Bill of Sale for a Car With Notary: State-by-State Rules

Does a bill of sale for a car need to be notarized?

In most states, no — a bill of sale for a car with notary involvement is the exception, not the rule. We checked all 50 states plus DC against their DMV pages and statutes (July 2026): no state requires a notarized bill of sale in every private car sale, 13 states require one in specific situations, and 38 jurisdictions never require it. The conditional triggers are narrow but real — Louisiana wants a notarized bill of sale or notarized title assignment in used-vehicle titling, West Virginia demands one when the price falls below half of book value, and Oklahoma notarizes the bill of sale that transfers its electronic titles.

So the honest answer has two parts: check your state in the table below to see whether notarization is required, and consider notarizing regardless for a higher-value sale — a notarized bill of sale proves the signature is genuine even where no agency demands it. Each row links to the DMV or statute source it came from.

Compiled from state DMV and statute sources, July 2026.

On this page

• Which states require a notarized bill of sale for a car?
• States that never require vehicle bill-of-sale notarization
• What a vehicle bill of sale should include
• When notarization is required vs merely smart
• Acknowledgment or jurat: which notarial act your form needs
• What the notary verifies (and what it can’t prove)
• Why notarize even when it’s optional
• How to notarize a bill of sale online

Which states require a notarized bill of sale for a car?

Thirteen states attach a notarization requirement to a vehicle bill of sale in at least one scenario. None of them notarize every private sale — each rule has a trigger, listed in the Detail column. South Carolina also appears in this table, but its condition is on the bill-of-sale document (required when the title assignment has no sales-price section), never on notarization. Per-state sources are linked in each table row.

State	Notarization required?	Detail	Source
Arizona	Conditional	Only when the Title Transfer Bill of Sale (Form 38-1306, Arizona-titled vehicles only) is used in place of the signed title — it must be signed and acknowledged before a notary or MVD agent. No bill of sale is needed when the signed title itself is presented.	Arizona MVD
Colorado	Conditional	A normal private sale uses an un-notarized bill of sale, required only if the sale price is not on the title. A notarized bill of sale is required only when titling an off-highway vehicle 25 years or older with no proof of ownership.	Colorado DMV
Hawaii (Honolulu)	Conditional	A notarized bill of sale is mandatory when the Certificate of Title is not released (signed off) by the recorded owner. Vehicle titling is county-run — this rule is verified for the City & County of Honolulu; confirm with Maui, Kauai, or Hawaii County for other islands.	Honolulu CSD
Kentucky	Conditional	In an ordinary Kentucky sale the notarization happens on the title itself, not a bill of sale. If the vehicle comes from a state that only issues a registration or bill of sale, those documents are brought in place of the signed-over title and their signatures must be notarized.	drive.ky.gov
Louisiana	Conditional	An original notarized bill of sale or invoice stating the actual price is a listed titling requirement — but a separate bill of sale is not required if the selling price is included on the notarized title assignment. OMV accepts the file if the bill of sale, invoice, or title is notarized.	Louisiana OMV
Maryland	Conditional	A bill of sale is generally optional, but a notarized Bill of Sale (VR-181) signed by both buyer(s) and seller(s) is required when the stated purchase price is used to compute the 6.5% excise tax instead of book value. MVA pages state the exact trigger inconsistently — confirm the current threshold wording with MVA.	Maryland MVA
Mississippi	Conditional	No bill of sale, notarized or otherwise, is required for an ordinary in-state private sale. A notarized bill of sale is a required document when titling a vehicle imported from a foreign country; a plain bill of sale accompanies a title bond when no title can be obtained.	Mississippi DOR
Missouri	Conditional	The sale-reporting Bill of Sale (Form 1957) needs no notary, but notarized bills of sale in the applicant’s name are required for all major component parts when titling a rebuilt (prior-salvage) vehicle.	Missouri DOR
New Jersey	Conditional	A standard sale uses a plain bill of sale — no notary. When titling a used vehicle from a state that does not issue titles, MVC requires a notarized statement from seller to buyer, signed by both parties before notarization.	NJ MVC
North Dakota	Conditional	No bill of sale is required for a normal private sale with a title. The state’s Seller’s Certificate and Vehicle Bill of Sale (SFN 2888) — used when the certificate of title cannot be furnished — must be signed before a Notary Public.	NDDOT — SFN 2888
Oklahoma	Conditional	Since July 1, 2025 all Oklahoma titles issue electronically by default, and the Form 718 Electronic Title Bill of Sale that transfers an e-title must be notarized (“Is the notary requirement eliminated due to the changes? No.”). Paper-title transfers use a notarized title; a bill of sale for price documentation isn’t notarized. Service Oklahoma doesn’t specify whether the seller’s or both parties’ Form 718 signatures need the notary — check the current form.	Service Oklahoma
South Carolina	Conditional (document, not notary)	Notarization is never required. The condition is on the document itself: a bill of sale must accompany the paperwork when the title assignment has no sales-price section — signed by the parties, not notarized.	SCDMV
West Virginia	Conditional	A notarized bill of sale (DMV-7-TR) is required when a vehicle bought from an individual has a purchase price below 50% of the NADA Clean Loan Book value — otherwise tax is assessed on book value (not accepted for vehicles two years old or less). Also required, notarized, for pre-title-requirement ATVs/UTVs; all notarized bills of sale must be accompanied by copies of both parties’ driver’s licenses.	WV DMV
Wyoming	Conditional	Not required for registration or sales tax, but a notarized bill of sale lets a buyer legally drive for up to 60 days while a lienholder holds the title, and titling is county-run — some county treasurers require a notarized bill of sale for private-party purchases. Check your county.	Sweetwater County Treasurer

