Q: My wife and I own two cars. Our wills give one car to our son and the other car to our daughter. To prevent a lot of legal problems when we pass away, should we sign over the title to both cars now and leave the date blank until they sell the cars? Both kids said they wanted to sell the cars after we were gone.
A: You shouldn’t do this.
For starters, you might decide to sell your cars before you die. If you have already signed over the property to your children, this can complicate the exchange or sale.
But more importantly, your children can easily sell the cars using form VTR-262, which is called “Motor Vehicle Inheritance Affidavit.” This form allows them to sell the cars as long as they do so before they probate your wills or until probate of your wills is required.
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Of course, if you own other assets, such as a house or bank account, that need to be probated, then there will be zero cost savings using Form VTR-262, since your children will still need to hire an attorney and go through testament.
Q: I am having a problem with transferring ownership of my deceased wife’s car to my name. Two clerks at the Tomball Tax Assessor’s office told me that I should have letters testamentary. My lawyer confirmed her will as a title deed, so I don’t have the aforementioned letters. My lawyer suggested I go to another tax office. What can I do to transfer ownership?
A. You should have used Form VTR-262 (mentioned in the previous answer) to transfer property before starting the probate of property because it is technically too late to use this form now.
By law, once you start the will, this form can no longer be used. At this point, it will probably be necessary for your lawyer to go back to court to change the will to a regular will in which you are appointed to serve as an independent executor (assuming you are the one named in the will). Then you will be able to get the letters from the court.
Wills of title should only be used in the rarest of circumstances. The reason is that so many wills contain an asset that requires a signature to transfer ownership. This is exactly what happened in your case. Validating your wife’s will using a regular will would mean just a little more work for your solicitor and thus only a nominal increase in the fees you pay, but it would make it possible for you to obtain letters testamentary from the court.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law and not legal advice. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in estate planning and probate law. Send questions to: stateyourcase@lipmanpc.com.