How to Remove a Co-Owner from a Car Title in Maryland

To remove a co-owner from a car title in Maryland, both owners sign the existing certificate of title over to the remaining owner and file an Application for Certificate of Title (Form VR-005) with the Motor Vehicle Administration, along with a $200 title fee and, for vehicles under seven years old, a notarized bill of sale. The process is quick when the co-owner agrees. It gets harder if they’ve died, can’t be reached, or won’t sign.

What You’ll Need to File

Maryland requires the signatures of every person listed on the title to transfer ownership, whether the names are joined by “and” or “or.”¹ So the first thing to confirm is that your co-owner is willing to sign. Without that signature or a court order, the MVA will not process the change.

When both of you are on the same page, the packet is short:

The original certificate of title, with the “Assignment of Ownership” and “Application for Title and Registration” sections on the back completed. The person coming off the title signs as the seller; the person staying on signs as the buyer.
Application for Certificate of Title (Form VR-005), which collects the vehicle details and the new sole owner’s name, address, driver’s license number, and date of birth.²
A valid driver’s license or state-issued ID for both parties.
A notarized bill of sale, if the vehicle is less than seven years old. This is required even when no money is changing hands, because the bill of sale documents the transfer.²
Lien release paperwork, if a loan is still attached to the car.

A safety inspection is not required when you’re only removing a co-owner and the remaining owner is keeping the vehicle.³ That saves you the inspection fee and the trip.

If There’s a Loan on the Car

The MVA will not issue a clean title while a lien is on record. Contact the lienholder for a payoff amount. Once the balance is paid, the lender releases the lien and sends you either a Maryland Notice of Security Interest Filing (SIF) or a notarized lien release letter.⁴ Submit that document with your title application, and keep a copy of the SIF or release letter with the title until you sell or re-title the vehicle again.⁵

Paying off the loan outright is not always realistic. If both co-owners are on the note, the remaining owner can refinance in their own name. Refinancing pays off the joint loan and creates a new one with a single borrower, which then produces the lien release you need. Approval depends on credit and income, and the new loan may carry different terms.

What It Costs

Maryland charges $200 for a certificate of title on most passenger vehicles, and that fee applies every time a new title is issued, including for a co-owner removal.⁶ Mopeds and motor scooters are $40, off-highway recreational vehicles $70.

Maryland’s vehicle excise tax is 6.5% of fair market value or purchase price.⁶ When you’re consolidating ownership to someone already on the title and nothing of value changes hands, there’s no purchase, so the tax generally doesn’t apply. If you’re buying out the departing co-owner’s share, the tax kicks in on the value of that transaction unless a family exemption applies.

Notary fees in Maryland are capped at $8 per signature for in-person notarial acts. Remote online notarization can run up to $30 per act.⁷

The Family Gift Exemption

If the co-owner coming off the title is a family member and the transfer is a genuine gift, you can skip the excise tax. Maryland exempts transfers between the following relatives when nothing of value is exchanged:

Spouse
Parent or grandparent
Son or daughter (including step-children and in-laws)
Brother or sister
Grandchild
Father-in-law or mother-in-law
Son-in-law or daughter-in-law

An aunt or uncle who is at least 65 can also transfer tax-free to a niece or nephew, but that transaction requires the additional Form VR-299.⁸

To claim the exemption, file the Application for Maryland Gift Certification (Form VR-103) with your title paperwork. Both parties certify under penalty of perjury that no money or valuable consideration was exchanged.⁹ If the two of you have different last names, bring proof of the relationship: a birth certificate, marriage certificate, or adoption decree.¹⁰ If any party on the title falls outside the qualifying relationships, the MVA treats the transfer as taxable.

