How do you remove a name from a car title in Wisconsin?

A living co-owner who agrees to come off

WisDOT does not have a simple delete-a-name form. Its correction form, MV1020, says deleting a co-owner is treated as a transfer of ownership and sends you to the regular title application instead.

So the owners sign the title over to the person who is keeping the car. If the names are joined by AND, WisDOT requires every owner to sign. If they are joined by OR, any one owner may sign. The remaining owner then files MV1 in their name alone, with the title and the $214.50 title fee. If the two of you were married or are related, check WisDOT's family list for a sales tax exemption before you fill in the price.

A co-owner who died

For a spouse or domestic partner, WisDOT's surviving spouse page says to send form MV2300 with the title to remove the deceased owner's name and get a new title. If the title is lost, add MV2119. There is no title fee for a qualifying surviving spouse or domestic partner.

For other surviving co-owners, WisDOT's guide for families of the recently deceased says the word between the names decides who signs. With OR, the survivor signs alone. With AND, the survivor and the decedent's legal representative both sign, and if you are both of those people, the guide says to sign the title twice as seller. A personal representative appointed by a court sends the court papers too.

A name that went on by mistake

Sometimes a seller writes their own name in the buyer or lien area while filling out the title. WisDOT's Statement of Intent, form MV2489, covers exactly that: the person signs to say their name is on the title in error, they did not buy the vehicle and have no interest in it, or that the seller printed the wrong buyer name.

MV2489 carries a warning from Wis. Stat. 342.06(2): knowingly making a false statement in a title application can bring a fine of up to $5,000, prison of up to 7 years and 6 months, or both. Use it only for a real mistake.

A co-owner who will not sign

If the title says AND and the other owner refuses, WisDOT's forms give you no way around their signature. A bonded title is not a workaround for this; the MV2082 instructions say WisDOT checks for an active title record first and, if it finds one, sends you to the record request process to contact prior owners. A dispute over who owns the car is a matter for a court. See our page on a joint owner who will not sign for what WisDOT's rules do and do not allow.

Two details to get right on the title

The buyer line. Removing a name is a transfer, so the back of the title is filled out like a sale, with the person keeping the car written in as buyer. Put exactly the name or names you want on the new title there, spelled the way you want them, and nothing else. Do not list the departing owner again.

The price and the tax. If the two of you are spouses, or related as parent, child, spouse's parent, child's spouse, stepparent or stepchild, and the vehicle was titled in Wisconsin before, MV1 lists a sales tax exemption code for that transfer. Enter the code rather than paying tax you do not owe.

Sources, checked 2026-10-31: WisDOT form MV1020, Title/Registration Correction Request (PDF) · WisDOT form MV1, Title and License Plate Application (PDF) · WisDOT: Selling your vehicle · WisDOT: Transfer a vehicle to a surviving spouse or domestic partner · WisDOT: Guide for family members of the recently deceased (BDS367) · WisDOT form MV2489, Statement of Intent (PDF) · WisDOT form MV2082, Application for Bonded Certificate of Title (PDF). Rules can change; confirm with WisDOT before you file.