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VehicleTitleTransfer

Transferring a vehicle title in Connecticut

Issued by Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Choose your situation below — the buyer’s and seller’s obligations are listed separately, and every answer links to the official source.

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A few details about your situation

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Do you have the original paper title?

If the original title is missing, the transfer starts with a duplicate title instead.

Is there a loan or lien recorded on the title?

A recorded lien has to be released before ownership can pass.

Is the vehicle from the last 20 model years?

Federal odometer disclosure applies to newer vehicles; older ones are generally exempt.

Title fee
$25base title fee
Deadline
See ruleRegister and title the vehicle in your own name before you drive it
Documents
5incl. H-13B
Where
State officein person

The seller signs the assignment on the reverse of the Connecticut Certificate of Title, writes the buyer's name and address into it, and hands it over with a bill of sale (Form H-31, or one you draft yourself). Nothing is notarised. The buyer then takes the assigned title, the bill of sale, a Connecticut insurance card, photo ID and Form H-13B to a DMV hub or branch office by appointment - Connecticut has no online route for this - and pays a $25 title fee, the registration package (the DMV quotes $190 for a car or SUV) and 6.35% sales and use tax, 7.75% above $50,000, charged on the NADA average trade-in value or the bill of sale, whichever is higher. The seller removes the plates and cancels the registration; the buyer's certificate of title arrives by post about 30 days later.

11 things this answer does not settle

  • Connecticut issues certificates of title only for vehicles 20 model years old and newer. For anything older there is no title at all: ownership moves on the previous owner's registration certificate plus a Supplemental Assignment of Ownership (Form Q-1) or a bill of sale, and the title steps described here simply do not apply.
  • The DMV publishes the same registration cost two ways. Its "Register your new vehicle or vessel" page quotes an all-in "Registration fee: $190" for a personal car or SUV; its fee chart itemises the same transaction as $120 registration + $5 plate + $25 title + $10 administrative + $15 Clean Air Act + $15 Passport to the Parks, which is where the $190 comes from. The Passport to the Parks fee rose to $24 on 1 July 2025, so expect roughly $9 more than $190 at the counter, before sales tax, the $10 lien fee, the greenhouse gas fee and any $40 emissions exemption fee.
  • The DMV's plate-transfer page and its fee chart both still print the Passport to the Parks fee as $15 with a note that it "will be" $24 from 1 July 2025, while the registration page uses $24. We have used $24 throughout. The fee chart is also headed "Estimated fee".
  • Form Q-1, the Supplemental Assignment of Ownership, is required for every non-titled vehicle and for any sale made while the title is lost, but the DMV does not publish it as a downloadable PDF - its forms index marks it "need to request" and its request page sits behind a bot-check screen. Everything recorded here about the Q-1 is what the DMV says the form does, not what the form itself contains.
  • The DMV names six Probate Court documents by number - PC-160, PC-212B, PC-260, PC-264, PC-264S and PC-450 - as acceptable proof of a fiduciary's authority. None of them appears on the Connecticut Probate Courts' own published forms list, which is consistent with their being decrees and certificates the court issues rather than forms an applicant downloads. Ask the Probate Court which of them it will give you.
  • Fees on the DMV chart that this record quotes as exact figures are the chart's own "estimated fee" values. The counter total also depends on the registration class, whether you are transferring an existing plate, and how much equity is left on an old registration.
  • The three Connecticut General Statutes pages cited here (chapters 246, 247 and 802b on cga.ct.gov) are served with an incomplete TLS certificate chain. Browsers repair this automatically and the pages load normally for a person; automated fetchers may report them unreachable. They are official Connecticut General Assembly pages and were read in full for this record.
  • Connecticut publishes no day count for a buyer to title a vehicle bought privately inside the state. The only firm clocks we could find are the 90 days that apply to a vehicle bought out of state or brought here by a new resident, and the practical one in Section 14-16(a) C.G.S. - the seller's registration expires the moment ownership passes.
  • The 48-hour certification for a non-titled vehicle comes from Section 14-16(g) C.G.S., which says the seller must certify "on blanks provided by" the Commissioner. No DMV consumer page restates this duty and we could not identify which blank form it means; the Q-1 is the form the DMV points sellers of non-titled vehicles to.
  • The registration total is published two ways by the DMV and the $190 figure still uses the old $15 Passport to the Parks fee, which rose to $24 on 1 July 2025. Treat the counter total as approximate.
  • Form Q-1 could not be read: the DMV does not publish it as a PDF and its request page is behind a bot-check screen. What is recorded here is what the DMV says about the form.