If Your Co-Owner Can’t Appear in Person

When the co-owner has moved out of state or otherwise can’t make it to sign, Maryland accepts a Restricted Power of Attorney on Form VR-470. The form limits the representative’s authority to the specific vehicle transaction described on it.¹¹

The VR-470 requires the vehicle’s year, make, model, and VIN, plus the signatures of every owner and the designated representative. Copies of each owner’s driver’s license must be attached. The representative then submits the form with the rest of the title paperwork. A power of attorney doesn’t waive any other requirement, so you’ll still need to clear liens and pay the title fee. And because the form is signed under penalty of perjury, forging a signature or acting beyond the stated authority carries criminal exposure.

If Your Co-Owner Has Died

A surviving co-owner listed on the title can apply for a new title in their name alone, and this needs to happen before the current registration expires.¹²

Complete the assignment and application sections on the back of the existing title and submit them with a certified copy of the death certificate. The MVA may send a letter notifying you that the title needs to be transferred; if you’ve already received that letter, it can substitute for the death certificate. No safety inspection is required.

If a loan is still on the vehicle, ask the lienholder for a letter authorizing the transfer of ownership and include it with your paperwork. If the loan has been paid off, attach the lien release or Security Interest Filing instead.¹²

A note on scope: this path works because you are already an owner on the title. If the deceased person was the sole owner and you are inheriting the car, the process runs through the Register of Wills and requires letters of administration or letters testamentary rather than the steps above.

If Your Co-Owner Refuses to Sign

Without their signature, you cannot remove them. Your remaining option is a court order, which usually means filing a civil lawsuit. Common grounds include a failed relationship in which both parties contributed to the purchase, a breach of a written agreement about the vehicle, or fraud.

If the court rules in your favor, it issues an order directing the MVA to re-title the vehicle. You then submit an Application for Certificate of Title along with the writ of mandamus or show cause order.¹³ The order must clearly direct the MVA to act and must fully describe the vehicle by year, make, and VIN. Any existing liens still have to be resolved before the MVA will issue the new title. Attorney fees and court costs can outrun the value of a modest car quickly, so it’s worth exhausting every avenue toward an agreement first.

Where to File

You have three ways to submit the paperwork:

In person at an MVA branch office. Branches operate by appointment only, so schedule online before you go.¹⁴
By mail, to the MVA’s Mail-in Title Unit at the Glen Burnie office. Expect processing to take longer than an in-person visit, and keep copies of everything you send.¹⁰
Through a licensed tag and title service. These private businesses handle the submission for a service fee on top of the MVA charges.

After the Title Is Issued

Once the MVA issues the new title in your name alone, you’re the sole legal owner, which also makes you solely responsible for liability, parking violations, and registration compliance. Call your insurer right away and update the policy. If the removed co-owner was the primary insured, or the policy sat in their name, you may need an entirely new policy rather than an amendment.

If plates registered to the vehicle were tied to the departing co-owner, they don’t automatically stay with the car. Plates that aren’t being transferred to another vehicle in the same owner’s name must be returned to the MVA for cancellation. Return the plates before you cancel insurance, not after. Doing it in the wrong order can trigger a compulsory insurance violation, with fines and a possible registration suspension to sort out.¹⁵

1
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Interactive Title and Registration Manual
2
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Application for Certificate of Title
3
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Maryland Code of Regulations COMAR 11-14-01-14 – Vehicle Sale or Transfer of Ownership
4
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Lien Release
5
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) – Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). Maryland Vehicle Title and Registration Information
6
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Industry Bulletin – HB 352 (BRFA) (2025) Changes
7
Maryland Secretary of State. Notary Division
8
Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code GTR 13-810 – Excise Tax Exemptions
9
Maryland.gov. Application for Maryland Gift Certification
10
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Titling – Gift to Family Member
11
Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration. Vehicle Owner(s) Power of Attorney Granted to (VR-470)
12
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) – Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). You’ve Inherited a Vehicle
13
Legal Information Institute (LII) / Cornell Law School. Maryland Code of Regulations COMAR 11-15-14-10 – Vehicles Being Titled Because of Court Orders
14
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) – Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). Location and General Operations
15
Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) – Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA). Vehicle Registration and Titling Questions