Q: I want to donate my car. My deceased grandmother is listed second on the title since she cosigned. What do I do?
There is no survivorship on the title. I am not the executor of her estate. There was only one executor. She died in 2012 and this car was not part of her will/estate. The donation company tells me all I need is to give them a notarized inheritance affidavit and have a death certificate, but DMV says I need to re-register the car in just my name and include the inheritance affidavit.
A: You should give the car title with your signature on it, your grandmother's death certificate, and the DMV affidavit of heirship to the company you want to donate the car to. The affidavit of heirship should be signed by the beneficiary of your grandmother's estate. You can get the DMV affidavit of heirship form online.
Joanne Reisman agrees with this answer
A: Any property your grandmother had would have gone through her estate as directed by her will if it didn't pass by survivorship. So yes, her interest in the car was in her estate and subject to her Will. I do suspect that her interest in the car was really only intended to be as a guarantor on your loan and that you actually made all the payments on the car. This would entitle you to bring a law suit to have the car declared your property but that is more expensive then simply fixing this via DMV. DMV usually only requires and affidavit that will certify who rightfully inherited an interest in the car - so if you know who the beneficiaries were of your grandmother's will, and they can sign the affidavit with DMV that they inherited from your grandmother her interest in the car, you can then get a new title with their names, and they can sign off the title and gift you their interest. You will have to pay whatever fees DMV charges to fix the title, but this may be doable in one step as opposed to two steps. Talk to an attorney if you need more help figuring this out.
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