How do I sell a junk car after the owner has died?
- Make sure you have the legal authority to sell the vehicle.
- Get the title, and put it in the estate’s name.
- Record the sale of the vehicle in detail for the estate’s records.
The sale of a junk vehicle after someone has died is possible but there are a number of steps that must be taken to do it LEGALLY in Virginia.
The first thing that happens is you need to determine who the executor or administrator of the estate is. This has to be a legally assigned person, be it an executor named in a will or an administrator assigned by the clerk of the court. Simply being “family” or a
An alternate and we believe a better method is to put the vehicle title into the name of the actual estate before attempting to sell the junk vehicle. Things you will need to take with you:
-Death Certificate
-Executor or Administrator qualification documentation.
-Title to the vehicle.
-Signed power of attorney for a single transaction form IF any other named parties are on the title and they can not be present.
-EIN for the estate (You get this from the IRS, the same thing you would need to open a checking account for an estate)
-Your own id
-An appropriate form of payment (generally costs less than $20)
When you get to the DMV with this task not all tellers will have done this before or even be sure what to do. You need to tell them you want to “Transfer” the title from the deceased name into the name of the estate. You want to be clear that this is specifically a Transfer and Not a sale! I would make sure not to write ANYTHING on the title until you are in front of the teller at DMV to make sure they understand what you are doing. Sometimes they will get a branch manager to oversee the process to ensure it’s done correctly.
In most cases, the process however is fairly simple and similar to what is described here. Generally, you will put the name of the estate on the buyers line of the title with your name on the signature of buyer line followed by the letters POA. In some cases the teller will want you to sign the seller line the same exact way or others will want that left blank as technically the seller is not present. You may also be required to fill out an address for the estate and other information about the estate. Be sure to use the address used by the administrator/executor for the estate and not necessarily the address of the deceased! This will be the same address as shown on the IRS documentation you got with the EIN. The EIN is one of those pieces of information you will be required to put on the title as part of the transfer in place of where an individual “buyers” social security or driver’s license number would normally go.
This process will leave you with a clear open and easily transferable title in the name of the estate. When it is time to sell the vehicle the admin will write the name of the estate on the seller line and sign their own name followed by the letters POA on the signature of seller line. Be sure to require the junk vehicle buyer to close the title in their name by listing their name on the buyer’s line and make a copy for the estate’s records!
Questions and answers for common questions related to selling vehicles that belonged to a deceased individual.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I sell a car that belonged to my mother, father, or other family member that died without a will? | Not unless you are named the executor of their estate in a will, or have been assigned as the admin by a clerk of court in the jurisdiction where the deceased lived. |
| Can I sell a vehicle that belonged to a deceased individual I had the power of attorney for? | No, power of attorney only applies to the living. Only an executor and admin of an estate has the right to sell a vehicle on behalf of the deceased. |
| I have a vehicle on my property that belonged to someone who has passed away, can I sell it? Answer: Are you the owner or lessee of the property the vehicle is on? | If so you can perform the abandoned vehicle process to obtain a title for the vehicle. Alternatively, you can reach out to the admin or executor of the state of the deceased individual. If that estate has NOT been closed, you can work with this individual to obtain title for the vehicle and sell it. Otherwise, you only option to remove the vehicle is the AVP or contact any reputable towing company to remove the vehicle. |
We hope you find this article useful. We cannot guarantee this is the exact process that will be required by your Virginia DMV location but this has been what was required for me over the number of times we have performed and assisted with the process.
For more information visit the Virginia DMV website at www.dmvnow.com
I would like to scrap my deceased dad’s vehicle and the title is in his name and he doesn’t have no a power of attorney or no estate or no nothing like that no will how do I go about doing it I have a death certificate with my name on it but I just would like to know how would I be able to do that
One path is to go to the courthouse in the locality where he lived and request to be appointed the administrator of his estate. If approved this will give you the authority to handle all matters of the estate. If the vehicle is located on your property another option you have to do go on dmvnow.com and search for “avp” this is the abandoned vehicle process. It’s another good legal way to get the rights to sell or scrap the car. I hope this helps. Feel free to e-mail us at [email protected] for more help in a private manner.
Thanks!
I would like to know how do I junk a car if my dad it has been deceased and he has no will no estate and nobody a power of attorney or anything like that but my name is on the death certificate and I would like to know how I would go about to be able to junk it