Death of a spouse. Implications for the cars log book

MyRealNameToo

Sea_Shell said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Sea_Shell said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Who the hell worries about this sort of thing when they have just lost their spouse? Yes it needs transferred to a new keeper and that person will need to tax it as well. The estate administrator needs to claim back any unused tax.

I thought the insurance on the vehicle would effectively be invalid upon death too.

So if they both drove the car as "theirs", then these issues do need to be thought about very soon after a death.

The insurer would get a very bad press, however, if the surviving spouse had a claim thrown out, if they had an accident before having a chance to sort the paperwork out.

So would an insurer dig their heels in?!

No, they will change the insurance to be "the estate of" and it's not invalidated. 

Most won't offer a renewal after the policyholder passing so there may be an issue if you notify them the day before the renewal that the policyholder has died 

If they are notified?

What if you haven't notified them yet, in your grief?   Which was my original point, in reply to @Keep_pedalling

Then claims will tell you to contact Service to make the change and they will continue and deal with the claim. 

user1977

Does the number of previous keepers actually make any material difference to value? It doesn't feature, for example, on the various online price calculators I've seen.

Grey_Critic

Keep_pedalling said:

Who the hell worries about this sort of thing when they have just lost their spouse? Yes it needs transferred to a new keeper and that person will need to tax it as well. The estate administrator needs to claim back any unused tax.

Whover is trying to sort out the affairs of the deceased. It is just like all the other documentation that has to gone through and actioned. Last year with the help of our sone I compiled an **Essential Information** document - you try it. There is a surprising amount that needs doing. Wills. LPAs,. Banking. Investments. Pensions are just a few - Not forgetting Passwords and Login details. 

The OP is asking for help not who the hell worries - it has to be done

Mildly_Miffed

smjxm09 said:

If a married spouse dies and the V5C log book is in their name, does the widow/widower become the second keeper on the V5C when the DVLA are informed, so devaluing the car?

I suspect you are basing this question on a misapprehension.

The difference in value between a car owned from new with just one keeper, versus one owned from new but two keepers who are a married couple, will be minimal to zero.

Also, does the ownership of the vehicle have to change if the car is owned outright by the spouse that has died?

Ownership is not recorded anywhere.

But, yes, ownership will pass according to the deceased's will - and if that passes the entire estate to the spouse...

The keeper is the living person legally responsible for the car. A dead person cannot be prosecuted for failing to tax a car or failing to identify the driver. If it was possible to have it registered in the name of a dead person, there would be a massive legal loophole being exploited by all sorts of ne'er-do-wells.

MyRealNameToo

user1977 said:

Does the number of previous keepers actually make any material difference to value? It doesn't feature, for example, on the various online price calculators I've seen.

Traditionally it has in the extremes... one careful lady owner since new was always the justification for a higher price -v- a 3 year old vehicle thats been owned by a dozen people which would make some think there's a problem. Going from 3 to 4 owners on a 10 year old car is unlikely to make much difference. 

On the online tools are you entering a vehicle registration? If you are then they can get the number of keepers for themselves without needing to ask you. 

Car_54

Sea_Shell said:

redofromstart said:

I lost my husband last year unexpectedly.  He had several vehicles in his name and it was slightly complicated to sort them.  Essentially they go into limbo for a bit, and even using the 'tell us once thing' meant it took the DVLA a few months to write to me.

It is wider than the ownership thing.  The vehicle tax ends with the death of the owner and technically you can't re-tax the vehicle because you are not the owner.  I was named driver on his car insurance  and they allowed me to transfer that to my name for the balance of the policy which was helpful but i still couldn't drive it because I couldn't tax it.  The one I wasn't named on was allowed to continue for theft only for 30 days.  

There was no will, and I didn't need probate. If I had had either then I could have sold the vehicle without transferring it to my name.  What I actually did was transfer the car to my name as his spouse and in line with the DVLA instructions, and part exchanged it.  The garage said that it didn't matter to them that it made me the third owner on a 16 plate car.  

