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The bottom line: To sell a car privately in Wyoming, sign the title over to the buyer in front of a notary, and on a 2011 or newer car write the mileage. A deputy county clerk will notarize the title in the office if you bring photo ID.
Every owner signs, except that on a title issued since 1 January 2020 with the names joined by “or” or by nothing, one owner can sign alone. If there is a loan, the lender has to release its lien before the title can transfer. A lost title is replaced by the county clerk that issued it, for $15, with every owner’s signature notarized.
Wyoming has no emissions test or safety inspection, and doesn’t require a bill of sale, but write one anyway. With no sale report to file, a copy of the notarized title and a signed bill of sale are your proof that you sold the car.
Take your plates off before the car leaves. You can move the registration number to your next car through the county treasurer within 60 days of buying it.
Compare offers from multiple buyers before you set a price.
- Sign the title over to the buyer in front of a notaryOdometer reading: required for vehicles model year 2011 and newer, for 20 years.
- Take your plates off the carTake them off the car before it leaves, then apply to the county treasurer within sixty days of buying another vehicle to move the registration number to it
- Keep your proof of the saleWyoming has no release of liability filing. Keep a copy of the notarized title and signed bill of sale as your proof of sale.
- Write a bill of saleNot required by state law, though some county clerks and treasurers ask a private-party buyer for one. It is your proof of the sale.
- Emissions test
- Safety inspection
- Notarized bill of sale
- Release-of-liability form
Automated assistant: general info, not legal advice
Answers come from our state paperwork data and published guides. Confirm anything binding with your state DMV.
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Step-by-Step Process for Wyoming
Step 1: Prepare Your Wyoming Paperwork
Documents you’ll need:
- Vehicle title – the Wyoming certificate, in your name, with no live lien on the front
- Photo ID – a deputy county clerk will notarize your signature, but only if you bring it
- Lien release – only where a lender is still named on the front of the title
If your title is missing:
Start at the county clerk that issued it, because no other county can replace a Wyoming title.
The form is the Application for Duplicate Title.
Sign it in front of a notary with every other owner named on the front, then submit it by mail or in person at the county clerk's office that issued the original title.
The fee is $15, and the new title is issued by the county clerk once the completed application and the fee are received. Do this before you advertise, not after someone has agreed to buy.
If you can’t get a duplicate title:
Then title it through the affidavit of ownership or bonded title route first, because Wyoming wants a title before the sale. Our guide to selling without a title covers the states that allow it.
If you still owe money on the car:
The lien comes off before the title can move, and in Wyoming that happens at the same counter: any lien on the title must be released by a deputy county clerk or accompanied by a lien release or termination statement from the lienholder before the title can transfer.
Ask your lender which of those two they will send, and how long they take. If you owe more than the car is worth, you pay the difference before any of this starts.
Who else has to sign:
Look at the front of the title before you book a notary, because Wyoming’s rule turns on the date printed there: all owners named on a title issued before 1 January 2020 sign before a notary however the names are joined; on a title issued from that date, one owner may sign alone where the names are joined by "or" or by nothing, and all owners sign where the title says "and", "and/or", JTWROS or tenancy by the entirety.
What the clerk may want attached:
Some Wyoming counties also ask for a Warranty and Notarization Statement, a one-page form the county clerk provides. Every owner named on the front signs it in front of the notary, warranting that they own the car and that the only liens are the ones shown.
Ask your own county clerk whether they want one when you call about anything else. It is signed in the same visit as the title, which is what saves you a second trip.
Electronic titles:
Step 2: Prepare Your Car
Clean it inside and out, and be honest in the photographs about the stone chips and the sun damage, because a buyer driving two hours to see it will not thank you.
Pull the service records together and run a VIN check before you list. A buyer who can see the history stops haggling sooner.
Step 3: Price Your Car
Start with KBB and Edmunds, then look at what the same car is listed for in your own county and the next one.
Wyoming has few buyers spread over a lot of ground, so a car can sit longer here than the guides suggest. Price it to sell in weeks rather than months, and say in the advert that you will meet part way.
Step 4: Advertise Your Car
Wyoming private ads run on Facebook Marketplace, Cars.com and Autotrader. Wyoming borders six states, so say in the advert whether you will meet a buyer part way across a state line.
A set of winter tires on their own rims is worth putting in the first line of the advert. It is the thing a Wyoming buyer would otherwise have to go and buy in October.
