Yet another Title question.

Readers' Digest version: My friend John has a sister that was a model, nice girl, pretty but always made bad life choices. Moved in with Mom two years ago. Mom passed last year, sister is selling the house. Sister's son has a 1995 Porsche 911 Targa he inherited from his father, no paperwork for it.

John asked me if I could help relocate it from his mother's home to his garage not far from my house. I agreed.

OK, if the kid inherited this car legally, why is there no paperwork? Could the Mom (ex-wife of deceased Dad) acquire the Title or a death certificate to start the DMV ball rolling? Should I not do anything for my friend because it may be a E36 M3 show and I end up in jail? What's a low ball "Gee, I'd like to help you but..." price on one of these?

Thanks, Dan

The title should have transferred when the will was probated. There should have been an executor of the estate that handled all of that. I'd start there.

At a guess, the will didn't probate or the executor didn't complete his/her job, so everything is in limbo.

A 95 vehicle with no title, in SC, is worth parts and scrap.

Need pictures of the Porsche please.

I bought a Miata from a widow in Massachusetts. I believe that both names were on the title. CTDMV made me go back and get a copy of the death certificate. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but cheap Miata.

Based on my experience as an executor you should be able to get things squared away, but it may take a little work. The executor has a fair amount of power. Typically the estate would go to any spouse/ children. As long as there are no liens on anything I would think that the son could take any proof that the car belonged to Dad (old reg) and go to the DMV and apply for a new title. It might get a little tricky if there is/was no executor to sign the appropriate paperwork for the deceased. As far as transporting to a new storage space I doubt you would get in any trouble as you are just moving it. A call to their insurance agent may be able to offer better/ more info.

Assuming the dad had a valid title in his name and they just can't find the actual paper, the son should be able to get a new one if he shows the death certificate and will information.

I have one of these to take care of next week, one of my dad's trucks. In my case SD has a form for transfer of ownership by succession, and I can fill it out, get it notarized, add a bill of sale, and the title will go straight to the new owner. Pretty handy in that it doesn't have to go through my name at all.

Woody wrote: Need pictures of the Porsche please.

And the model.

Just kidding. It would help to know what state we're talking about as the laws about vehicle titles vary from state to state.

Won't know until I see it. 1995 Targa is all I heard, hasn't run in a while.

914Driver wrote: Won't know until I see it. 1995 Targa is all I heard, hasn't run in a while.

A 95 Targa would be worth a good deal of work.

Ah, yeah, I read that as "85" Targa. I'd rather have an 85, but a 95 would be worth a good chunk of change too. 993s are pretty hot right now.

I think the first order of business would be to run the VIN and see what comes up. Proceed from there.

I'd be interested in it even without title. I had one of these and sold it. The targa was kind of a pain to keep operating correctly, but otherwise a fun car that I regret selling.

Woody wrote: 993s are pretty hot since they went to water cooled.

FTFY