A boat bill of sale records the sale of a vessel from a seller to a buyer — and, unlike a general goods sale, it usually needs to identify up to three separately titled things: the hull, the trailer and the motor. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first — it covers what a boat bill of sale needs and the mistakes that most often stall a title transfer afterward.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 9 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
This kind of document is regulated differently almost everywhere. Many places require specific notices, disclosures or statutory wording, and some make clauses like these unenforceable outright. Treat this template as a starting point to take to a local lawyer, not as a document to sign as-is.
These are the fields and clauses a boat bill of sale needs. Leaving one out doesn’t necessarily void the sale, but each gap is a spot where a buyer and seller can end up disagreeing later — or where a state titling agency can bounce the paperwork back.
Seller & buyer names
Full legal names (or a registered business name for a dealer) for both sides — who the sale actually binds.
Vessel description
Make, model, model year, type, hull material, color and length overall — enough to identify the exact boat being sold.
Hull Identification Number (HIN)
The 12-character number stamped on the starboard side of the transom. Most state titling agencies key the paperwork to this, not the make and model.
Trailer, itemized separately
Make, model, year and its own VIN if a trailer is included — a trailer is commonly titled separately from the boat it carries, so it needs its own description or a clear "not included."
Motor or engine, itemized separately
Make, model, horsepower and serial number if a motor or engine is included — outboards especially can be titled or tracked on their own.
Purchase price, itemized
The total price, broken out by hull, trailer and motor where all three are sold together, so each piece has a value on record.
As-is condition statement
A clear statement that the buyer accepts the vessel, trailer and motor in their present condition, plus anywhere to note a specific defect or repair history both sides want on record.
Warranty of title & liens
The seller's promise that they actually own what they're selling and it's free of any outstanding loan or lien, or a clear disclosure of one that isn't.
Registration & title transfer
Language pointing both sides to the state (or federal) process that actually transfers ownership — this is the piece that varies most by where the boat is registered.
Signatures & date
Both the seller and the buyer sign and date it. It isn't evidence of a completed sale until both have signed.
Unlike a car, where every US state titles vehicles through the same kind of office, boat titling is split. Some states register and title vessels through the same department that titles motor vehicles — a DMV or equivalent. Others hand boat registration and titling to a completely separate agency: a state wildlife, natural resources, parks or dedicated marine/boating agency. There is no single national answer to “which office handles this” — it depends on where the vessel is registered.
A trailer sold with the boat adds another wrinkle. Where a trailer requires its own title, that’s commonly handled through the state motor-vehicle agency regardless of which agency handles the hull — because a trailer is legally its own item, with its own VIN, separate from the boat it carries. Selling a boat and trailer together doesn’t mean one title covers both.
And a vessel documented with the U.S. Coast Guard sits outside the state system entirely — it isn’t titled by any state at all. Ownership of a documented vessel transfers by recording a bill of sale that meets Coast Guard requirements with the National Vessel Documentation Center, not through a state title office, and the state where the boat is used may still require its own separate registration or numbering on top of that.
The template above doesn’t guess at which of these applies to you — it says plainly that the document supports whatever transfer process your state or the Coast Guard requires, and puts the responsibility on both parties to confirm the actual agency, form and deadline before relying on it. That’s the one place on a boat sale where inventing a specific-sounding answer would be worse than admitting it varies.
Fill in the template above and send it to the other party for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — confirm your state’s (or the U.S. Coast Guard’s) title and registration requirements before relying on this document, and have a local attorney review anything unusual.