How to Fill Out the Kansas Vehicle Power of Attorney Form TR-41

Kansas Form TR-41 is the state’s motor vehicle power of attorney, and it lets you appoint someone else to apply for a title, register a vehicle, or endorse and transfer a title in your name.¹ It is a single-page PDF you download from the Kansas Department of Revenue, fill out with details that match your current title exactly, and hand to your agent to submit at the county treasurer’s office along with the rest of the title paperwork.²

When to Use the TR-41

The most common reason people reach for this form is a private vehicle sale where the seller can’t be at the county treasurer’s office when the buyer finishes the title assignment.³ It also covers owners who live out of state, are deployed with the military, or can’t travel for medical reasons. The authority you grant is limited to the one vehicle described on the form. Your agent cannot use the same TR-41 to handle any other vehicle you own.

When You Need the Secured Power of Attorney Instead

Kansas has more than one motor vehicle power of attorney. Federal and state law prohibit the same person from signing as both buyer and seller and disclosing mileage in a single transaction, so if one person needs to sign on both sides of the deal, a Secured Power of Attorney is required rather than the TR-41.¹ Odometer-exempt vehicles are the exception. For those, the TR-41 can still be used when one person signs for both parties. The exemption currently covers vehicles model year 2010 or older (exempt at 10 years) and vehicles model year 2011 or newer (exempt at 20 years).

How to Fill Out the Form

Download the TR-41 for free from ksrevenue.gov, or pick up a paper copy at any county treasurer’s office.¹ The form is short. Each field needs to be accurate:

Agent name. The full legal name of the person you are appointing as your attorney-in-fact.
Year. The model year of the vehicle, exactly as shown on your title.
Make. The manufacturer: Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet, and so on.
Style. The body style: sedan, pickup, SUV.
VIN. The full Vehicle Identification Number. Copy it character by character from your title or from the plate visible through the driver’s side of the windshield. A single transposed digit will cause a rejection.
Lien information. The first and second lienholder names, if any. If the vehicle is free of liens, write “None.”
Owner name. Your full legal name, matching the existing title exactly, including middle names or initials.
Owner signature and date. The form includes a sworn statement that everything on it is true, and Kansas law provides penalties for false statements.

The biggest rejection trigger at the counter is a name mismatch between the TR-41 and the title. If your title says “Robert J. Smith” and you sign the TR-41 as “Bob Smith,” expect it back. Use whatever version of your name appears on the title.

Notarization

The TR-41 contains a sworn affirmation but does not explicitly state on its face whether notarization is required. County treasurer offices routinely require a notarized signature on power of attorney documents before processing title or registration changes. The safe move is to sign in front of a notary public and have the notary apply their seal. If you sign without one and the county requires it, you’ll have to redo the form. Call your county treasurer’s office before signing to confirm what they want.

If the Title Lists More Than One Owner

How many signatures you need depends on the connector between the names on the title:³

“And” between names. Every person listed must sign. Either each co-owner completes their own TR-41, or all of them sign the same one.
“Or” between names. One owner’s signature is enough.
No connector. Kansas defaults to “and,” so all parties must sign.

What Your Agent Brings to the County Treasurer

The completed TR-41 goes to the county treasurer in the county where the vehicle is garaged, not to the state directly.² Your agent brings it along with whatever the underlying transaction requires. For a used vehicle title transfer, the treasurer typically needs:

The existing title, with the assignment section on the back completed: purchase price, date of sale, odometer reading, and printed names and signatures of buyer and seller.
A lien release if a lienholder is recorded on the title. That can be a release on the title itself, a notarized lien release on Form TR-150, or a letter from the lienholder.
A VIN inspection (Form MVE-1) if the title was issued by another state. The pink copy of the MVE-1 goes to the treasurer.
Proof of insurance.
A sales tax receipt if the vehicle was bought from a dealer. For a private purchase, sales tax is paid at the treasurer’s office; if tax was paid in another state, you owe the difference.
Property tax, due at the time of registration unless you are applying for a temporary plate.³

Registration must be completed within 60 days of the purchase date, the day the title was assigned to the new owner, or the day the bill of sale was completed for an antique vehicle. Miss that window and penalties kick in.²

Fees

There is no separate fee to file the TR-41 itself. You pay the standard title and registration charges for the transaction. For a title transfer, those include:

Title fee: $10.00
Transfer fee: $6.50
Modernization fee: $4.00
Highway Patrol staffing and training surcharge: $2.00
Law enforcement training surcharge: $1.25⁴

Some counties also add a facility fee per transaction. Sales tax, property tax, and any lien fees are on top of these. Confirm accepted payment methods with the county office before your agent goes, because not every location takes credit cards for every transaction type.

How to Revoke It

The TR-41 is tied to a single vehicle and a specific transaction, so it effectively expires once the county treasurer processes the paperwork. To cancel it before that happens, tell your agent in writing that the power of attorney is revoked and contact the county treasurer’s office so they know not to accept the form. If the agent already has the original, ask for it back and destroy it. A power of attorney also terminates automatically when the person who granted it dies; at that point the vehicle becomes part of the estate, and any title work goes through probate or the personal representative instead of the TR-41 agent.

1
Kansas Department of Revenue. Power of Attorney TR-41
2
Kansas Department of Revenue. Vehicle Tags, Titles and Registration
3
Kansas Department of Revenue. Titling a Used Vehicle
4
Kansas County Treasurers Association. Titling, Fees and Refunds