Selling Mom's Car with POA

ma1038a · January 12

I'm POA for my mom, who has mild cognitive impairment. I tricked her into moving to a CCRC near me per doctor's strong recommendation. (Thanks to members of this community who helped me pull that off.) She's in independent living, and many of her neighbors still drive. Her doctors have said she should stop driving and confirmed that yesterday. She was driving herself before the move and hadn't been in an accident, but and she would get lost every time in this new city. Even I have trouble without GPS, and she doesn't have navigation or a smartphone.

I've been keeping her car from her since she moved up here in August. For the safety of her and others, I'm not going to give it back. My true excuse has been that she's not allowed to park in the community without Virginia plates. She wouldn't be able to complete the task to get them herself, and I'm not going to help her. But she asks about it every time -- it's the only real sticking point after the move.

It's a pain to keep up with the car, though -- the out-of-state registration expired two years ago (thanks to her MCI), so I shouldn't be driving it at all, I have to park it on the street and move it every three days or stash it in a garage and let the battery die from under-use.

Time to sell, without her knowledge or consent.

I've looked into it a little and am not sure how to go about that. There are issues with the three major car buying companies I could think of:

Carmax requires valid registration
Carvana doesn't accept POA
WeBuyAnyCar would create its own POA for her to sign ... which would give me away.

Has anyone done this via a private sale on Autotrader, a dealership, or elsewhere?

I have a picture of the car title and can probably snag the original. And I could probably trick her into signing a special POA that the DMV uses by saying it will allow me to register the car for her. But I'd love it if I could just use my general POA.

I'm reluctant to donate it without her knowledge, especially since it's worth $25k+.

harshedbuzz · January 12

It seems the best idea might be to register it in the new location and sell it to Carmax. I have heard less than stellar things about Carvana.

How about a dealership or a private sale to someone you know? I found dealerships low-balled me, but that was pre-COVID and supply issues. It's probably somewhat improved. Webuyanycar gave me the best price for dad's car; he got angry at me once and agreed to sell it rather have me get it. LOL for days-- I didn't have the hots for his banged-up Ford Taurus.

It's hard. As POA you have a responsibility to handle her money and assets responsibly. Allowing a car she can't drive depreciate in value is not financially responsible.

HB

JJ401 · January 12

Here you would definitely need the title. A copy would not do. A copy would not allow the purchaser to register the car here.

I might try calling the local DMV office and find out the procedure you need to follow to sell the car.

ma1038a · January 12

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/194502#Comment_194502

Thanks, and that's a great point about financial responsibility.

I spoke to someone at the DMV, who recommended that I essentially gift the car to myself, tax-free, before selling it with my name on the title. Since I'll be selling it quickly and putting the proceeds in her account, I guess that's responsible enough.

harshedbuzz · January 13

@ma1038a

I'd run that option past a CELA. If your mom ever needs to go into a facility and is there long enough to spend down her assets and need Medicaid as a safety net, "gifting" a car to yourself within the 5-year look-back could be a major problem. The rules around Medicaid qualification prohibit the transfer of money or assets to another above a certain dollar value. Even if you plan to deposit the proceeds, I would make sure this isn't a strategy that could delay assistance for a period of several months given that MCF can be $5000-10000/ month depending on where you live.

HB

Emily 123 · January 13

Hi-I agree with HB--double check, as if the funds pass through your hands there may be issues. Maybe there's a way to deposit the funds directly to her. We deposit into a trust.

H1235 · January 13

I would be careful gifting to yourself. If she ever runs out of money and needs to apply for Medicaid that could be an issue. They look back 5 years in most states.

Quilting brings calm · January 14

You are going to need the original title, or a duplicate issued from the state the title was issued in. If I were you, I would ask your mother into signing the DMV’s version of the POA. Don’t confirm that you will register the car/ instead tell her you need this in order for the DMV to discuss anything with you. This keeps you from lying. Then you can sell the car on her behalf and deposit the funds in your account.

One word of caution: Gifting the car to yourself could be interpreted as acting in your own best interest, not hers.

wizmo · January 14

One interim option may be to first get the title into her name OR yours as joint owners, OR is important word meaning either person can act without the other. I had to do this for my DW due to our state not allowing DPOA and needing an original DMV-specific POA form for every transaction. With me as “OR” owner I later was able to do the rest without her. You will definitely need original title. DMV can offer guidance on procedure. As others have said get some legal advice on handling proceeds.

In case you haven’t already used POA much, find a template form called notary acknowledgment. Transactions in person usually go fine when you present POA and ID; doing by mail it often requires a 3rd party (notary) to attest they have seen your docs/ID and you are the person authorized to act as POA. My first time doing this on a matter involving substantial money resulted in rejection/delay, but at least they educated me how to do it right.

JJ401 · January 15

Notary Acknowledgment — Thank you for posting about this. I have the POA, but have not had to use it yet and was not aware of this form. I looked online and found the one specific to my state. I’ve bookmarked it for future use. It’s always best to be as prepared as one can.

Selling Mom's Car with POA

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