For the other vehicles I just did the online transfer of the V5 on the basis that I did have consent of the owner (me as I inherited everything), and have had no problems as a consequence. Three gifted to family, and one sold to a private buyer.  Vehicle tax refunded as part of that, and then the DVLA sent me another small cheque once they had processed his death.

Hope this helps.  It was just another stress in the mountain of Sadmin that I wouldn't wish on anybody.

Sorry for your loss, but a very informative post.

Why couldn't you do the on line ownership transfer for the car you were a driver of, so you could tax it?

The online transfer is to change the keeper, not the owner. There is no register of ownership.

Sea_Shell

Car_54 said:

Sea_Shell said:

redofromstart said:

I lost my husband last year unexpectedly.  He had several vehicles in his name and it was slightly complicated to sort them.  Essentially they go into limbo for a bit, and even using the 'tell us once thing' meant it took the DVLA a few months to write to me.

It is wider than the ownership thing.  The vehicle tax ends with the death of the owner and technically you can't re-tax the vehicle because you are not the owner.  I was named driver on his car insurance  and they allowed me to transfer that to my name for the balance of the policy which was helpful but i still couldn't drive it because I couldn't tax it.  The one I wasn't named on was allowed to continue for theft only for 30 days.  

There was no will, and I didn't need probate. If I had had either then I could have sold the vehicle without transferring it to my name.  What I actually did was transfer the car to my name as his spouse and in line with the DVLA instructions, and part exchanged it.  The garage said that it didn't matter to them that it made me the third owner on a 16 plate car.  

For the other vehicles I just did the online transfer of the V5 on the basis that I did have consent of the owner (me as I inherited everything), and have had no problems as a consequence. Three gifted to family, and one sold to a private buyer.  Vehicle tax refunded as part of that, and then the DVLA sent me another small cheque once they had processed his death.

Hope this helps.  It was just another stress in the mountain of Sadmin that I wouldn't wish on anybody.

Sorry for your loss, but a very informative post.

Why couldn't you do the on line ownership transfer for the car you were a driver of, so you could tax it?

The online transfer is to change the keeper, not the owner. There is no register of ownership.

Thanks for the clarification .   That is what I meant.

Why couldn't @redofromstart also transfer the KEEPER on line, when they have inherited all the cars, and was able to change the keeper on-line for the others?    

Sea_Shell

MyRealNameToo said:

Sea_Shell said:

MyRealNameToo said:

Sea_Shell said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Who the hell worries about this sort of thing when they have just lost their spouse? Yes it needs transferred to a new keeper and that person will need to tax it as well. The estate administrator needs to claim back any unused tax.

I thought the insurance on the vehicle would effectively be invalid upon death too.

So if they both drove the car as "theirs", then these issues do need to be thought about very soon after a death.

The insurer would get a very bad press, however, if the surviving spouse had a claim thrown out, if they had an accident before having a chance to sort the paperwork out.

So would an insurer dig their heels in?!

No, they will change the insurance to be "the estate of" and it's not invalidated. 

Most won't offer a renewal after the policyholder passing so there may be an issue if you notify them the day before the renewal that the policyholder has died 

If they are notified?

What if you haven't notified them yet, in your grief?   Which was my original point, in reply to @Keep_pedalling

Then claims will tell you to contact Service to make the change and they will continue and deal with the claim. 

You hope.    Are all insurers likely to be as helpful?

redofromstart

There are lots of things I could have done if I had had to but the simple answer was I had my own insured, taxed car so I didn't need to drive or tax his, it was legally stored on our drive, and the garage collected his on trade plates for simplicity. 

Sea_Shell

redofromstart said:

There are lots of things I could have done if I had had to but the simple answer was I had my own insured, taxed car so I didn't need to drive or tax his, it was legally stored on our drive, and the garage collected his on trade plates for simplicity. 

Ah, OK.    Your post just read as if you couldn't transfer it on-line to tax it.