Quick answer: if no Letters have been issued for the estate, an heir uses Form T-20 (Affidavit of Inheritance) plus Form MV-1 at the county tag office — a flat $18 title fee, no value cap on the vehicle. If Letters already exist, the personal representative transfers it directly instead.
Georgia's vehicle-only shortcut, separate from the bank or the petition
Neither of Georgia's two general small-estate shortcuts is actually what handles most inherited cars. Instead, the Georgia Department of Revenue runs its own dedicated process: Form T-20, sworn by the heir claiming the vehicle, records that the heirs have already agreed among themselves — it doesn't divide the estate itself, only documents an agreement that already exists. Unlike the $15,000 cap on Georgia's banking affidavit, there's no dollar limit here at all: a $2,000 sedan and a $60,000 truck file identically.
What to bring to the county tag office
- Form T-20 (Affidavit of Inheritance of a Motor Vehicle), signed and notarized
- Form MV-1 (Motor Vehicle Title/Tag Application)
- A certified copy of the death certificate
- The original title, if available, in the decedent's name
- Any lien released, or the lender's payoff/refinance terms resolved
- Form MV-16 (Affidavit to Certify Immediate Family Relationship), if claiming the reduced 0.5% title ad valorem tax rate as an immediate family member
If a will exists but isn't being probated
Georgia's own form accounts for this specifically: when the will contains only limited assets and isn't being formally probated, a legible copy of that will accompanies Form T-20 instead of Letters Testamentary.
When Letters are used instead
Once a probate estate is actually open — Letters Testamentary for an executor, or Letters of Administration for an administrator — that authority replaces Form T-20 as the basis for the transfer, still processed at the county tag office with Form MV-1.
No transfer-on-death option here
Unlike Georgia's real estate transfer-on-death deed, there's no equivalent for vehicles: a car titled solely in the decedent's name always needs either the T-20 affidavit or estate Letters to move to a new owner, regardless of how the family planned ahead otherwise.
Form T-20 is filed at the county tag office — Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb, or any of Georgia's other counties — with the same $18 fee and statewide DOR rules.
A local probate attorney can review your estate — many offer a free consultation.