My father passed, leaving my mother. How to transfer title of car to her? No estate/probate, car only asset

Question

He had credit card debt, so a signed affidavit that he had no debt isn’t possible, but everything I read says that affidavit is required in this scenario- but everything I read also says car should be exempt? If car is exempt from credit card debtor, how do we transfer ownership to my mother if there’s no estate or will, but there WAS credit card debt? I also did find a florida state form to apply for transfer of ownership of car to spouse on death, but of course it requires listing a Florida address, and my mother moved out of state shortly after his passing, so that form’s apparently a dead end. We feel completely stuck, there seems to be absolutely no path to proceed for her specific scenario, as every option seems to have some caveat that precludes her

Marc J. Soss · Answer

In many cases, if the decedent's Last Will left everything to his/her surviving spouse, the DMV will transfer the title to them upon receiving a copy of the Will. The auto is an exempt asset so no creditor claims would attach to it. Try that route and see if they oblige.

Lauren Nagel Richardson · Answer

If your mom has moved to another state, you should be able to skip the step of transferring title in Florida by taking the Florida title and his death certificate to the tag office in the state where she resides and see what title transfer on death form that state uses. In Florida probate is not required to transfer a vehicle. You would need to ask this same questions in the state where your mother resides to get specific information about how to transfer a vehicle in that state.

Q: My father passed, leaving my mother. How to transfer title of car to her? No estate/probate, car only asset