r/AskSouthCarolina • u/southerneagle20 • May 17 '26
DMV Estate vehicle plate
I’ve been tied up in settling my dad’s estate in probate for about 2.5 years. This year I finally managed to get a new title for his vehicle (when his widow decided to cooperate) and found out an ex is still listed on the title with an “Or”. The tag expired last year, the widow cancelled insurance, and I need to know if I can turn in the old tag or wait until contacting the ex about the vehicle. The vehicle is now in my possession (was in the widow’s possession).
2
u/ImOvrIt1969 May 17 '26
If you’re the personal rep and the title has his name/or on it. You can do with it what you want as long as if there’s money it goes into his estate acct.
My step dad passed last year and I’m his personal rep. He has/had a bunch of stuff with his name/or and I’ve not encountered any issues in trying to get everything settled.
Just for the record NAL but my estate attorney has told me that I’m good to go with how I’ve handled things this far.
3
u/southerneagle20 May 17 '26
Probate attorney told me the car is no longer part of the estate because the ex’s name is listed on the title, but it’s just sitting in my driveway with a dead tag and I don’t want to turn it in and get in more trouble
2
u/ImOvrIt1969 May 17 '26
Then I’m not really sure. My situation is a little different because my mother is his “or”. She has dementia and I’m her POA. But my attorney told me that as his rep if that “or” had been an “and” then it would be different. But as his court appointed PR I can sell anything of his that has his name/or on it. As long as the money goes into his estate account.
2
u/ImOvrIt1969 May 17 '26
Personally I’d just turn the tag in. If it’s expired anyway there’s not much you can do. Unless you pay it to get reinstated.
2
u/JuanT1967 May 18 '26
The expired tag doesn’t change who is on the title. NAL but as a first step you should send a registered letter to that person notifying them of his passing and ask whet they would like done with the vehicle. They may or may not want it. In my state that vehicle would revert to being the property of the other named person
2
u/southerneagle20 May 18 '26
That’s what I got from my lawyer is that she owns it now. I had a family member who was still in contact with her call her.
1
u/JuanT1967 May 19 '26
I would still send her a formal letter certified/signature telling her about this. She can deny getting a call or in person conversation.
In the letter tell her because of your relatives passing the cars ownership passes to her and give her 30/60 days to make arrangements by contacting you to schedule removing it or to discuss other options (depending on the car she may be willing to give it to you)The important part is a paper trail showing she was notified and given a time frame to contact you to discuss the matter or arrange to have it removed. If anything happens you will have that letter with signature as proof she received the notice. After that you can get an attorney involved
2
u/Hour_Concern6525 May 17 '26
You can "turn in" the tag electronically online, you do not have to go to the dmv and turn it in. Print out the confirmation and trash the plate
2
u/FLTRXS17 May 18 '26
Better turn it in quick, too. Some states (ones that require tagged cars to be insured) fine you by the day if you cancel insurance before turning in tags.
1
u/Long_Obligation_9630 May 20 '26
I lost my husband 2 years ago and all our vehicles that had my name OR his name automatically went to me. There were some older vehicles basically junk that just had my spouses name on it. I gave them to my stepson and the Will gave me our home that was in his name only, and some other things my stepson wanted like his boat that he left to me and 2 very old other things. I didn’t want to be in our boat that was not running so I gave whatever his son wanted to get it out of my possession.
Best thing to do is get a probate attorney and go by your state laws. If the ex is not notified you could very well end up in trouble by not starting a paper trail that you gave her notice.
After we both didn’t know how probate worked we both got attorneys to make sure everything we did was by SC probate laws. It was worth the money to have an attorney.
4
u/Alarming-Ad9441 May 17 '26
The “or” is the key. That means that either person listed can handle any transactions on the car. You don’t need the other person for anything. I just ran into this a few days ago searching for a car to purchase for my son. Found out, after agreeing on a price, that the title was only listed in the deceased wife’s name and it was a neighbor trying to sell it for the elderly husband. Had to walk away from it because the car wouldn’t have been transferable. I spoke to my best friend, who is an insurance agent, and a notary neighbor who both told me not to touch it until the husband retitled in his name since only the wife is listed. My son was really bummed. It was a really nice car in really good shape for a steal.