Four of these states — Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Wyoming — plus North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Montana-before-October-2025 put their notary requirement on the title assignment rather than (or as well as) the bill of sale. If you’re transferring a title, read our companion state guide on whether a vehicle title needs to be notarized — the two documents carry separate rules.

States that never require vehicle bill-of-sale notarization

Thirty-eight jurisdictions — 37 states plus the District of Columbia — do not require notarization of a vehicle bill of sale in any standard private-sale scenario, per each jurisdiction’s DMV or titling agency. Thirty-seven are in the table below; the 38th, South Carolina, is listed in the conditional table above because it conditionally requires the bill-of-sale document itself, though never its notarization. Important distinction: many of these states still require a signed bill of sale as a document; they just never ask for it to be notarized.

State	Notarization required?	Detail	Source
Alabama	No	ALDOR requires no notarized bill of sale for ordinary private transfers. Nuance: rebuilt/salvage titling may call for notarized bills of sale for major replaced parts — confirm that exception with ALDOR before a salvage rebuild.	ALDOR
Alaska	No	A bill of sale is not valid for ownership transfer at all — the DMV recommends one for the seller’s protection, signed by both parties, no notary.	Alaska DMV
Arkansas	No	A bill of sale is a listed registration document (and both parties must sign it to claim the used-vehicle sales-tax credit), but the official DFA form has plain signature lines and no notary block.	Arkansas DFA
California	No	The DMV registration manual states a bill of sale is “Not required to be notarized or witnessed” — it’s even acceptable un-notarized in lieu of the owner’s release signature on the title.	California DMV
Connecticut	No	A bill of sale (Form H-31 or self-drafted) is required alongside the title, with contents ending at the seller’s signature — no notarization.	CT DMV
Delaware	No	No bill of sale is required at all; without one, the document fee is simply assessed on the NADA average trade-in value.	Delaware DMV
District of Columbia	No	A bill of sale is a required titling document in DC, but nothing on the DMV’s required-documents checklist calls for notarization.	DC DMV
Florida	No	A bill of sale is not a required titling document; FLHSMV recommends (does not require) notarizing the copy the seller keeps as a receipt.	FLHSMV
Georgia	No	A bill of sale (Form T-7) is required only for 1985-or-older vehicles that don’t require a title; DOR’s instructions list no notarization requirement.	Georgia DOR
Idaho	No	A bill of sale (ITD 3738) is not a required document when the title is properly assigned; no notarization requirement is stated for it. (Idaho’s duplicate-title forms are a different story — those must be notarized.)	Idaho ITD
Illinois	No	A bill of sale is not a listed required document in any ILSOS titling scenario — and ILSOS answers the title question explicitly: “Is the Illinois title required to be notarized? No.”	ILSOS
Indiana	No	Explicit: the bill of sale (State Form 44237) “is not required to be notarized or signed under penalties for perjury.”	Indiana BMV
Iowa	No	A bill of sale is often required (older Iowa title stock lacking the Transfer/Sale Date section needs a separate one) but is never notarized.	Iowa DOT
Kansas	No	Explicit: the Division of Vehicles “does not require most” bills of sale completed within Kansas to be notarized, though it “reserves the right to require notarized documentation in unusual circumstances.” One is required (TR-312 or page 2 of TR-12) when the title assignment has no purchase-price space — still not notarized.	Kansas DOR
Maine	No	A signed bill of sale is required to register a private-sale vehicle, but the official form contains only seller and buyer signature lines — no notary block.	Maine BMV
Massachusetts	No	An un-notarized bill of sale is needed only for age-exempt vehicles or to show the price when the previous title has no sales-price field.	Mass. RMV