Do this first

  1. Before you book anything, check the vehicle and yourself for compliance holds on the DMV's online tool. Connecticut will not register a vehicle if delinquent property tax or parking tickets are owed on it, or if the registrant's privilege is suspended.
  2. Have the emissions test done before the DMV appointment if the vehicle is four model years old or older; if it is emissions-exempt, get a VIN verification instead. Either way the technician gives you a Vehicle Inspection Report to hand in at the counter.

Your checklist

  • Official page
  • Official page
  • Official page
  • H-13BOfficial page
  • Official page
  • Official page
  • Official page
  • Official page

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The seller's checklist

  • Official page
  • H-31Official page
  • J-23TOfficial page
  • Official page
  • E-159Official page
  • Official page
  • Q-1Official page

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Both of you, together

  • Official page

Ticks are saved in this browser only. Nothing here is sent to us or filed with any agency.

Documents and official forms

  • Connecticut Certificate of Title with the assignment and warranty of title completed on the reverseMust show the buyer's name and address as well as the seller's signature. No notary. If a lienholder is named on the face of the title, a lien release letter must come with it.
  • H-31Bill of saleRequired to process a new Connecticut registration. Form H-31 or your own version carrying the vehicle description, VIN, odometer reading, both parties' names, addresses and signatures, the price and the date.
  • H-13BCompleted Connecticut Registration and Title ApplicationSection 2 carries the odometer reading; Section 3 the seller's name and address, the date sold and the selling price; Section 5 any sales-tax exemption code. Signed by the owner in Section 6 - all co-owners must sign where the names are joined by "and".
  • Current Connecticut Insurance Identification Card in the new owner's name for this vehicleIssued by your insurer once you have bought cover for the specific vehicle. Minimum liability is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 per accident for property damage.
  • Acceptable photo identification for every person named as an ownerA Connecticut driver's license, drive-only license or learner's permit, a Connecticut non-driver ID, an out-of-state or Canadian license or ID card with a photo, a US passport or passport card, a military ID or a tribal ID with a photo. Photocopies are accepted for someone who has signed a Special Power of Attorney (Form A-83).

Also required in some cases

The vehicle is four model years old or older, or is emissions-exempt and therefore needs a VIN verification instead.

  • Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) from the emissions test or VIN verification

The vehicle is more than 20 model years old and has no Connecticut title, or the seller's title is lost and Form H-6B is being used in its place.

  • Q-1Supplemental Assignment of Ownership

The vehicle is more than 20 model years old and therefore non-titled.

  • The previous owner's registration certificate

A lienholder is named on the certificate of title.

  • Lien release letter from the lender

Somebody who must be named on the registration cannot come to the DMV.