If you would rather not deal with buyers at all, Peddle and Wheelzy will buy an old or damaged car outright, and Carvana bids on any car from after 1992 that drives safely.
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Offer amount 35% 5/5
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Process ease 20% 5/5
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Offer validity 15% 4/5
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Pickup / drop-off 15% 4/5
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Payment speed 15% 4/5
- Accepts cars with active loans
- Trade-in can save on sales tax
- License plate starts the quote
- Direct deposit option available
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 4/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 5/5
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Process ease 15% 5/5
- Free towing
- Fast payment
- Buys non running cars
- Pays by check at pickup
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Offer amount 30% 5/5
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Quote speed 20% 5/5
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Pickup speed 20% 5/5
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Vehicle acceptance 15% 4/5
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Process ease 15% 4/5
- Buys cars without keys
- Buys cars missing parts, engine and transmission in
- Pays cash or check at pickup
- Quote often needs a phone call
Step 5: Meet with Buyers Safely
Meet in daylight, somewhere with people and cameras. A bank parking lot works, and so does the lot outside the county courthouse, which has a notary inside it.
Take someone with you. Tell a third person where you are going and when you expect to be back.
Step 6: Handle Payment and Negotiate
Take the payment first and sign afterwards. The safest version of this sale is both of you at the buyer’s bank, where a teller can confirm the funds are real before anything is signed.
A cashier’s check is safe only if the issuing bank confirms it while you wait. Treat a personal check, an app transfer or a promise to pay the rest later as an unpaid sale.
Step 7: Complete the Wyoming Title Transfer
This is the one part of the sale that has to happen in front of a notary, and the order matters. Fill the assignment in first, then sign it: a county clerk will not notarize a title with the buyer’s name still blank.
What goes in the assignment:
- The buyer’s full name and address, in the Assignment of Ownership section
- The date of sale and the sale price
- The odometer reading as it stands that day
Fill it in once and fill it in carefully, because the clerk is reading the same boxes you are.
Odometer disclosure is required for vehicles model year 2011 and newer, for 20 years.
The statement is printed on the back of the title itself, so there is usually nothing extra to sign: a separate odometer disclosure statement is needed only where the wording printed on the title does not match the federal statement, including the words "no tenths".
Now sign in front of the notary. Your notarized signature is what moves ownership, and the title is dated and handed over at the same time as the keys. At least one buyer signs the purchaser’s application on the same title, also in front of a notary, and a deputy county clerk will witness both signatures in the office if you each bring ID.
- The county clerk handles titles and liens; the county treasurer handles plates, registration and the sales tax. Your business is with the clerk.
After that it is the buyer’s job. The clock on retitling is 45 days from the date of sale for a private-party purchase.
They drive on the signed title in the meantime, and the plates that go on the car are the ones the county treasurer issues them, which is why the title has to be dated and handed over on the same day as the keys.
The sales tax has its own, longer deadline, and the two get merged into one more often than any other pair of dates in this sale: sales tax penalties of the greater of $25 or 10% of tax due, plus 1% monthly interest, begin if sales tax is not paid within 65 days of purchase.
Step 8: Handle Wyoming License Plates and Registration
The registration ends the moment ownership transfers, so there is nothing to cancel and nothing to hand in.
What happens to the number next is the part worth knowing: take them off the car before it leaves, then apply to the county treasurer within sixty days of buying another vehicle to move the registration number to it.
The buyer gets their own plates when they register the car at their county treasurer’s office.
Step 9: Cancel Insurance
Cancel last, once the notarized title is with the buyer and the plates are off the car. Nothing else has to happen first, because every step is one you have already done yourself.
The buyer’s own retitling is not something you wait on. That clock is theirs.
Wyoming Sale Checklist
Before the Sale
At the Sale
After the Sale
Wyoming Title and Registration Resources
State Resources:
- Wyoming Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Services (WYDOT)
- Titles are handled by your county clerk’s office. Registration and plate transfers are handled by the county treasurer’s office.
Phone Support:
Wyoming Fees and Costs
| What You Pay | Cost | When? |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate title (if needed) | $15 | Before sale |
| Lien payoff (if applicable) | Loan balance | Before sale |
| Title, plates and sales tax | $0 | Buyer pays |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is a bill of sale required to sell a car in Wyoming?
A bill of sale is not required by state law, though some county clerks and treasurers ask a private-party buyer for one.