Michigan	No	A bill of sale is not listed among Michigan SOS title-transfer or registration requirements in any scenario — the assigned title carries the price and odometer disclosure.	Michigan SOS
Minnesota	No	No notarized bill of sale in any scenario; non-titled light trailers can even transfer on a plain bill of sale identifying the vehicle, date, and buyer.	Minnesota DVS
Montana	No	The Bill of Sale (MV24) is an optional record of sale. Montana’s famous title-notarization requirement was eliminated effective October 1, 2025 (HB 165 struck MCA 61-3-220(2)) — most older sources are now wrong.	Montana SOS
Nebraska	No	The seller must give the buyer a bill of sale (or Revenue Form 6), but the DMV imposes no notarization — signatures only. The state’s form offers notary blocks for both parties for those who want them.	Nebraska DMV
Nevada	No	A Bill of Sale (VP 104) is a record the DMV tells parties to complete and keep — no notary requirement, and a bill of sale alone is not acceptable proof of ownership.	Nevada DMV
New Hampshire	No	For title-exempt (older) vehicles the seller provides a “properly executed Bill of Sale”; RSA 261:148, III lists its required contents with no notarization element.	NH DMV
New Mexico	No	A bill of sale (Form 10009) is only required when the Assignment of Title isn’t on the back of the title — both signatures, no notary. Gifted vehicles instead use an Affidavit of Gift, which must be notarized by both donor and recipient.	New Mexico MVD
New York	No	A bill of sale (form MV-912 available) is a required proof document in a private sale — names and signatures of buyer and seller only, no notarization.	NY DMV
North Carolina	No	No separate bill of sale is required — the notarized title assignment itself is the transfer document (North Carolina’s notary requirement lives on the title, not the bill of sale).	NCDMV
Ohio	No	A bill of sale is required only when purchasing from an out-of-state dealer, un-notarized. Ohio’s notarization happens on the title assignment (and on both pages of the e-title form BMV 3770).	Ohio BMV
Oregon	No	A bill of sale (form 501) is used when the seller’s name isn’t on the title; it needs the VIN, a release-of-interest statement, the seller’s printed name, signature, and date — no notary.	Oregon DMV
Pennsylvania	No	No bill of sale is required — the transfer runs through the notarized/verified title assignment completed before an authorized PennDOT agent, tag service, notary, or dealer.	PennDOT
Rhode Island	No	A bill of sale is required (year, make, model, VIN, color, price, seller signature and address) but not notarized. A gift letter from a non-immediate family member is the exception that must be notarized.	RI DMV
South Dakota	No	A separate bill of sale “will not be accepted in addition to or in place of” the assigned title; the optional Form 1025 carries no notarization requirement.	SD DOR Procedures Manual
Tennessee	No	The Department of Revenue expressly warns that even a notarized bill of sale “is not sufficient proof of ownership” — a properly endorsed title is required. (Tennessee does enforce the notary block printed on incoming out-of-state titles, except Kentucky’s.)	TN DOR
Texas	No	No bill of sale is required for titling at all — just the signed title and Form 130-U. Gift transfers instead use Form 14-317, which requires notarization unless signed in front of a county tax office employee.	TxDMV
Utah	No	A bill of sale (Form TC-843) mainly documents the purchase price for sales tax; the DMV states no notarization requirement and the TC-843 form contains no notary block.	Utah DMV
Vermont	No	A bill of sale (VT-005) is required in several scenarios (chain of ownership, 2009-or-older title-exempt sales), with contents ending at the seller’s signature and date — no notarization.	Vermont DMV
Virginia	No	Expressly informal: the bill of sale “can be a handwritten statement signed by the seller and purchaser.”	Virginia DMV
Washington	No	Both parties must sign a Bill of Sale unless the price and date are on the title — signed, not notarized. (Washington’s notary requirement falls on the buyer’s title application instead, unless signed at a licensing office.)	WA DOL
Wisconsin	No	Explicitly optional: the Bill of Sale (MV2928) “is provided for your convenience, it is not a required form.”	WisDOT

