Hello,
My dad has recently become incapacitated and unable to make his own decisions, and my durable power of attorney has been enacted. I live far away, and I’m trying to manage everything myself as an only child.
One question I did have; my dad has a house and a car, he is likely moving into a skilled nursing facility permanently, and he is definitely not going to be driving again. The house is a separate issue that I will have to address at some point down the line, but in terms of the car, only his name is on the title.
I am the durable power of attorney. I have a medical letter by his doctor that is overseeing his care at the nursing home that he is mentally unfit to make his own decisions.
How do I go about taking action with the car, since it can’t just sit indefinitely? Do I reach out to the DMV's office with the POA documents and the title, and explain the situation? I would be fine to pay to have it shipped out to me and keep it in my possession, but it’s a different state so I would have to register it to my state, so it’s all a little bit complicated.
But I feel like I can’t take any action with the car because the title has only his name on it. It’s not worth much on paper, it’s just a little 2007 Toyota. But it’s a good solid little commuter car, I would be happy to have it in my possession, or whatever I should/need to do to take action with it at this point because the house will have to be sold to pay for his care coming up when his savings run out and the car won’t have anywhere to be garaged.
Any thoughts on what I need to do to move forward with either selling or taking the car on myself in my own home state? He is in Massachusetts, I am in California. Thx!
If you have the actual title, you will be able to sell it as your Dad's PoA in any state: you just sign over the title "[Your name] as PoA for [your Dad's name]".
If you keep the car you will still need to transfer the title but this is not an "arm's length" transaction so you should consult with a certified elder law attorney about how to do it properly, if at all.
If your Dad's car is going to sit unused you should contact his insurance company and change the coverage to a storage status until you have to drive it for any reason.
Check your state's laws.
If the person who buys the car from you has an accident and is not insured, they will go after you. So file a "release of liability form".
That requires your name the buyer's name.. I am not sure who is on the form. You can also check with DMV, but fur sure the state it is sold in needs the form.
I sold a car that was titled to me.
AS mentioned above, the transfer as POA is easy, you just sign on the dotted line
. Make sure you GET AN INVOICE FOR THE SALE WITH THE NAME AND ADDRESS AND TEL. # OF THE BUYER.HAVE THEM SHOW YOU THEIR DRIVER'S LICENSE OR A GOV. ID.
DO NOT SIGN THE TITLE OVER UNTIL CAR IS FULLY PAID FOR! IF IT'S MONTHLY PAYMENTS, IF HE STOPS PAYING, YOU STILL HAVE THE CAR.
If it is a check make sure it clears the bank before you give them the title.
You might check the internet to see how much the car is worth. I think there is a Kelly Blue book website, or go to a bookstore, they have the book for sale there. you don't need to buy it, just look at it and take notes.
My husband of 92 years stopped driving last year and" gifted" me his convertible. Just signed it over and put it on the insurance.
Make sure you notify your insurance company to cancel the policy, but NOT until the car is sold. If it gets damaged in the meantime, they will still cover it.
If you can, it might be worth going to the state your dad lives in for a few days and taking care of the matter. if you can find someone who wants the car and you don't want it, you can do it there.
If it would be considered a gift, consider purchasing the car for the blue book value and depositing the money into his account for his care.
Maybe asking an elder law attorney.
It is very difficult as a POA when in same town. It will be 100x's more difficult interstate.
Each state has regulations pertaining to assets and what is allowable to keep and what must be liquidated.
Even though Assisted Living is in most cases private pay it is essential to get all the ducks in a row should your father need a higher level of care.
IF you needed heart surgery and just before the surgery, your physician said, "Yes, I can probably figure that out for you," would you stick around and hope they got it right? Choosing your attorney should be no different. Simply put, there is no substitute for actual experience. All of folks who really practice Elder Law in the U.S., (or their firms), are part of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, aka NAELA. NAELA also has a great tool to help you find an experienced Elder Law Attorney, which can be found at: https://www.naela.org/FindALawyer.
As an attorney who regularly practices Elder Law, I can assure you that all of the answers above are flawed in one respect or another. Some are 100% accurate on the very limited point they make, provided your underlying situation was identical to theirs. However, because none of the folks responding, myself included, know your whole situation, none of us can give you informed advice, on which you should rely, other than, contact an Elder Law Attorney in your father's home state.
Good Luck!
I am in the same boat and have my brother in law car sitting in the driveway for that same reason . However he since has passed and it is now belongs to the estate along with the home. So the advice for a lawyer is correct of course, he is a lawyer and I retained one because the home and the vehicle along with all sales are linked to an irrevocable trust for his daughter who is autistic. So now things are slow in the courts and I have been waiting for each step of the ladder to be able to move forward. So the car is till in the driveway. Anyway my thought if I were to sell it would be to sell it back to the dealer when the time comes . So I would disconnect the battery and drain the gas to 1/4 so things don’t freeze in winter and kick it over in summer . It is very stressful handling it all , I’m right there in the pit with you .
i know you mentioned you are far away which makes it very difficult, but it also is now abandoned. Maybe as I am doing take some time to see if a trusted person that won’t declared themselves owner of the property stay there . You will need the time to do it .
clean up and out .
In the pits with ya.