One of the most common assets to consider incorporating into an estate plan is your vehicle. It gets you from Point A to Point B, so making sure you can get it from generation to the next, ideally avoiding probate, is crucial. Fortunately, the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) makes it relatively easy to protect your vehicle using their Beneficiary Designation form. Read along to find out what this form is, how to properly complete it, and how it works.
Beneficiary Designation Form
The Beneficiary Designation form is designed to allow you to easily transfer your vehicle’s title to your chosen beneficiaries after your death without the need for probate. This form is meant to be used for vehicles with only one owner, but if the vehicle is jointly titled (e.g., by spouses), each owner can complete a form. The form only requires a signature and date – as of the time of this blog, the form is no longer required to be notarized. HERE IS THE LINK to access the PDF
Required Information
In order to complete the form, you will need a few key pieces of information about your vehicle. You will need to fill in the VIN, make, and year of the vehicle, as well as the title number for your vehicle. If you have a paper title, you should be able to locate this information there. If your title is electronic (as are titles issued in the last few years), you should be able to find your information online in your AZMVDNow account.
The next step is to list your beneficiaries on the form. This can be individual family members or anyone else you’d like to leave your vehicle to. If you have created a living trust, you can also list your trust as the beneficiary. The form allows you to designate joint ownership legal status as well, following the instructions on the form.
How It Works
Once you have completed the form and signed it, your next step will depend on whether your title is paper or electronic. If you still have a paper title, you will have to staple the form to the paper title. If you only have an electronic title, no further action is required. Regardless, be sure to keep the form in a safe place where your loved ones can find it. When they transfer title after your death, they will either present the paper title and the form or just the form itself if the title is electronic. That’s it – it’s a relatively simple task and, best of all, the form is available for free online on the ADOT website.
Concluding Thoughts
Incorporating your vehicle into your estate plan doesn’t have to be costly or complicated. ADOT makes it simple and easy to designate a beneficiary for your vehicle so that it can pass directly to the beneficiary upon your death. The best part of this form is that, if done correctly, it will allow your vehicle to be transferred outside of the Arizona probate process. If you have any questions about the Beneficiary Designation form, or if you’d like help creating an estate plan for the rest of your assets, schedule a consultation with us today!