What a vehicle bill of sale should include

The contents matter more than the notarization in most states — an incomplete bill of sale gets rejected regardless of whether a notary signed it. New York’s DMV, whose form MV-912 is typical of state bill-of-sale forms, lists what an acceptable vehicle bill of sale must show:

1. The year and make of the vehicle (boat, snowmobile, or ATV included).
2. The vehicle identification number (VIN) — or hull identification number for a boat.
3. The date of the sale.
4. The purchase price.
5. The names and signatures of both the buyer and the seller.

Two additions worth making even where they aren’t listed: the odometer reading (federal odometer disclosure runs through the title, but repeating it on the bill of sale keeps the records consistent) and both parties’ addresses, which several state forms require. And if your state notarizes the document, check for companion requirements — West Virginia, for example, requires that every notarized bill of sale be accompanied by a copy of both the buyer’s and seller’s driver’s licenses.

The notary does not supply any of this. A notary provides notary services — identity verification and the notarial certificate — not document drafting, so arrive with the form completed except for the signatures a jurat requires you to make in the notary’s presence. Most state motor-vehicle agencies publish free official forms; each state row in the tables above links to the agency page where its form lives.

When notarization is required vs merely smart

There is no single national rule. A sale of goods is generally enforceable without notarization, but registration and titling agencies set their own documentation rules, and — as the tables above show — the requirement turns on the type of transaction, the price, and where the vehicle will be titled.

Louisiana is the strongest example of “required”: the Office of Motor Vehicles lists an original notarized bill of sale or invoice among its used-vehicle titling requirements, accepting the file only if the bill of sale, invoice, or title is notarized (Louisiana OMV). West Virginia shows the price-trigger pattern: a notarized bill of sale must accompany the title application when a private-party price is below 50% of the NADA Clean Loan Book value, or the tax is assessed on book value instead (WV DMV). And Nebraska shows the trap of judging by the form alone: the Nebraska DMV bill-of-sale form prints “Subscribed and sworn before me” notary blocks for both the seller and the buyer, yet the DMV imposes no notarization on the bill of sale for a standard transfer — the blocks are there for those who choose to use them. Because the details shift by state and can change over time (Montana dropped its notary rule as recently as October 2025), confirm the current rule with the agency where the vehicle will be registered.

Situation	Notarize?	Why
State or DMV requires it (Louisiana titling; Oklahoma e-title Form 718)	Yes — required	The agency won’t process the transfer without it
Price reported below book value (West Virginia; Maryland’s VR-181)	Required in that scenario	The state uses a notarized document to verify the true price
High-value private sale	Recommended	Adds third-party proof of who signed
Low-value everyday sale of goods	Usually optional	The sale is generally enforceable without it

Even when it’s optional, the benefit is the same as any notarization: a neutral official verified who signed, which makes the signature much harder to dispute later.