  • A-83Special Power of Attorney

Deadlines

  • DeadlineRegister and title the vehicle in your own name before you drive it from the transfer of ownershipBuyer"A motor vehicle registration expires upon transfer of ownership of the motor vehicle" (Section 14-16(a) C.G.S.), so the seller's plates and registration die with the sale. Connecticut publishes no day count for an in-state private purchase; if you need to move the vehicle to an emissions test first, buy a temporary registration at $21 for every 10 days.
  • Deadline30 calendar days from the date of registrationBuyer: Have the emissions test done within 30 days of the registration date if you registered the vehicle before testing it"You will need to have the vehicle's emissions tested within 30 days of the date of registration or you will get a late fee. Note: You will not receive a notice for testing." The DMV assesses a $20 late fee when a vehicle is tested more than 30 days past its due date.
  • Deadline90 calendar days from the date of the registration transactionBuyer: Reapply free for a title that never arrived, within 90 days of the transactionTitles are issued about 30 days after registration. "You have 90 days from the transaction date to re-apply for a title at no cost" by posting a Statement of Non-Receipt of a Connecticut Certificate of Title to Specialized Registry Services, Room 305, 60 State Street, Wethersfield CT 06161. After that you pay the $25 replacement fee instead.
  • DeadlineOnly if the vehicle has no certificate of title (Connecticut does not title vehicles more than 20 model years old): certify the sale to the Commissioner under oath "within forty-eight hours of the sale" from the saleSellerSection 14-16(g) C.G.S. requires a person who sells a used motor vehicle "for which a certificate of title has not been issued" to certify the sale under oath on blanks provided by the Commissioner within 48 hours. "Until the commissioner receives the certification under oath required by this subsection, he shall not issue a registration other than for a new motor vehicle" - so missing it can block the buyer. A first offence is an infraction; a later one is a fine of up to $500 or up to a year's imprisonment.

Fees and taxes

ChargeAmountPaid by
Base title fee$25Section 14-192(a)(1) C.G.S. sets $25 for filing an application for a certificate of title, and the DMV fee chart lists "$25 title fee" inside the registration package for a passenger car, SUV or van. It excludes the registration, plate, administrative, Clean Air Act, Passport to the Parks and greenhouse gas fees, the $10 lien fee, the emissions test and Connecticut sales and use tax.Buyer
Certificate of title fee$25Section 14-192 C.G.S. sets the fee for filing an application for a certificate of title at $25, and the DMV fee chart lists "$25 title fee" inside the registration cost for a passenger car, SUV or van. It excludes registration, plate, administrative, Clean Air Act, Passport to the Parks and greenhouse gas fees, the $10 lien fee and sales tax.Buyer
Registration and its bundled fees (personal car or SUV)From $190Varies by the registration class and usage type - personal, combination, commercial, classic, taxi and so on - and on whether you are transferring an existing plate with equity left on it.The DMV's registration page quotes $190 for a personal car or SUV. Its fee chart itemises the same transaction as $120 registration + $5 plate + $25 title + $10 administrative + $15 Clean Air Act + $15 Passport to the Parks - which is exactly $190. The Passport to the Parks fee rose to $24 on 1 July 2025, so budget about $9 above the published $190. A classic (20+ model year) registration is quoted at $177 instead.Official calculatorBuyer
Connecticut sales and use tax6.35%Varies by the purchase price, and on the NADA average trade-in value where that is higher than the bill of sale on a private sale.6.35% of the taxable value, rising to 7.75% for a vehicle registered as passenger or combination costing more than $50,000. On a private sale the base is "the NADA average trade-in value or bill of sale value (whichever is higher)"; on a dealer sale it is the invoiced purchase price, with full trade-in credit. Collected by the DMV at the registration counter.Official calculatorBuyer
Lien recording fee$10Charged only if the vehicle is financed. Section 14-192(a)(2) C.G.S. sets $10 "for each security interest noted upon a certificate of title"; the DMV registration page lists "Lien fee: $10 (if applicable)".Buyer
Greenhouse gas reduction fee$7.50The DMV publishes "with the certificate of origin, $15; with an existing title, $7.50" - a used vehicle changing hands on an existing title is the $7.50 case.Buyer
Emissions test$20"The emissions test fee is $20.00." Paid at the test centre, not to the DMV. All centres take cash; not all take cards or cheques.Buyer
Emissions exemption fee$40Charged instead of a test when the vehicle is too new to need one - "$40, if vehicle is four years old or newer as of current year".Buyer
VIN verification$10Payable at a licensed inspection station when the vehicle is exempt from emissions testing. There is no charge for a VIN verification done at a DMV inspection lane. If you lose the verification form 30 days or more after it was issued you must have the VIN verified again and pay again.Buyer
Cancelling the seller's registration$0"It is free to terminate your vehicle or vessel registration." Connecticut charges the seller nothing to end the registration, online, by post or in person - and may refund unused registration fees on Form F-82.Seller

