
7
Indiana State Government. BMV Fee Chart
8
Indiana State Government. Duplicate Title Application
9
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. MOPOA.ETL
10
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 30-5-10-1 – Revocation of Power; Record