I purchased a vehicle from my father about 6 months ago and the title is now in my name. He past away a couple of days ago and his will named my bother in law was to get the truck. Do I now have to sign the title over to him or is it legally mine now?
Answer
The truck is yours. DO NOT sign it over to your brother-in-law as this will constitute a gift by you and subject to to gift taxes if the truck is worth more than $13,000.
When a person makes a will, it does not become operative until the person dies. That means it can be changed up until death. The will can be changed by various methods. including disposing of one of the bequests in the will by some means (gift, sale or destruction). When your father sold you the car, he thus worked a change in the terms of his will. The legal term for this is "ademption" and the bequest in the will is considered "adeemed." Thus, if the will said "I leave my VIN # Year/Make?model Truck" to "brother-in-law" and your father did not own this specific truck any longer at the time of his death, then brother-in-law gets no truck. Whether brother-in-law gets anything else will depend on the other provisions in the will.
If the language in the will was vague and if your father happened to own a different make/model of truck, your brother-in-law may or may not get that, but I or any other attorney would need to see the specific will as well as know what assets your father owned at the time of his death to know for sure. However, the brother-in-law does not receive the truck that is now in your name aand which was sold to you before your father's death.
Answer
It's your truck. The fact that he failed to keep his will up to date doesn't change that, as a will has no effect on assets he no longer has.
Giving your brother in law the truck may require a federal gift tax return as you would be giving YOUR property to him.
Since the will was not kept up to date be sure to have a lawyer look at it as to other probate issues.
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