Title Transfers

Georgia requires that you transfer the title and registration of your vehicle within 30 days of buying the car or receiving it as a gift. Fees will be imposed for late registrations.

Your license plate follows you, not your car, so you must remove your tag from your old car to put on your new car. Of course, this applies only if both cars require the same type of tag. (You can't transfer a motorcycle tag to a car, for example.)

How to Transfer a Title

Take the following documentation to your local tax commissioner's tag office to process the transfer:

• Your valid Georgia driver's license.

• Valid tag registration papers for the vehicle you no longer own.

• A completed application for the transfer.

• A valid title for your newly purchased vehicle, or the manufacturer's certificate of origin.

• Proof of insurance. Georgia requires a minimum of liability insurance on all vehicles.

• Emissions certificate proving your vehicle has passed inspection, if required in your county. Not all Georgia counties yet require emissions testing.

• Appropriate fees, listed below.

Fees

• $5 tag transfer fee.

• $18 title fee, if you are applying for a new title at the same time.

• $1 mailing fee if you want your registration papers mailed to you.

• If you are transferring your registration and title during the proper registration period, you will need to pay all taxes due at the time.

Registration Periods

Most Georgia counties have open registration year-round, with your registration period being determined by your birth date. You need to renew your vehicle tags in the 30 days prior to your birthday each year, with registration ending at midnight on that day.

A few counties (Calhoun, Charlton, Clay, McIntosh, Mitchell, Randolph, Stewart, and Turner) have a four-month, nonstaggered registration period. You'll renew your vehicle tags in these counties from January 1-April 30 each year.

Talbot County is the only county statewide that has a staggered registration period, with registration times based on your birth date. If your birthday falls in:

• January, February, or March: Register January 1-31.

• April, May, or June: Register February 1-28 (or February 29 in a leap year).

• July, August, or September: Register March 1-March 31.

• October, November, or December: Register April 1-April 30.

Transferring a Title in the Event of Death

When someone dies and leaves you a vehicle, you must apply for a Georgia title and possibly a new tag (some tags transfer from one owner to another; others don't). You'll need to take the following documents to your local tax commissioner's tag office:

• Your valid Georgia driver's license or state-issued ID card.

• The original title issued in the deceased's name. All liens on the title must be released, so in this circumstance, you'll also need to complete Form T-4.

• A completed application for the transfer.

• A certified copy of Letters of Testamentary/Administration from a probated will, or an Affidavit of Inheritance and a certified death certificate. If a will was left that does not need to be probated, you'll still need to submit a copy of the will with your transfer application. If there is no copy of the Letters of Testamentary/Administration, you'll need to title the vehicle in your name before you transfer ownership.

• Proof of insurance. Georgia requires a minimum of liability insurance on all vehicles.

• Emissions certificate proving your vehicle has passed inspection, if required in your county. Not all Georgia counties yet require emissions testing.

• An $18 title fee.

Name Changes

Before you can change your name or address on vehicle titles and registrations, you must change it on your Georgia driver's license or state-issued ID card. After that is completed, you can apply for the same changes on your title and tag receipt in person at your local tax commissioner's tag office with the same basic documents listed above (driver's license or ID, proof of insurance, current title, and registration papers). You'll also need to provide:

• A completed MV-1 Application.

• A certified copy of the document showing your name change―marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court order.

• $18 title fee. There's no fee to change your name or address on the tag receipt. During your registration period, you'll also need to pay the fees due at that time.

Adding or Deleting a Name

Changes to the title and registration require a trip to your tax commissioner's tag office for all parties involved.

To add a name, you'll pay the $18 title fee, and both of you will need to present your license and proof of insurance. If the first person is on the title, the tag can remain the same after adding the second person, so there are no tag costs.

To delete a name, the person you are deleting will need to be with you. That person will sign over the vehicle to you on the back of the title, and depending on the circumstances, you may be asked to sign it and then complete new paperwork. An $18 title fee applies.