Write one anyway. Once the title has gone it is the only document you hold that proves the date and the price, and the price is what the buyer’s sales tax is calculated on.
Wyoming’s form: No state form; write your own with the sale date, price, VIN, and both names and signatures.
You can use the Sell Car Advisor free bill of sale generator, or a county-issued form where the county provides one. Sign two copies, one each.
A notarized bill of sale is not required for an ordinary private sale. It is needed only on the two routes where the title is not in hand: the no-title route, and a buyer paying sales tax before the title arrives.
Do I need to file a release of liability after selling my car in Wyoming?
No, and there is nothing to file it on. Wyoming has no release of liability filing. Keep a copy of the notarized title and signed bill of sale as your proof of sale.
Wyoming publishes no such form, so there is nothing to file and no deadline to miss. Your registration ends by law the moment ownership transfers, and taking the plates off the car is the only act that step needs.
Form to file: None required
How do I sell a car without a title in Wyoming?
You cannot transfer a car in Wyoming without a title, so the title comes first. Which route you take depends on why it is missing: a lost title must be replaced with a duplicate, or where ownership cannot be proven a title obtained through the affidavit of ownership or bonded title process, before the sale.
If you cannot prove you own the car at all, you apply for a title using the Wyoming Affidavit of Vehicle Ownership, which WYDOT publishes on its bonded titles page, and the county clerk will also want a VIN inspection and a title search from WYDOT.
A surety bond is normally part of that route, set at twice the retail value. There is one way out of it: W.S. 31-2-105(c) lets a county clerk issue a title without a surety bond where the vehicle is worth less than $2,500, on the affidavit of vehicle ownership plus a notarized bill of sale, a written value statement from a licensed Wyoming dealer and a vehicle identification number inspection.
Selling it for scrap doesn’t change that, because Wyoming wants the title in place before the sale.
Who can notarize a Wyoming title, and what does it cost?
Any commissioned Wyoming notary can do it. Wyoming caps what the act may cost, and says where the cheapest one is: up to $10 per notarial act, and a notary may charge less or waive it, plus an agreed technology fee for a remote notarization; a deputy county clerk will notarize a title in the office if you bring photo ID.
Banks and shipping stores notarize too. Take photo ID whoever you use, and do not sign the title before you are standing in front of them.
My car was inherited. What does the Wyoming county clerk need?
That depends on how the estate is being handled, and there is no single form: a beneficiary designation form recorded before the death, an affidavit of distributee for a small estate, or letters testamentary or letters of administration where probate is open.
Call the county clerk that holds the title before you gather anything. One call tells you which of the three routes yours is, and it saves a wasted trip with the wrong papers.
My car is not worth fixing. Is it worth selling as junk in Wyoming?
Often yes, because a junk buyer pays for the metal and the parts rather than for the car. A vehicle that would fail any buyer’s inspection can still be worth collecting.
The paperwork is lighter too, since a junk buyer tows it and handles the title work.
Article Update History
Every rule on this page now comes from WYDOT, the Wyoming statutes and the county clerks.
Notarization rules, buyer deadlines and plate requirements checked against current Wyoming law.
Originally posted and shared with our readers.
Sources
"yes" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"with you" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Emissions Testing Required to Sell?
"no testing required" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"$15" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"not required by state law, though some county clerks and treasurers ask a private-party buyer for one" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"No state form; write your own with the sale date, price, VIN, and both names and signatures" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Conditions to Sell Without Title
"a lost title must be replaced with a duplicate, or where ownership cannot be proven a title obtained through the affidavit of ownership or bonded title process, before the sale" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Replacement Title Processing Time
"issued by the county clerk once the completed application and the fee are received" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"required for vehicles model year 2011 and newer, for 20 years" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Duplicate Title Application Form
"Application for Duplicate Title" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"all owners named on a title issued before 1 January 2020 sign before a notary however the names are joined; on a title issued from that date, one owner may sign alone where the names are joined by "or" or by nothing, and all owners sign where the title says "and", "and/or", JTWROS or tenancy by the entirety" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
Inherited Vehicle Form Requirements
"If a will or administrator exists, attach a certified copy of the court appointment and a death certificate. For small estates outside formal probate, a simplified affidavit may be allowed. Contact your county clerk for the documents required." Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
"up to $10 per notarial act, and a notary may charge less or waive it, plus an agreed technology fee for a remote notarization; a deputy county clerk will notarize a title in the office if you bring photo ID" Accessed Sep. 10, 2026
