Legal changes to vehicle titles effective Jan. 1

The beginning of the year will bring two notable changes to the process of titling a vehicle. It will now be possible to set up the paperwork for joint ownership such that only one signature is needed to transfer that title on; it will also become legal to ask someone else to help you handle your paperwork.

In the first instance, says County Clerk Linda Fritz, “Representative Tyler Lindholm pursued legislation so that, if you title a vehicle with a conjunction of ‘or’, then only one person has to sign to sell. It still has to be notarized.”

Until now, Wyoming has not recognized “or” as a conjunction. When two parties are listed on a vehicle’s certificate of title, it has always been necessary for both to add their signature if they wanted to sell it.

The addition of “or” as an option is only available for concurrent ownership. If a vehicle is held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship or tenancy by the entirety, it will still be necessary for all owners to sign in order to sell that vehicle.

All signatures will also still be needed if the word “or” is not used – the new law does not automatically remove the requirement for all parties to sign the paperwork. Conjunctions including “and” and “and/or” will still require all signatures.

“The only thing that makes it that one person can sign to sell is the conjunction ‘or’,” she says. “It’s an option now for people, where it was never an option before.”

It should be noted, however, that if you use no conjunction at all on a concurrent ownership certificate of title, it will be treated as an “or”.

The “or” concept intends to fix situations where one owner has become unable to sign. For example, if one spouse is no longer competent but power of attorney has not yet been established.

As the changes could be confusing, says Fritz, “With every title we make, we will give people an attachment that explains how they will need to sign it.”

The attachment neatly summarizes in table form what seller signatures are required according to the type of ownership and the conjunction used.

“This will be effective January 1. It was put at the first of the year for ease, so it will work for any titles made January 1 or after,” Fritz explains. However, she stresses, “It will not be retroactive for prior titles.”

If you are interested in changing a currently held title to use the “or” conjunction, Fritz recommends visiting her office. The change can be made for a $15 filing fee.

However, while the “or” designation could certainly be more convenient, Fritz warns that it’s a decision to carefully consider. There are potential drawbacks to one party being able to sell a vehicle without the signature of a second owner; for example, if a couple was to divorce and was not on good terms, one party could sell the vehicle without the other’s consent.

“That was one of the concerns for some of the clerks who have had divorce situations happen and this was a protection for one spouse if the other was trying to take everything,” she says.

“But on the other hand, not having it punishes the person who can’t sell a vehicle because their spouse is unable to sign. We can’t protect people all the time either way from their own circumstances; we can, however, give them the option to go into it completely knowledgeable about what they’re doing.”

The second change was put forth by Lindholm at Fritz’s request, she says, and is intended to make the process of registering a title more convenient. It makes legal something that the majority of Wyoming’s county clerks have always wanted the ability to do, she says.

To explain why it’s necessary, Fritz uses the example of two working parents and a college-age daughter at home for summer vacation.

“Mom and dad are at work all day long and college daughter is home. They ask her to take care of the paperwork for them, to go in and get their plates and sales tax,” she says.

“If mom and dad haven’t signed a purchaser’s application, she can’t sign the title application form.”

The same would be true the other way round – the parents would not be able to stop in at the clerk’s office and get their daughter’s paperwork done while she was away at college.

“I asked for that legislation to change, so now it’s ‘owner’ or ‘owner’s agent’ who can sign,” Fritz says.

The only visible difference to the title document is in the final section – the purchaser’s application. Here, the request for a signature now indicates that a purchaser’s “agent” may sign instead and the need for a notary has been removed.

“Some of the clerks have asked people to bring in a letter saying that the purchaser has given them authority,” she says. Fritz does not believe this necessary and will not be requiring one herself, however, because the identity of the person who signs the form does not – and cannot – make a difference to the name that actually appears on the vehicle’s title.

“We don’t let them add a name without talking to the people already on it. All it is is just someone taking care of the paperwork for them,” she says.

“That one is for the convenience of the customer. If you don’t want somebody to do your title for you, you simply don’t send it with them – you come and do your own – but if you want to do your college-age kid’s title for them, this makes it so you can sign that application.”

If you have any questions about the changes, Fritz invites you to call or visit the clerk’s office.