Connecticut collects 6.35% sales and use tax when you register the vehicle, or 7.75% if it cost more than $50,000; on a private sale the tax is worked out on the NADA average trade-in value or the bill of sale price, whichever is higher.

Inspection, emissions, notary and odometer

Inspection
Sometimes required
  • Connecticut does not safety-inspect ordinary cars and trucks on a sale.
  • A vehicle that is exempt from emissions testing must instead have its VIN verified - $10 at a licensed inspection station, free at a DMV inspection lane - and the verification form goes stale 30 days after it is issued.
  • Composite, homemade and kit vehicles, dune buggies, salvage vehicles, grey-market imports, amphibious and former military vehicles, motorcycles of model year 1980 or older and most three-wheeled vehicles must go to a DMV inspection lane, where a full safety inspection is done at the same time.
  • Section 14-16a C.G.S. lets the Commissioner require a vehicle ten model years old or older to be presented for inspection within 30 days before, or upon, transfer of ownership, and requires it on transfer for antique, rare, special-interest and modified antique vehicles.
Connecticut does not safety-inspect ordinary cars on a sale: "Generally, personal vehicles (e.g., cars and trucks) do not require a safety inspection." What most buyers actually need is either an emissions test or, if the vehicle is emissions-exempt, a VIN verification.
Emissions
Required, unless you are exempt
  • Vehicles younger than four model years old.
  • Vehicles of model year 2001 and older (the DMV's proof-of-ownership page words the same rule as "model year 25 years and older").
  • Vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more.
  • Composite vehicles titled as such under Section 14-103a C.G.S.
  • Full electric-powered vehicles that are not hybrids.
  • Motorcycles, and bicycles with motors attached.
  • Certain vehicles that are registered but not designed primarily for highway use, and farm vehicles.
  • Diesel-powered Type II school buses under 10,000 lbs GVWR.
A vehicle four model years old or older needs a $20 Connecticut emissions test before it can be registered in a new owner's name; if the vehicle was already registered in Connecticut you may register first, but you then have 30 days to test it or the DMV bills a $20 late fee.
Notarization
Sometimes required
  • Only where a buyer, seller or owner cannot come to the DMV in person and signs a Special Power of Attorney (Form A-83). That signature needs two witnesses and an acknowledgement before a notary public, justice of the peace or commissioner of the Superior Court. Nothing else in the transaction is notarised.
Nothing in an ordinary Connecticut title transfer is notarised - not the assignment on the title, not Form H-13B, not the bill of sale, not the gift declaration. A notary is needed in one situation only: when somebody who cannot come to the DMV signs a Special Power of Attorney (Form A-83).
Odometer disclosure
Required, unless you are exempt
  • A vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 16,000 pounds, or a vehicle that is not self-propelled.
  • A vehicle of model year 2010 or older, once ten years have passed since 1 January of its model year - so every model year 2010 and older vehicle is exempt for transfers made in 2026.
  • A vehicle of model year 2011 or newer stays covered for twenty years: model year 2011 vehicles become exempt only for transfers in 2031.
  • A new vehicle before its first transfer for a purpose other than resale.
  • A vehicle sold directly by the manufacturer to a United States agency.
The mileage is written on the assignment of the Connecticut title, on the bill of sale and in Section 2 of Form H-13B. Connecticut applies the federal odometer law rather than a separate state disclosure form, and the Commissioner puts a mileage legend on every title.

