Questions for probate with very little equity in car as only assets.

[seekinganswers5]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MO

I just had relative pass away and he did not have any assets and very little in the bank, he had a joint account with a lady friend and from what i know, that automatically goes to her. the only value he has is a car which has maybe $3,000 of equity into it, $8000 balance with value of $11,000.

I had spoke to my accountant and he said best thing to do is have him sell me the car and see what i can work with the bank, which i drew up a bill of sale and so I did get that signed before his passing but the bank wouldnt work with me unless i pay off the loan first.

we were just doing this to avoid any type of probate so we can sell the car and use that for the funeral expenses and leave the rest to his friend, as per his wishes. he does have credit card and irs debt but i believe faxing them the death certificate and stating there isnt any assets should take care of this?

so my questions are..

1- I know we can sell the car quickly, pay off the loan but if i do it this way as its still in his name, do i have to file with probate?

2- If we can sell the car without probate, is there anything else i need to do

3 - If we sell car under his name and have to file with probate, would it be better to take the bill of sale and just go to his bank or my bank and get initial financing and then sell it under my name and do that?

thanks in advance

 

[justalayman]

just who is selling this car to you? You said the owner died, right?

we were just doing this to avoid any type of probate so we can sell the car and use that for the funeral expenses and leave the rest to his friend, as per his wishes. he does have credit card and irs debt but i believe faxing them the death certificate and stating there isnt any assets should take care of this?

You mean lie to the creditor?

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MO

I just had relative pass away and he did not have any assets and very little in the bank, he had a joint account with a lady friend and from what i know, that automatically goes to her. the only value he has is a car which has maybe $3,000 of equity into it, $8000 balance with value of $11,000.

I had spoke to my accountant and he said best thing to do is have him sell me the car and see what i can work with the bank, which i drew up a bill of sale and so I did get that signed before his passing but the bank wouldnt work with me unless i pay off the loan first.

we were just doing this to avoid any type of probate so we can sell the car and use that for the funeral expenses and leave the rest to his friend, as per his wishes. he does have credit card and irs debt but i believe faxing them the death certificate and stating there isnt any assets should take care of this?

so my questions are..

1- I know we can sell the car quickly, pay off the loan but if i do it this way as its still in his name, do i have to file with probate?

2- If we can sell the car without probate, is there anything else i need to do

3 - If we sell car under his name and have to file with probate, would it be better to take the bill of sale and just go to his bank or my bank and get initial financing and then sell it under my name and do that?

thanks in advance

Unless he had a will and you were named as the executor, you would be better off simply backing off from the whole thing.

 

[seekinganswers5]

just who is selling this car to you? You said the owner died, right?


You mean lie to the creditor?

the owner sold the car to me a few days before his death, there is a balance of $8k on the car

not lie to creditor bc after funeral expenses, we expect less than $500 to be available. the relative had nothing saved and pretty much went month to month.

main reason wantin to sell car was to help with funeral expenses or ill be the one out the money

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

If the owner sold you the car, the title transfer would need to have been lien free. Ergo, you were not legally sold the car, you know this, that is why you are here.

 

[justalayman]

If he already sold the car to you, why are you asking questions about it? Did he transfer the title to you?

not lie to creditor bc after funeral expenses, we expect less than $500 to be available.

well, I bet some creditor would love to have that money.

main reason wantin to sell car was to help with funeral expenses or ill be the one out the money

You are not required to pay for the funeral. If you do, it is your choice.

 

[seekinganswers5]

Thanks and do appreciate the advice. heres the thing, he was put into a hospital last monday and died last night. we had found out he had no will, no money in bank account so there is no way for him to pay for a funeral and i can just let the bank come and get the car back and save me the time and headaches of dealing with it but we would like to be able to give him a decent funeral, hence why we are wanting to sell the car. it was advice of my cpa to just get him to sell the car to me and see if i could work out something with his bank but they said they wouldnt do anything.

i never got the title bc only signed the bill of sale a few days before his passing and been too busy being at the hospital and trying to do the little work i could in my own business. I know i would have had to go get a loan and pay it off and then get the title and then go sell it, lot more time involved than i have at this point in time but was hoping his bank would work out something easier.

now let me get some clarification bc my cpa is the one who told me not to worry about the credit card companies bc after paying funeral expenses, not to worry about paying off any debt. there is no will, so what is my next step if im not going to officially buy the car. do i just let the car go back to the bank? or if i want to sell it, then do i have to go through probate? bottom line here is im clueless on what exactly i am supposed to do here with the only asset he has.

thank you

 

[justalayman]

i never got the title bc only signed the bill of sale a few days before his passing and been too busy being at the hospital and trying to do the little work i could in my own business

since the sale was never consummated, including you paying for the car, there was no sale. It was incomplete so the car is still owned by the estate. If you have paid the guy you could argue you held equitable title and probably lay claim to it but you didn't do that.

now let me get some clarification bc my cpa is the one who told me not to worry about the credit card companies bc after paying funeral expenses,

I haven't checked but it could quite possibly be true. Many states give burial expenses priority over any other estate debt.

not to worry about paying off any debt

Unless somebody opens probate or administration, don't worry about doing anything with his estate. You wouldn't have the legal standing to plus if his estate is in a negative balance, it doesn't make any sense.

or if i want to sell it, then do i have to go through probate?

You, as a person, cannot sell it. If you opened probate or a small estate administration (if available) and were appointed administrator, they you, as the administrator could sell it but there are a lot of other things you would have to do as well.

http://www.moga.mo.gov/statutes/C400-499/4730000097.HTM

research "small estate administration" for Missouri.

 

[Zigner]

You never got the title signed because the entire "sale" was improper and invalid from the get-go.

 

[seekinganswers5]

Thanks to everyone, called probate they said to file a small estate affidavit that will allow me to sell the car and pay expenses and daughter has a friend who will buy it so will cut them a good deal. done and simple.

 

[justalayman]

good. Sometimes the right way is the easiest way.