In most states, a bill of sale does not need to be notarized. Roughly 10 states require notarized signatures on private vehicle transfers, and a handful of federally regulated assets (like Coast Guard-documented vessels) require it too, but for everyday sales of cars, furniture, equipment, or electronics in most of the country, the buyer and seller’s signatures alone are enough. Notarization is still worth the $5 to $25 it costs, because a notarized document is treated as self-authenticating under the Federal Rules of Evidence if the sale is ever disputed.
Vehicle Sales: The States Where Notarization Is Required
Around 10 states require notarized signatures on vehicle title transfer documents for private-party sales, including Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. In those states, skipping notarization can stall the transfer at the DMV. The buyer can’t register the vehicle, and the seller stays on record as the legal owner, which means any tickets, tolls, or accidents linked to the car can still come back to them.
One point of confusion worth clearing up: in the states that require notarization, the requirement almost always attaches to the title certificate itself, not to a separate bill of sale. The title is the government-issued document proving ownership. The bill of sale is a private contract recording the deal terms. The DMV cares about the title. The bill of sale is a supporting document that establishes the purchase price for tax purposes and records whether the sale was “as-is.”
In the other 40-plus states, the DMV will process a vehicle transfer without any notary involvement. Check your state’s DMV website before completing a private sale, because rules change and some states handle out-of-state transfers or duplicate titles differently.
Boats, Aircraft, and Firearms
Some asset types answer to federal agencies rather than state DMVs, and the notarization rules shift accordingly.
Coast Guard-Documented Vessels
If you’re buying or selling a vessel documented with the U.S. Coast Guard, federal law requires the bill of sale to be “signed and acknowledged,” which means acknowledged before a notary public or other authorized official.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 46 USC 31321 – Filing, Recording, and Discharge The Coast Guard’s Form CG-1340 has a dedicated notary acknowledgment section.2Department of Homeland Security U.S. Coast Guard. Bill of Sale (Form CG-1340) An unfiled bill of sale is only valid between the buyer and seller and won’t hold up against a third party who doesn’t know about the sale.
Aircraft
The FAA takes the opposite position. The Aircraft Bill of Sale (Form AC 8050-2) explicitly states that notarization is “not required for purposes of FAA recording,” though local law in your jurisdiction may still require it for the instrument to be valid there.3Federal Aviation Administration. Aircraft Bill of Sale Many aircraft buyers still choose to notarize.
Firearms
Federal law imposes no recordkeeping requirement on a private-party firearm transfer between two unlicensed individuals, so there’s no federal bill of sale mandate and no notarization requirement.4Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Best Practices: Transfers of Firearms by Private Sellers Many states impose their own rules, from background check mandates to bans on private sales outside a licensed dealer. Even where no rule requires it, a written bill of sale documents that both parties were legally eligible to participate in the transfer.
Why Notarize When It’s Not Required
A non-notarized bill of sale is still legally valid in most states for most transactions. Courts care about substance: if the document identifies both parties, describes the item, states the price, and carries both signatures, it can be enforced. The problem shows up when someone challenges the document’s authenticity.
Without notarization, proving the signatures are genuine may require witness testimony, bank records, text messages, or other supporting evidence. With notarization, the document speaks for itself. Under Rule 902 of the Federal Rules of Evidence, a document accompanied by a certificate of acknowledgment from a notary is self-authenticating, meaning a court will accept it as genuine without the other side having to prove the signatures are real.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 902 – Evidence That Is Self-Authenticating
The risk of skipping notarization is highest in two situations. The first is selling a vehicle in a state where the DMV doesn’t require it, because the seller stays on the title until the buyer registers, and a non-notarized bill of sale is weaker proof that you actually sold the car. The second is selling high-value personal property where the buyer might later dispute the price or the terms.
What the Notary Is Actually Doing
A notary isn’t reviewing whether your deal is fair or whether the contract is legally sound. Their job is narrower: verify the identity of each signer, confirm each person understands what they’re signing and is doing so voluntarily, and witness the signatures. The notary then stamps the document with an official seal and signs it.
The identity check is what matters. A notary asks for government-issued photo ID and compares it to the person in front of them. If someone later claims they never signed, or that a signature was forged, the notary’s seal is evidence that the signer was physically present, showed ID, and signed willingly.
Remote and Electronic Notarization
You no longer need to sit in the same room as a notary in most states. As of 2025, 44 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws permitting remote online notarization (RON), which lets a notary verify your identity and witness your signature over a live audio-video connection. The session is recorded and stored, which produces a stronger evidentiary record than a traditional in-person notarization.
Interstate recognition is the catch. A RON notarization performed in one state may or may not be accepted in another. The SECURE Notarization Act, which would set uniform national standards and require states to recognize out-of-state remote notarizations, has been introduced in Congress multiple times but remains pending as of 2026.6United States Congress. H.R.1777 – SECURE Notarization Act of 2025 Confirm with your state’s DMV or filing office that they’ll accept a remotely notarized document before relying on it for a title transfer.
For sales where notarization isn’t required at all, electronic signatures are usually enough. Under the federal E-SIGN Act, a signature or contract can’t be denied legal effect solely because it’s in electronic form, as long as the transaction affects interstate or foreign commerce.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 7001 – General Rule of Validity The Act also addresses notarization directly: if a law requires notarization, the requirement is satisfied by the electronic signature of the person authorized to notarize, along with all other information the law requires. That’s the federal basis for RON. For a simple private bill of sale, typing your name into a PDF signature field or using a service like DocuSign will hold up, though wet ink is the safer bet if a DMV clerk will end up looking at the form.
What Notarization Costs
Notary fees are set by state law. For a standard in-person acknowledgment, most states cap the fee between $2 and $25 per signature, and a few states set no maximum. A bill of sale with two signatures usually comes in under $50, often under $10.
If you can’t get to a notary during business hours, a mobile notary will travel to you, typically for $50 to $150 total including a travel fee. Banks and credit unions often notarize free for account holders. UPS Stores and shipping centers offer walk-in notarization for a small charge. Remote online notarization services generally run $25 to $50 per session.
Keep the Sale Price Honest
The price on the bill of sale is what the buyer’s state uses to calculate sales or use tax on a vehicle, and it’s the figure the IRS references if the seller made a profit. Understating the price to shrink the buyer’s tax bill is fraud. So is calling a sale a “gift” when money actually changed hands. State revenue departments audit these transactions, and vehicle authorities can compare declared prices against published market values and flag returns that look off. When a discrepancy is caught, the buyer owes tax on the fair market value plus penalties. A notarized bill of sale offers no protection against that; it just makes the fraud better documented. Keep the number accurate, keep a copy, and the document will do what it’s supposed to do if questions come up later.