Power of attorney (vehicle)
A signed document letting another person sign title or sale paperwork for a vehicle owner.
A vehicle power of attorney (POA) authorizes another person, the attorney-in-fact, to sign title transfer and related documents on the owner’s behalf. Many DMVs have their own limited form for this.
It is useful when the owner can’t be present, for example an elderly parent, a deployed service member or a co-owner out of state. A POA ends when the owner dies, so after a death the estate or heirs follow the state’s inheritance process instead.
California accepts its own POA form, a restricted POA or a general POA. A vehicle POA must contain the VIN (a general POA will not), name the attorney-in-fact, be signed by the owner and accompany the paperwork the attorney-in-fact signs.1
References
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California DMV, Vehicle Industry Registration Procedures Manual 1.125, “Signature by Power of Attorney (POA)”, https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/vehicle-industry-registration-procedures-manual-2/general-registration-information/signature-by-power-of-attorney-poa/ ↩