New South Carolina Law Lets You Name a Beneficiary for Your Vehicle

A new South Carolina law allows you to name a Transfer on Death (TOD) beneficiary for your vehicles. This works much like a beneficiary designation on a retirement account or life insurance policy, allowing your vehicle to pass directly to your chosen beneficiary without going through probate.

This can be a helpful way to streamline your estate plan, but it is important to understand how it works— and when it does not apply.

Key Highlights for the New South Carolina TOD Law

• Allows you to name one or more beneficiaries to inherit your car, truck, motorcycle or boat when you pass.

• Enables the beneficiary to transfer ownership without probate court involvement.

• You may revoke or change the beneficiary at any time without the beneficiary’s consent.

• Applies only to vehicles titled solely in your name or titled jointly as “OR” owners (e.g., “John or Jane Doe”).

• If the vehicle is financed, your lender must consent before a TOD designation can be used.

A Trust May Not Be Named as a Beneficiary

• We delayed sharing this update while awaiting clarification from the DMV’s general counsel. The DMV has since confirmed that a trust cannot be named as a TOD beneficiary.

What Should You Do?

If you have minor children:

• Do not name your minor children as beneficiaries. In this situation, it is generally best not to use the TOD form.

If you are single with adult children:

• You may designate the adult child you want to inherit the vehicle.

• If you want multiple children to share the vehicle equally, you may list all of them. Only children living at your death will inherit the vehicle.

If you are married with adult children and want your spouse to inherit first:

• The simplest approach is for spouses to own the vehicle jointly as “OR” owners, as discussed above.

• Then, you may name your child or children as TOD beneficiaries to inherit after the surviving spouse.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The more beneficiaries you name, the more complicated things become.

• For example, naming six children means all six must sign off to sell the vehicle after your death.

• In such cases, it may be easier to allow the vehicle to pass through probate instead of using a TOD designation.

How to Complete the TOD Designation

We have been told that TOD designations cannot be completed online—they must be done in person at an SC DMV office.

All DMV offices follow the same law, but requirements may vary slightly from county to county.

We recommend calling ahead to confirm what documents are required.

Additionally, it is our understanding that the original TOD form found online has reportedly changed since the law took effect. Because of this, it is best to wait until you are at the DMV to complete the correct form.

Heritage Law is here for your estate planning needs!