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wifes brother passed before car title was signed

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azulvato

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma

Hello, thank you in advance for any help. I traded my wife's brother my 4x4 Jimmy for his Ford F150 (he needed something better on gas). My wife's brother passed a few months ago and now her side of the family is not getting along with his widow. The truck title was in "his or her" name on title and, she is trying to get the truck now since I never got it changed into my name. We have the truck, the truck title, receipt from paying the tag for last year, the tag renewal paper that came in the mail(she gave it to us), & three signed statements from individuals stating that we traded vehicles. The title is not signed over, we do not have a bill of sale since it was a trade, and I don't know if this holds any weight but neither the widow nor there son(the only other person old enough to have a license) have a driver license.(they both have not passed a driver test). She refuses to sign over the truck and has had a police officer come to my door inquiring about the vehicle.
 


azulvato

Junior Member
question

technically I don't own the vehicle. I have had it for well over a year. I didn't listen to my grandfather and left it in my brother-in-laws name. My question is do I have a leg to stand on if I wanted to take her to court for ownership before she takes the truck
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
The OWNER of the vehicle is entitled to their vehicle. Your story sounds plausible until you get to the fact that the title hasn't been signed AND you don't have a bill of sale.

It's not your vehicle.
 

xylene

Senior Member
technically I don't own the vehicle.
Technically is what matters in the eyes of the law.

This is why you need to follow the law when doing a motor vehicle transaction.

What is the deal with your Jimmy? Where is that vehicle?
 

BL

Senior Member
You have no bill of sale .
You have no written agreement for the trade.
The Title is not in your name.

Answer. No

Now tell us what the police officer said at your home .
 

azulvato

Junior Member
The police officer told us to get written statements of the trade. He told us that since we have the statements and since we are have the truck she can't take it unless she has a court order or the truck title.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
So, is this police officer also an attorney?

The OWNER of the vehicle can retrieve their vehicle at any point.

Let's go back to your Jimmy. Did YOU sign the title over to your bro-in-law?
 

azulvato

Junior Member
No I did not but, that to is a lost cause she traded it to my other brother-in-law for a different vehicle which is I have recently found out is in her name. So the best I could do is take back the Jimmy from him which would get me no-where. I think I am going to have to chalk this up to another life lesson.
 

BL

Senior Member
No I did not but, that to is a lost cause she traded it to my other brother-in-law for a different vehicle which is I have recently found out is in her name. So the best I could do is take back the Jimmy from him which would get me no-where. I think I am going to have to chalk this up to another life lesson.
If she had no authority ( no ownership ) , you can sue for the value of the Jimmy at the time of alleged "trade" .

She can get a duplicate title , and retrieve the vehicle in her name .

Maybe she'll cough up a sig. on the title instead of a court mess .
 

LetsGetWithItt

Junior Member
Agreed. Your leverage here is that you did not sign the title over to her. And in if she traded the vehicle she would have needed YOUR signature to do so. This means that she made a fraudulent transfer. Depending upon the state that you are in, you may be able to request a duplicate copy of the title for your Jimmy. If you are able to do this, it should be your first step. Your second step should be to run a carfax on your old vehicle to determine chain of title, ie that it was traded and then sold to an innocent third party. You want to do this to establish a fraudulent transfer on her part. Once you have established this, then along with the other info you have provided, you should be able to get her to sign the title, in exchange for not going after her for fraudulently transferring your vehicle.

In essence neither of you technically owned the others vehicle, however, the fact that she sold yours and that you have some written proof that each was in possession of the others vehicle as a result of trade, she would be prevented from selling yours for her benefit and getting hers back. In essence she would be getting the value of two vehicles one of which was not hers.
 

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