Bike Title Question

[Riverdog]

Ok so I am going to be purchasing a bike from a friend. The bike belonged to her husband and the title is in his name. He passed away almost 2 years ago. So what exactly do we need to do to make this deal clean and official?

[Repsol a095]

I would bet that she has power of attorney for him (I would just ask). Have her sign the title over either in her name or in his, and you should be good-to-go. The DMV isn't really going to check. As long as she is the legal guardian of all his property, I am sure that you would be fine.

[zPurpleRoom]

Your friend will need to get a new title in her name first. She can then sign over the new title to you. After that, you get to go get another new title in your name. It's a PITA....especially if the estate has been closed.

[zPurpleRoom]

I would bet that she has power of attorney for him (I would just ask). Have her sign the title over either in her name or in his, and you should be good-to-go. The DMV isn't really going to check. As long as she is the legal guardian of all his property, I am sure that you would be fine.


Power of Attorney Statements expire upon death. :(

[Repsol a095]

Hmmm. Interesting.

[Sarge]

I kinda have to agree with Repsol here. I'm willing to bet if she signs it in his name and hands it to you the DMV will never question it. I just processed the out of state title on my bike with the signature from some random person at the bank (it was paid off out of state) and they don't do ANYTHING to verify it. The just printed me a new one and sent me on my way.

[zPurpleRoom]

I would worry that the State's computer system would trigger a flag if the person is deceased. I would not want to be charged with anything illegal like fraud or forgery. Since there is a legal path, I would tend to go down that one. I'm sure she was the court appointed executor...so all she would need to do is to show the DMV a death certificate, the court order, maybe the will and they will set her up with a new title. Just my .02 pennies.

[Riverdog]

Thanks all for the input. Sounds like a call to the DMV certainly wouldn't hurt. Like I said I just want it to be a clean transfer of title and I do not want to inconvienence her in anyway. She has three bikes she is going to have to figure this out with, so I guess she can get all of them done at once.

[Bashed]

I bought a trailer from a person last year.
The name on the title was of a deceased person some 6 years ago.
The person signed it who was POA with a copy of the death cert and that was all that is required. No need to make things complicated. The state DMV doesn't have the capacity to track dead persons.
You need;
Signed title by POA
POA for motor vehicle
Death cert

[TinkerinWstuff]

I bought a trailer from a person last year.
The name on the title was of a deceased person some 6 years ago.
The person signed it who was POA with a copy of the death cert and that was all that is required. No need to make things complicated. The state DMV doesn't have the capacity to track dead persons.
You need;
Signed title by POA
POA for motor vehicle
Death cert

God help you if the name on the death certificate does not exactly match the name on the title.

We just went rounds and rounds buying a vehicle where the death cert said he was Joe Schmo Jr. but the title did not specify Jr.

The state made us track down Jr's wife to sign a "same as" document.

Royal PITA

[zPurpleRoom]

Keep us updated as to the final outcome and requirements. I'd like to know. :up:

[MetaLord 9]

You backup plan is always to bond for title, which is a lot of legwork and will cost you, depending on the value of the bike. Think of it as a last resort.

With an existing title, just call the DMV if you don't have what was mentioned earlier in the thread.