Q: My father and I own a motorcycle and vehicle together if he gets sued do I lose the property? How does that work?
A:
If you are both on title, then you and your father are co-owners. The motorcycle can be included as property for both your and your father (i.e. it is a potential assets in a lawsuit). If judgment includes the bike (meaning that no other assets can meet the payment required by a successful lawsuit judgment--which is not automatically granted), two things can happen. One (the lease likely), the 3rd party can assume your father's portion of the bike and you can share the bike with the new party. Two, the bike would be sold and the proceeds would be divided 50-50% (although this could be different if either side can show an ownership pattern that is not a true 50-50%).
This is the process, the important thing to note is that this presumes that a lot of time (and litigation occurs). Specifically, your father would need to lose a lawsuit, be forced to pay, the bike would need to be included to meet the sale, the 3rd party needs to attach the judgment to the bike, and the 3rd party would need to receive court approval to sell the bike a split the proceeds. This can happen, but it would likely take a year or more to settle. In short, you will have a lot of warning (and potential legal challenges to forestall or prevent the sale) before anything happens.
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