Acknowledgment or jurat: which notarial act your form needs

Not all notarizations are the same, and a bill of sale can call for either of two acts — a distinction most guides skip but one that determines whether you can sign ahead of time.

• Acknowledgment. The signer appears before the notary and acknowledges signing the document. Because the signer is confirming a signature they already made, an acknowledgment can be taken on a document that was signed earlier — you just have to personally appear and acknowledge it. Arizona’s Form 38-1306 works this way: “Acknowledged before me… Notary Signature or MVD Agent.”
• Jurat. The signer swears the contents are true and signs in front of the notary. A jurat can’t be added after the fact, because the signing itself has to happen in the notary’s presence. Nebraska’s DMV form uses jurat language (“Subscribed and sworn before me”), which is why that form is built for signing in front of the notary rather than beforehand.

The Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts — the model statute many states follow — defines a notarial act to include “taking an acknowledgment” and “witnessing or attesting a signature,” among others (RULONA, Uniform Law Commission). Which act your bill of sale needs is set by the form or your state’s instructions, so read them before you sign — and if you plan to notarize the document online, have that answer ready.

What the notary verifies (and what it can’t prove)

The notary verifies the signer’s identity and witnesses (or takes the acknowledgment of) the signature. The notary does not verify the item’s condition, the sale price, or that the seller actually owns the item — a notarization confirms who signed, not that the deal’s terms are true. That limit is worth understanding before you assume a notarized bill of sale guarantees anything about the transaction itself: it authenticates the signature, and nothing more. Tennessee’s Department of Revenue makes the same point from the agency side: a notarized bill of sale “is not sufficient proof of ownership” — only a properly endorsed title is. The California Secretary of State’s Notary Public Handbook frames the notary’s role the same way — identity verification of the signer, not vetting of the document’s contents.

That’s also why a notarized bill of sale pairs well with the underlying ownership document. On a vehicle sale, the bill of sale records the deal while the title proves ownership, and the two carry separate notarization rules — see our guide on whether a vehicle title needs to be notarized. The same principle applies to other signed documents you might send someone: notarization proves the signature, which is exactly why people also choose to notarize a letter or authorization when a signature could later be challenged.

Why notarize even when it’s optional

For a private sale between strangers, the value is proof. A notarized bill of sale creates a clean, third-party-verified record of who signed and when, which:

1. Deters disputes. It’s much harder for either party to later claim they never signed or never agreed.
2. Verifies identity up front. The notary checks a government-issued photo ID, reducing the risk of a forged or false signature.
3. Smooths the paperwork. Some title offices and boating authorities ask for notarized documents in certain transactions; doing it in advance avoids a rejected transfer later.

For higher-value items, out-of-state buyers, or a county office that turns out to want more than the statute demands (Wyoming buyers know this well), that small extra step is often worth it even when no law requires it. Dealerships and automotive businesses that handle this paperwork at volume can set up a standing workflow through our automotive notary services.

How to notarize a bill of sale online

Online notarization on USA Notary is $25 per document, and the signer appears on live video — see how the online process works. Here’s the sequence:

1. Confirm whether your state or the item’s title requires notarization (check the tables above), and which act (acknowledgment or jurat) the form calls for.
2. Prepare the bill of sale — leave it unsigned if the notary will witness the signature (required for a jurat).
3. Have a valid photo ID ready for identity verification.
4. Start an online session in a state that authorizes remote online notarization; the notary verifies your identity, watches you sign where required, and completes the notarial certificate.

The electronic format holds up under federal law. Under the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, a signature, contract, or record “may not be denied legal effect, validity, or enforceability solely because it is in electronic form” (15 U.S.C. § 7001). Remote online notarization is available to signers in all 50 states as a consumer service, though notary commissioning is governed state by state and some states have not yet authorized it. USA Notary provides notary services; it does not verify the terms of your sale.

Selling a vehicle? Also check whether you need to notarize the title itself — several states (Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wyoming) put their notary requirement on the title assignment rather than the bill of sale — and confirm your motor-vehicle agency accepts a remotely notarized document before you rely on it.