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I already have a call in to my lawyer about this, but I am having trouble finding insights on this while I am waiting for him to get back to me as I'm not sure WHAT to ask him...
My dad died without a will, and in our state, if you die with more than one vehicle to your name, all your vehicles have to go into probate process. The sole beneficiary of my dad's estate will be my mom, when all is said and done and creditors, taxes etc paid off.
I am massively confused about how to properly dispose of these vehicles when all I have that's currently valid is their titles in my deceased father's name. These vehicles will have to be sold, but I am confused about how to get a valid registration and insurance (so that prospective buyers can test drive them, so they can be street legal to be moved around, etc) when the title is held by the estate (I am administrator). My understanding is that any current registration and insurance is now void because my dad is deceased? is that right? Yet, our DMV demands that the person registering a vehicle has to be the person who owns it, and the person who owns it is deceased, and a deceased person can't register a vehicle, and I can't sign over the vehicle to anyone (even my mom) until the estate is almost settled, so I don't know what to do...
I'm in NY, by the way
Making matters even more complicated, one of the vehicles (a motorcycle) was left behind in Florida when my dad got sick and came home, and he intended a Florida relative to be gifted the motorcycle. He signed the title over before he died, but they dropped the ball and didn't turn in the title to get the vehicle registered in Florida within the 30 day deadline. So ownership never actually got transferred to them. Now the vehicle is part of his estate and they are expecting me to just be able to sign it over to them as administrator. (had to get a new title for it because my dad's old dated signature voided the title) I'm pretty sure I can't just do that right now because all property goes to my mom (even though she wants them to have it) and I have to make an accounting of distribution of assets. Relatives are anxious to get the motorcycle out of their garage and sell it (they just want to sell the motorcycle, they really don't want to use it themselves, and that's fine). To be clear- there's no dispute over who ought to get the motorcycle. Everyone wants the relatives to have it. It's just that now that it's in probate, I don't know how to expedite them taking ownership of it. I don't even know if I can sign it over to my mom so that she can sign it over to them.
I don't know where to begin to untangle all this and do things correctly! I don't even know what to ask and who to ask it of (lawyer, DMV, insurance companies, etc...) Can someone help me formulate the various questions I should ask?
Last edited by Jeromeville; 06-21-2019 at 06:19 AM..
you can not sell them . you need to have them probated by the state then once retitled you can do as you want . we went through it in ny ... we had our attorney handle the car and the house my ex mother in law left. even with a will in ny we had to probate them .
I'm not sure what you mean by "probate them" - what has to happen before I can sign titles over to anyone? I can't settle the estate UNTIL I have all the assets disposed of, and that means either selling the vehicles or signing them over to someone...
Do you mean that I have to wait to do anything with the vehicles until the "waiting for creditors to come forward" phase has passed?
I'm not sure what you mean by "probate them" - what has to happen before I can sign titles over to anyone? I can't settle the estate UNTIL I have all the assets disposed of, and that means either selling the vehicles or signing them over to someone...
Do you mean that I have to wait to do anything with the vehicles until the "waiting for creditors to come forward" phase has passed?
yes , the probate court issues documentation that allows the title to be reissued in the name of the heir , then they can take possession ... once it is in their name they can do as they please whether the house or the car . it took a few months for the house to be probated and put in my ex wife's name .... anything not in a trust or that has beneficiaries or transfer on death has to go through probate court.
my advice , and i live in nyc is to get an estate attorny to do what needs to be done .. i can recommend the firm i use if you want
you can not sell them . you need to have them probated by the state then once retitled you can do as you want . we went through it in ny ... we had our attorney handle the car and the house my ex mother in law left. even with a will in ny we had to probate them .
Don't the assets of the estate have to be worth a certain amount for probate to be required?
From a practical perspective, I'd walk either into the DMV (a not-so-busy-one) and sweet talk someone about it what all they need to retitle the vehicles in Mom's name. This isn't the first time they've dealt with it and they'll give you the practical answer.
I know that when I dealt with it the executor was able to sign over the title but that was a differnet state. 50 states and 51 sets of rules.
What you don't mention: Is your Mom his Wife/Widow? Does your mom have a drivers license/insurance (even if she doesn't drive?) I ask because my mother kept insurance on a relatives car in her name under her USAA policy even though she didn't drive anymore, since she still "had" her license. It was parked for two years til she passed away.
You should be able to sell the vehicles with the current title if you also provide the DMV with the notarized copies of the death certificate and the letter qualifying you as the personal representative of the estate. You should also create a receipt that shows that you sold the vehicle for a stated amount and have the buyer sign it to acknowledge receipt of the vehicle. The money goes into the estate checking account. When the final accounting for the estate is done, you need to include the receipt and the account statements as part of the paper trail.
The process is essentially the same for vehicles transferred to the surviving spouse.
You can probably find a copy of bill of sale for vehicles. You can use that as a model for the receipt since it should contain the fields for the vehicle registration information.
You should be able to sell the vehicles with the current title if you also provide the DMV with the notarized copies of the death certificate and the letter qualifying you as the personal representative of the estate.
That's true, but the probate court has to issue an order naming him as personal rep.
That's true, but the probate court has to issue an order naming him as personal rep.
This. If there was a will, someone would have been named executor/personal representative, but the probate court still has to recognize their authority and prepare an order so they can deal with assets. Even if there isn't a will, the probate court still has to do basically the same thing. They become the entity that designates someone instead of a will. Once there is a designated executor/personal representative they can sell, transfer, rename assets such as a car, real estate, etc. Vehicles are actually one of the stickier assets to deal with (partly because of liability concerns) after someone dies.
OP has the probate court in your state recognized you (I assume it would be you?) as the executor/personal representative yet? That's the first step you need to take and the lawyer can do this court filing for you. Once you have the court order to act, you can use this authority to transfer the car titles or sell them. That court order, accompanied by the death certificate, will almost get worn out you'll use them so often. Tip: order or make more copies of these than you think you need. Some will need to be notarized or on original letterhead to be accepted.
Last edited by Parnassia; 06-21-2019 at 12:31 PM..
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-21-2019 at 11:58 AM..
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