how to sell a car to a family member?

[kitchenreno]

PDQ

backstory:  When FIL died 10+ years ago, MIL transferred ownership of his car to DH.  The title is in DH's name only.  DH died last year.  I've been paying insurance for this car for months.  It's a 100 years old and not worth 'selling' but my niece's boyfriend wants it.  Niece and boyfriend are young and likely have never dealt with this crap before either.  I just want to give them the car - for free, but legally - so I can stop paying insurance on it.  

Google overwhelms me.  I am a recent widow with two kids and  a million things to deal with everyday.  This is VERY low on my list of things to deal with.  I just want it gone and legally no longer my concern.  

Any experience or insight on how to do this painlessly?

ETA - the truck is actually 19 years old, not 100 :-)

[goldengirlz]

Sept 30, 2020 21:50:53 GMT -5 @hiphopanonymous said:

It depends on the state, but at minimum you'll need to sign the title over to them and they'll take it to the DMV. Some states require a bill of sale or transfer of ownership form. Your state's DMV website will have the specifics. This is Colorado, as an example.
www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/motor-vehicle/title-services/transfer-title-to-new-owner.html

This will be state-dependent, of course, but since the title is only in her DH’s name, there might be intermediate steps or additional paperwork required before she can do this.

It might help if we know which state you’re in, OP, because some states require more steps than others.

[sent]

I recall in my state I had to fill out a form and one of the options on there was "sale to a family member." There was other paperwork involved but I don't recall it being an awful red-tape experience because I'm planning to do it again. Can your niece do the research since she wants the car?

[sakura]

Go to eforms .com and find the motor vehicle bill of sale form section for your state. It will give you a step by step list of what you need to do and the templates. You can sign up for a 7 day free trial, or recreate the forms on your own.
It might be easier to do the paperwork if rather than giving it away for free, you sell it to them for $1. They may have to pay sales tax on the value of the car depending on the state.
*not a lawyer

[sakura]

Oh, and it’s a good idea to keep a copy of the bill of sale just in case they don’t follow through with registering it on their end. Then if anything were to happen you’d have proof that you no longer own it.

[orval]

YOu will also probably have to show proof of his passing with a death certificate/copy of the will. My sister just did this with a car in Illinois. It took a couple extra steps since it is not in your name to transfer. She had to go in person to the dmv with all of the info. There were form online for this situation as well.

[rooster222]

Oct 1, 2020 0:11:47 GMT -5 sakura said:

Oh, and it’s a good idea to keep a copy of the bill of sale just in case they don’t follow through with registering it on their end. Then if anything were to happen you’d have proof that you no longer own it.

And make a copy of the title. My grandma gave her car to my cousin but before he registered it he accidentally caught the title on fire. (Not sure how that happens!)
So it was a real pita for me to get a new title.

[lilypad1126]

I sold my car to sister last year. By sold, I mean, flat out gave it to her. She wasn't in a position to pay me and she desperately needed a new car. Anyway. We don't live in the same state, and all I had to do was have the title and sign it over to her. I went with her to the DMV, they had a form for us to fill out, I signed the title, the DMV did their thing, and it was hers. I didn't trust my sister to register the car without me there, to get it out of my name and into hers, so that's partly why I went with her. But it made the paperwork part easy since both parties were there (and everything I found online was so confusing!).

I can't recall if they made her pay sales tax on it. My dad was with us, they told us what she owed, and my dad paid it. I don't know if it was just the registration fee or if sales tax was involved. Regardless, it was a lot easier than I anticipated. But no one batted an eye when I said I was gifting her the car.

[ohgillian]

No advice, but I'm so sorry about your husband and everything you're dealing with. It's a LOT.

I also will say that I can be somewhat literal and thought you really meant it was 100 years old, lol:

[icedcoffee]

Oct 1, 2020 8:04:58 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

No advice, but I'm so sorry about your husband and everything you're dealing with. It's a LOT.

I also will say that I can be somewhat literal and thought you really meant it was 100 years old, lol:

I thought this too!  I was like--woah it's probably worth a lot if it's 100 years old.  LOL

I'm so sorry for your loss, OP.

[wildrice]

I did this last year - the car was in both my grandmother's name and my late grandfather's, so I did all the transfer paperwork with my grandma and then brought the death certificate to the DMV to show proof of why he didn't also sign the paperwork. I think it would have been pretty straightforward if we lived in the same state, but we don't so I had a few extra hoops to jump through.

