Will I have to "buy" our car from my 3 year old after the death of my partner?

getmore4less

Marcon said:

p00hsticks said:

Marcon said:

DistantDez said:

Hi,

My partner passed away a few months ago and we own a car that was in his name. I transferred ownership of the car into my name not long after he passed away.

After doing the inheritance tax return I've realised that the car forms part of his estate and therefore as we weren't married and he didn't have a will, it doesn't really belong to me.

We have a 3 year old boy who will inherit the entire estate (I learned too late that unmarried partners don't exist when there is no will). Does that mean I will need to effectively buy the car from my little boy? I intend to keep the car for many years so could I delay this "sale" until a point in the future when the value is a lower? 

I checked the DVLA website and it's not possible to own a car in joint names which means ownership of a car can never automatically pass to your partner even when you bought the car together. There should be a way to register joint ownership.

Other answers all seem to be overlooking an important point....unmarried partners can make a claim against their late partner’s estate if a will (or the intestacy rules, if there is no will) fails to make adequate financial provision for them.

You need to have been been cohabiting for at least 2 years prior to your partner’s death, which sounds highly likely given you have a 3 year old.

That's an interesting point, but I wonder how you would actually go about it in practice in a case like this, where the deceased has died intestate and I imagine the partner will be the one applying for letters of administration (if required ?). Would it need to go to some sort of court case, and if so would the costs be funded by the estate ? Presumably the 3-year old beneficiary would need to be represented in some way, and the OP can't both represent her childs interests and claim against the estate for herself.

They weren't married, so they can't. See https://www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate/if-theres-not-a-will for more information about who can apply for letters of administration.

The parent of a child under 18 can take over administration.