by Guest » Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:02 pm
My husband co-signed with our son for a car 5 yrs ago. Our son wouldn't make the payments so my husband did.He also made the insurance payments fearful that our son wouldn't do that either. The car is now paid for and we have the title. Our son is in possession of the car. We want to sign the full title over to him and let him take over the insurance payments. He is refusing to accept the title. What do we do to remove ourselves from liability?
Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:37 pm Post Subject:
Might just be me but I see it as a no brainer.... you go over and take _your_ car back. You can then turn in the tags and drop the insurance on the vehicle. Make sure the vehicle is secure so your son cannot just take the car.
If you don't want to do this because it will inconvenience your son, then you can continue to assume responsiblity _and_ liable for the use of the vehicle. You can also _continue_ to send the message that your son does not need to take responsiblity for himself.
Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 05:17 am Post Subject:
To the OP- hold on just a sec...
tcope- agreed.
OP- I'm assuming from your post that your son is 18 or older, if I'm wrong then it might change some things here.
First of all, it sounds like your son wants to enjoy all of the benefits of driving the vehicle without any of the hassles and expenses associated with actually owning a vehicle. Not judging, well, kind of actually I am, but more assuming because I have three teenagers and I know how they sometimes think. And they don't think often.
You have a few choices as I see it:
1. You can continue to make the insurance payments and assume liability for all damages caused that are over and above your insurance policy limits. Unfortunately, there's not much that you can do to get out of that. As long as you hold ownership in the car you can incur legal liability.
2. You can take what's rightfully yours (the car) until he decides to assume all of the aspects of vehicle ownership. That's where I agree with tcope-
Might just be me but I see it as a no brainer.... you go over and take _your_ car back.
I have had issues with all three of my kids with driving. From day one, it hasn't been that they didn't know what was expected of them regarding their ability (read, our permission) to drive, it was that when it actually happened, they didn't like it so much. The ground rules were equally distributed and fair... 2 of 'em made it and one didn't. Kinda sucked for the one that didn't, but...oh well! :shock: :D Now she gets it, and all is well.
Finally, one last piece to watch for. Even if you get him to assume ownership through title transfer, I would NOT continue to pay the insurance. There has been litigation surrounding the idea that since the parent was aware of the coverage limitations in the policy (amounts of coverage, who's covered, etc.) and paid for that policy, there's an assumption that the parent is assuming a portion of the financial support of that child. I've heard anecdotes of weird vicarious liability actions where third parties are seeking damages from the parents. Twisted, I know, but this is America! :!: :D Don't know any of the outcomes, if any, but I think I'll research it and if I find anything- I'll post a link here.
InsTeacher 8)
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