You can print the paperwork off of the internet, or I imagine if you live in the same area and want to go to the DMV together, they can provide it there. Just be sure to bring the death certificate and any other paperwork showing that you're responsible for settling his affairs.

I am sorry for your loss, and that you have to deal with all this logistical crap on top of it. Hopefully this one will be fairly simple, at least!

[kitchenreno]

I completely forgot I posted this question so I'm just now seeing the responses. Thank you all for the help. It's made complicated by the fact that my niece and her boyfriend live 2+ hours away. Going to the RMV together is not really an option, although that sounds like it would likely be the best option.

To answer some questions, yes I'm in the middle of probate. I admit I don't really understand what that means. My father is a lawyer and has been handling the details for me. We had a will and everything goes to me, so no issue there - it's just that it's a MAJOR PITA getting all these loose ends tied up. They will eventually get tied up, I know that, but I just want this truck not to be my responsibility anymore. I am likely paying more in insurance than it's even worth, literally.

Sorry the "100 years old" confusion, lol. It is actually 19 years old and needs work.

[kitchenreno]

Sept 30, 2020 22:46:55 GMT -5 goldengirlz said:

Sept 30, 2020 21:50:53 GMT -5 @hiphopanonymous said:

It depends on the state, but at minimum you'll need to sign the title over to them and they'll take it to the DMV. Some states require a bill of sale or transfer of ownership form. Your state's DMV website will have the specifics. This is Colorado, as an example.
www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/motor-vehicle/title-services/transfer-title-to-new-owner.html

This will be state-dependent, of course, but since the title is only in her DH’s name, there might be intermediate steps or additional paperwork required before she can do this.

It might help if we know which state you’re in, OP, because some states require more steps than others.

I"m in MA

[kitchenreno]

Oct 1, 2020 8:04:58 GMT -5 ohgillian said:

No advice, but I'm so sorry about your husband and everything you're dealing with. It's a LOT.

I also will say that I can be somewhat literal and thought you really meant it was 100 years old, lol:

Oops sorry to you both!  ohgillian,icedcoffee,

It's 19 years old and needs work.  It's a stick shift, that I don't even know how to drive.  I just want it gone.  

[kitchenreno]

Oct 1, 2020 9:34:12 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I did this last year - the car was in both my grandmother's name and my late grandfather's, so I did all the transfer paperwork with my grandma and then brought the death certificate to the DMV to show proof of why he didn't also sign the paperwork. I think it would have been pretty straightforward if we lived in the same state, but we don't so I had a few extra hoops to jump through.

You can print the paperwork off of the internet, or I imagine if you live in the same area and want to go to the DMV together, they can provide it there. Just be sure to bring the death certificate and any other paperwork showing that you're responsible for settling his affairs.

I am sorry for your loss, and that you have to deal with all this logistical crap on top of it. Hopefully this one will be fairly simple, at least!

definitely sounds like going to the RMV together would be the best option, but we live 2+ hours away.  The only time they can come get the car is on a weekend, when RMV is not open.

I really just want this done.  I can't even drive the car (stick shift).  Once I deal with this, I have another car to actually sell.  Ugh.

[JayhawkGirl]

I think you can take the title, marriage & death certificates to the DMV to have it moved to your name. Then you can sign the title over to them. When you’re there the dmv can likely guide you. I don’t think you need to have them there.

MIL left their car in just FIL’s name after he died bc it still had a loan on it. She went to the DMV and transferred it to her name after it was paid off (she didn’t want to mess with refinancing the loan). It was a pretty smooth process moving it to her name. She was through the probate window by then, though.

Ask your dad. This is likely a not complicated thing for those who know your local rules.

I am so sorry about your husband and send extra love to you and your kids.

[regencygirl]

I bought a car off a family member in a different state when I was in college. They typed up a quick letter saying they were selling it to me and then signed the Title over to me. Seller was in NJ, I'm in PA. I took the signed Title to a place in PA with the receipt / letter saying they were selling it to me (letter had VIN # and their contact info on it) and filled out the paperwork to transfer the car to my name. I don't think it took more than a day to complete everything, although I did have to call my insurance company from the Title place and have them fax over paperwork saying I had insurance on the car.

When my Mom died and I inherited her car, I took a copy of the death certificate and the title to the car over to Title place and filled out some paperwork. Took less than an hour to complete.

For both transactions, I was able to call the Title and Tag place and they told me everything I needed to have. If you know of a reputable place in your area, they'd probably be able to help.