Breaking Car Lease Upon Elderly Father's Death

[AspenQn]

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

My 90 year old dad just passed away and we have an auto lease left to deal with. He had leased a car for 3 years and was only about 8 months into the lease term. My mother doesn't drive any longer and her name was not on the lease. Can we just turn the car in? The Hyundai finance company said they would charge an early termination lease, then there could still possibly be "unknown" charges after they auction off the car. My mother can't really afford to be hit for unknown charges, so what happens if we just stop payment and tell them where it is parked?

 

[Zigner]

Dad's estate will be responsible to pay the fees.

 

[LdiJ]

Dad's estate will be responsible to pay the fees.

On top of that, TX is a community property state, so mom could be liable for the lease as well. It would likely be considered a community debt.

 

[latigo]

On top of that, TX is a community property state, so mom could be liable for the lease as well. It would likely be considered a community debt.

Then "on the bottom of that", mom couldn't be held liable were this not a community property state; like your state of Indiana. Right Ld?

And what would be the extent of the Texas widow's personal responsibility for the lease should the husband have leased the vehicle for exclusive use in a separately owned business with the lessor being thusly informed?

"Beware of false knowledge. It is more dangerous than ignorance." (George Bernard Shaw)

 

[LdiJ]

Then "on the bottom of that", mom couldn't be held liable were this not a community property state; like your state of Indiana. Right Ld?

And what would be the extent of the Texas widow's personal responsibility for the lease should the husband have leased the vehicle for exclusive use in a separately owned business with the lessor being thusly informed?

If it was a separate business entity and the husband did not sign a personal guarantee, AND the creditor was unable to pierce the corporate veil (absurdly easy to do with a single member or shareholder entity) then neither his estate nor the marital community would be responsible for the debt.

However, if the entity would still be responsible for the debt and if the entity had any assets or was to continue on as a business (perhaps by an heir) then in the end, the family would still end up responsible for the debt. They would either have to pay it out of liquidated assets, ongoing business or from sales proceeds.

All that is pretty moot however since its pretty unlikely that the 90 year old husband was operating a business.

 

[divona2000]

...leased a car for 3 years and was only about 8 months into the lease term...Hyundai finance company said they would charge an early termination...there could still possibly be "unknown" charges after they auction off the car...

Question - Why would they 'auction off' a returned leased vehicle? Presuming it was new, now 8 months old...Don't these companies just lease them out again?

 

[Zigner]

Question - Why would they 'auction off' a returned leased vehicle? Presuming it was new, now 8 months old...Don't these companies just lease them out again?

Nope - why should they? Leasing a used car is not something the name-brand dealers do.

 

[LdiJ]

Nope - why should they? Leasing a used car is not something the name-brand dealers do.

The dealers don't even retain ownership of the vehicle the finance companies do, hence the reason why they get auctioned off. Although, I suspect that the mileage on a car leased by a 90 year old might be REALLY low.