Liability issue on transfer of ownership of a car

I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident? any idea?

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

Thanks for your opinion.

I suspect that the key is to make sure that the transfer of title is
registered. It might help to actually sell the car. FFM

I12ask wrote:
I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident? any idea?

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

Thanks for your opinion.

what else could have linked the old lady to the accident?

Assuming the title was proper, the only thing I can think of
would be if the lady knew that the car had a problem that
affected its safety, but she negligently failed to disclose
that fact to her nephew, which led to the accident.


How could one protect oneself from such future liability

You might want to post that question to a legal newsgroup,
where you'd find more expertise in that area.

James
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Simply adopt the Canadian system. Before a new ownership
paper will be issued, a vehicle must be certified by a licensed
garage to be road-worthy.
JTK

"JamesStep" wrote in message ...

what else could have linked the old lady to the accident?

Assuming the title was proper, the only thing I can think of
would be if the lady knew that the car had a problem that
affected its safety, but she negligently failed to disclose
that fact to her nephew, which led to the accident.


How could one protect oneself from such future liability

You might want to post that question to a legal newsgroup,
where you'd find more expertise in that area.

James
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Remove "NOSPAM" from my address when sending me e-mail.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-

(I12ask) wrote in message ...
I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident?

Nothing!

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

The state provides documents to be prepared for the transfer of
ownership that include a date and time. If the buyer gets in an
accident a minute later, the seller has no liability. Letting a new
owner drive off before the documents are signed is foolish. Not taking
the appropriate documents to the DMV is foolish. I said "taking". I
did not say "mailing"!

I am not an attorney. Maybe I know not of what I speak.

Some years ago, I donated a car to a high school's auto shop. We did
the proper transfer of title and the shop teacher gave me a letterhead
note of thanks that also stated the value of the car at the time of
transfer. And, sure enough, the IRS challenged the rather large
deduction. The documentation successfully met the challenge. CYA!
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In article ,
(I12ask) wrote:

I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident? any idea?

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

Thanks for your opinion.

I don't see what your question has to do with the topic of this
newsgroup, but the answer is easy. Just go through your state's DMV to
transfer ownership. There's probably some paperwork to fill out and a
fee to pay. The person or organization receiving the car might have to
pay a registration fee too. This varies from one state to the next, but
the procedure should be clearly explained on each state's web site or by
contacting the nearest DMV office.

I12ask wrote:

I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident? any idea?

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

It would not happen here. In order for the car to be on the road, there are
supposed to be plates for it, and in order to get plates you have to have
insurance. That raises the possibility that he was using illegal unauthorized
plates. Our province seems the plate holder to be the owner of the vehicle,
unless the plates are being used without the owners permission... stolen.

It is always a good idea to remove your plates from a vehicle before handing over
possession of the car, and to bill out the owner's portion of the transfer
papers.

I heard of a horror story...

Perhaps we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Are you
sure the story is even true? What's the source?

James
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Remove "NOSPAM" from my address when sending me e-mail.
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On 28 Sep 2003 01:01:08 GMT, (I12ask) wrote:

I heard of a horror story about an old retired lady in California giving her
car to her nephew as a gift. A couple years later the nephew got into a car
accident. The nephew was at fault, someone got injured and the old lady was
held liable for the accident and had to pay a big sum of money to the injured
party. Assuming that the title had been properly transferred to the Nephew,
what else could have linked the old lady to the accident? any idea?

How could one protect oneself from such future liability if one is to donate
and give away one's car as a gift?

Thanks for your opinion.

As told, the story simply dosen't have enough information.

In California there are several steps in transferring title to a
car. The first is that you, the owner, sign over the title to the
new owner. Legally, once the new owner accepts the title the car
is his, and he has a limited amount of time to got to DMV and
submit the paperwork for a formal change of title.

Meanwhile DMV continues to show you as the owner.

But DMV has another piece of paper wherein you state that you
have transferred title and to whom and you send that to the
state. That provides notice that you no longer own the car. See
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg138.htm the Notice of Release
of Liability (REG 138).

It's not clear in the story how the nephew manage to run around
in the car for a couple of years without transfer of title. Maybe
he just kept renewing the plates each year in his aunt's name.




************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
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