How should I handle my parents car?

katiekay, a year after I moved my dad from Utah to Idaho, I used my DPOA he signed in Utah to re-title his car in Idaho from his "or" my deceased mother's names to his "or" my sister's names (she contributed much to its original purchase). And I also changed his insurance to reflect his new address, listed him as a non-driver and me as its primary driver, and upped the liability coverage to $1,000,000 to better protect all three of us. My thinking was that if my dad ever needs Medicaid to cover his long-term care costs, his ownership of his car won't make him ineligible and I'll still have use of his car to take him to doctor's appointments, run errands, etc. When he dies, having my sister as an "or" title holder will allow her to seamlessly repossess it. If she had not substantially purchased the car for my parents, re-titling it in my state with myself as the "or" title holder would have provided the same benefits. Each state is different, so I don't know if this plan will work as well for you, but it may be worth investigating.

katiekay, in my State if one is transferring a car to a relative, the owner(s) car be "sold" for $1.00. Check with your State to see if they allow something like that.

Now if your parents are seeing Medicaid on the horizon, that will complicate things. Medicaid may view this as a "gift" if not sold at fair market value.

With my parents, I donated the car to a charity. But I didn't want their vehicle, no way, never, nada.

Needs to be sold to you at FMV (like Kelly Blue book or dealers appraisal) so no potential for “self dealing” or gifting issues later on.

What is your states laws on vehicle registration? & vehicle taxes?
Some states have a teeny window in which vehicle must be registered and transferred once in state & if not there’s a hefty penalty placed. Mississippi has like a 3 week window & for more fun you may have to provide for notarized act of sale in old state, new state drivers license or something to establish residency to determine the start date for penalty period. 
Some states require the old license plate to be removed. TX does this.

If their car is viewed as being “garaged” permanently in the new state, their auto insurance in another state I’d bet will be totally invalid. I would not drive it at all till registration & insurance in new state is all done with new plates, etc.

Katie,
As POA I did sell Mom’s car, but not to myself. I had to use the funds to pay one of her debts.