Joint Ownership of a Car Title in Virginia: Or vs. And

In Virginia, two people can jointly hold a car title, and the word printed between their names decides almost everything that follows. Under Virginia Code § 46.2-622, names separated by “or” create joint ownership of a car title in Virginia with an automatic right of survivorship; names joined by “and” create co-ownership with no survivorship, meaning the deceased owner’s share goes through the estate.¹ One conjunction decides whether the surviving owner keeps the car outright or waits on probate.

What “Or” and “And” Actually Do

Virginia recognizes two forms of joint vehicle title. With “or” between the names (or the longer phrase “or the survivor of them,” which the statute treats as equivalent), either owner can act on the vehicle alone during both lifetimes, and whoever outlives the other automatically owns the car. With “and” between the names, the owners hold undivided interests as tenants in common, both must sign to transfer or sell, and there is no automatic transfer at death.¹

One form Virginia will not issue on a vehicle title is tenancy by the entireties, even for married couples.¹ Spouses pick between “or” and “and” like everyone else.

People often assume the two phrasings mean roughly the same thing. They don’t. Choosing “and” strips the survivorship right entirely. If you want the car to pass automatically to the other owner at death, the title must use “or.”

Setting Up a Joint Title at the DMV

To title a vehicle jointly, both owners complete and sign the Application for Certificate of Title and Registration (Form VSA-17A), or the VSA-17B for a manufactured home. The application has to indicate the intent to title as joint ownership.² If survivorship is what you want, check that the word “survivor” appears on the printed title before you leave.

Virginia’s fee for an original certificate of title is $15.³ Registration and any sales and use tax are separate. Adding a second owner to an existing title takes the current title, the new application, and both signatures.

What Each Owner Can Do While Both Are Alive

On an “or” title, either owner can transfer the vehicle, renew registration, or deal with the DMV without the other’s signature. That is convenient, and it is also the risk: one owner can sell or trade the car without the other’s consent. Trust matters more than paperwork.

On an “and” title, nothing moves without both signatures. More protection against unilateral decisions, more friction if the co-owners disagree or lose touch.

Either structure leaves both owners exposed to the financial obligations tied to the vehicle. Joint ownership is not a shield: Virginia law preserves the right to enforce any liability against a joint owner “to the extent of his interest in the vehicle.” If a lender financed the car and recorded a lien, that lien stands even if only one owner signed for the loan, provided the lien was granted on or before the title was issued.¹ If your co-owner stops paying, the lender can repossess.

Insurance

Most auto insurers want every titled owner listed on the policy. Leaving a co-owner off can give the insurer grounds to deny a claim later, even if that person never drove the car. Before you finalize a joint title, call your insurer, confirm both owners will be covered, and ask whether adding the co-owner changes the premium.

When One Owner Dies

This is where the conjunction either saves you weeks of hassle or buys you some.

Survivorship Title (“Or”)

If you are the surviving co-owner on an “or” title, you already own the vehicle by operation of law. The car doesn’t pass through the estate and doesn’t go through probate. Virginia’s DMV even lets surviving co-owners remove the deceased owner’s name online.⁴ To get a clean title in your name alone, you submit:

A certified or notarized death certificate
The existing vehicle title (if lost, file Form VSA-67 for a replacement; if damaged, submit the VSA-67 along with the damaged title)
Applicable fees

No signatures on the existing title are required when the surviving owner is simply keeping the vehicle, and the transfer is exempt from Virginia’s sales and use tax.⁵

No Survivorship (“And”)

If the title uses “and” without survivorship language, the deceased owner’s share becomes part of their estate. What happens next depends on whether anyone has been appointed to administer that estate:

If an executor or administrator has been appointed, that person handles the transfer on behalf of the estate.
If no executor or administrator has been appointed, the person inheriting the vehicle submits a death certificate, the title, proof of address, and applicable fees, plus one of the following: a copy of the will with a completed Authority to Transfer Virginia Title Certification (Form VSA-24); a VSA-24 alone if there’s no will; or an affidavit that the estate falls under Virginia’s small estate threshold (currently $50,000).⁴

Transfers to a spouse or legal heir after death are exempt from sales and use tax either way, with or without survivorship language on the title.⁵

Creditors Can Still Reach a Jointly Titled Car

Joint titling doesn’t wrap a vehicle in a protective bubble. Virginia law explicitly preserves creditors’ rights to pursue each owner’s interest and bars using the joint title as a defense against a secured lender.¹

Federal tax liens work on the same logic. The IRS looks to state law to figure out a taxpayer’s ownership interest, and the lien attaches to whatever that interest is. For jointly held property, the IRS can seek a judicial sale of the whole asset, with the non-liable owner compensated from the proceeds for their share.⁶ Adding a second name to a title to hide a car from the IRS doesn’t work.

Divorce and the Retitling Trap

In a Virginia divorce, a vehicle titled in both spouses’ names is presumed to be marital property subject to equitable distribution.⁷ Even a car in one spouse’s name alone can land in that bucket if it was bought with income earned during the marriage. Courts look at how and when the asset was acquired, not just the name on the paperwork.

Here is the trap worth knowing before you add a spouse’s name. If you owned a car before the marriage as separate property and later retitled it jointly, Virginia law treats that as a “transmutation” to marital property.⁷ You can try to trace the separate-property origin, but the burden sits on you. Adding a name is easy; unwinding what it did to the car’s legal character is not.

Adding a Co-Owner Can Trigger Federal Gift Tax Reporting

Putting a second person on your title transfers an ownership interest, which the IRS may treat as a gift. The 2026 annual gift tax exclusion is $19,000 per recipient.⁸ Add a co-owner to a $30,000 car and the $15,000 share you handed over sits comfortably under the limit. On a vehicle valuable enough that the gifted share exceeds $19,000, you would file Form 709, even though no tax is likely owed because of the lifetime exemption.

Avoiding the Common Mistakes

Most trouble with joint vehicle titles starts at the DMV counter and shows up months or years later. A few habits head off the usual problems:

Read the title the day you receive it. Check whether it says “or” or “and” between the names, and whether “survivor” appears. If the printed title doesn’t match what you asked for, fix it now rather than after someone dies.
Put the money arrangement in writing. The statute makes both owners liable; it doesn’t sort out who agreed to cover the loan payment, the insurance, or the maintenance. A short written understanding spares arguments.
List both owners on the auto insurance policy. A gap here can mean a denied claim no matter who was behind the wheel.
Think twice about adding a spouse’s name if the marriage is shaky. Retitling can transmute separate property into marital property and complicate a later divorce.
Keep the title somewhere safe. If a survivorship title is lost, the surviving owner has to file Form VSA-67 for a replacement before the DMV will process the transfer, which adds time at an already hard moment.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 46.2-622 – Issuance of Certificate of Title in Names of Joint Owners
2
Vehicle Licensing Guide. Titling as Joint Ownership with Right of Survivorship
3
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. DMV Fees
4
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Transfer Vehicle Ownership
5
Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. VLIC 3.505 – Transfer of Ownership Upon Death
6
Internal Revenue Service. 5.17.2 Federal Tax Liens
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 20-107.3 – Court May Decree as to Property and Debts of the Parties
8
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026