Can I transfer title of car to brother?

pamstegma, wish we'd thought of this!

Mimix, The fairest thing to do is for her to sell it to him for the trade-in value of the car. We sold mom's car to her grandchild for $9000 and mom is taking in payments of $200 a month at no interest for 45 months. I doubt if she will live another 45 months. If mom dies before the debt is paid, the unpaid amount will deducted from that child's inheritance. That eliminates a lot of arguments.

Thank you all for the insight! Mom can't drive anymore and if she goes into assisted living, she definately won't need it

In defense to my consideration to sell the car for a dollar was in good faith. I.e. long term financial expenses that may have impacted the mother! Thanks for your comment. Smile.

Give him the car now and transfer the title -- as POA, you can do whatever you want, as long as it does not directly contradict express instructions the person you are protecting gave you. Unless the car is relatively new and has retained a high value, it won't be of much impact now or in the future, as far a getting access to benefits, taxes, etc are concerned. If it's a Mazarati or has some extreme value, then you need to stop and think about this for a while.

Good for you that you are thinking about not depleting your mother's assets by her continued ownership of a car she can't use any longer! This is the behavior of a caring, prudent POA. The more difficult decision for her (or you acting on her behalf depending on her mental "capacity" to make decisions in her own best interest) is whether to risk GIVING the car to your brother during her lifetime instead of after she passes. Depending on your mother's condition and attitude you may not want to share the following information with her but it is information you should consider in making this a gift. This gift from your mother (by you, her agent/POA) — or ANY gift — it will be relevant in any determination of her eligibility for Medicaid (not MediCARE) that occurs during the "look back period" of five years prior to such review. Medicaid is tax funded financial assistance to people who don't have the funds to meet their own needs and state laws govern and state officials will determine whether the applicant for assistance has depleted his or her own assets by gifts to family members as a means of qualifying for assistance. Make sense? So you can be equally sure that people determining the eligibility will not be fooled by a sales price of $1.00, as suggested by someone else on this site! Their determination of whether it was a gift to you brother would be based on the FAIR MARKET VALUE of the car at the time. This is true for gifts of money, stock, property, etc. during this "look back period". We all pray that none of our loved ones will run out of money in their lifetime but it happens. Preserving the estate for the family is NOT the objective of Medicaid. If Mom's assets are SO substantial that you have NO concern about the possibility of her needing financial aid from the state at any time in the next five years, then make the gift to your brother. If you have ANY concern about her assets being sufficient for her care — a lot can happen in five years and what happens never seems to lower the cost of care! — then my suggestion would be to sell the car to your brother, or someone else, at a reasonable "fair market value" price. Bear in mind that the car has a greater value today (to your brother or anyone else) than in will have in five years — or whenever she passes. The sale now will increase the amount available for her care (whether by a little or a lot) as well as reducing her current and future expenses. DO sell the car! See http://info.legalzoom.com/properly-sign-power-attorney-document-someone-20295.html for instructions on how to sign the title and have POA document with you when you do it.

Owner should selll the car to the brother. On the back of the title, there are lines for the two signatures. Hand over the title to the brother. The car is his. If, on the other hand, the car is NOT paid off, and you do not have title, then, the company, bank, financial institution who owns the car should be paid off first. At that point,. they will send the title to the owner. Then, the title can be signed over to the brother. Both signatures required. Brother keeps title.

You may consider selling the car to your brother. I.e. a dollar.

you can but if you are looking at Medicaid w/I 5 yrs it will be used against her