What happens to the plates

Connecticut plates belong to the registrant, not to the vehicle. The seller takes the plates off and cancels the registration; the buyer leaves the DMV with plates issued on their own new registration, or transfers a plate they already hold onto the vehicle they have just bought.

  • The seller keeps the plates
  • The buyer gets new plates
  • The buyer supplies a plate registered in their own name
  • The seller may move the plates to a replacement vehicle

Cancelling is free and takes about seven minutes online; "Plates can be discarded at your discretion" once the registration is terminated, and the plate disposition receipt is the seller's proof. Until the registration is cancelled the vehicle stays on the town's property-tax roll in the seller's name. Transferring a plate to a replacement vehicle carries the unused equity of the old registration across, and you must still meet every requirement of a new registration. Where a vehicle passes from a deceased immediate family member, the DMV requires "a permission letter from the immediate family member" to keep the same plates.

How to submit

  • In person at a state title office

Connecticut titles and registers in a single in-person transaction: you file one Application for Registration and Title (Form H-13B) at a DMV hub or branch office, walk out with plates, and the certificate of title is posted to you about 30 days later - or to the lienholder if you financed.

Official state links

Source: Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Checked July 31, 2026. Report a correction

Common questions about Connecticut

How long do I have to transfer a vehicle title in Connecticut?
Register and title the vehicle in your own name before you drive it - a Connecticut registration expires the moment ownership transfers from the transfer of ownership. Section 14-16(a) C.G.S. provides that "A motor vehicle registration expires upon transfer of ownership of the motor vehicle", so the seller's plates and registration are not available to the buyer even for a day. Connecticut publishes no day count for a purchase made inside the state; if you need to move the vehicle to an emissions test first, get a temporary registration ($21 for every 10 days).
How much does a title transfer cost in Connecticut?
The base title fee is $25. Section 14-192(a)(1) C.G.S. sets $25 for filing an application for a certificate of title, and the DMV fee chart lists "$25 title fee" inside the registration package for a passenger car, SUV or van. It excludes the registration, plate, administrative, Clean Air Act, Passport to the Parks and greenhouse gas fees, the $10 lien fee, the emissions test and Connecticut sales and use tax. Connecticut collects 6.35% sales and use tax when you register the vehicle, or 7.75% if it cost more than $50,000; on a private sale the tax is worked out on the NADA average trade-in value or the bill of sale price, whichever is higher.
Does a vehicle title transfer need to be notarized in Connecticut?
Sometimes required. Nothing in an ordinary Connecticut title transfer is notarised - not the assignment on the title, not Form H-13B, not the bill of sale, not the gift declaration. A notary is needed in one situation only: when somebody who cannot come to the DMV signs a Special Power of Attorney (Form A-83).
Does the seller have to notify the title authority in Connecticut?
Yes. Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Cancel your Connecticut registration and take your plates off as soon as you hand the vehicle over - no day count is published, but nothing ends your exposure until you do from the date of sale. "Until you cancel your registration with DMV, the vehicle is subject to property tax assessment in the town of record for that vehicle." You must also keep liability insurance in force while the registration is active, so cancelling insurance first risks a $200 lapse fine. Cancelling is free, and the plate disposition receipt is your proof.
What happens to the license plates in Connecticut?
Connecticut plates belong to the registrant, not to the vehicle. The seller takes the plates off and cancels the registration; the buyer leaves the DMV with plates issued on their own new registration, or transfers a plate they already hold onto the vehicle they have just bought.

About this page

Everything here is a summary of procedures published by official state title authorities, with a link to the source for each answer.

Unusual ownership, probate, lien, salvage, court-order or identity situations commonly require steps beyond those listed here.

We do not file anything with any agency, and we cannot submit, expedite, or check the status of a transfer. Ticking a box on this site records your own progress in your browser and nothing more.

43 official sources · last checked July 31, 2026 · How this was compiled · Report a correction