what will happen to your classic car when you die?
 

i sometimes toy with the idea of transferring mine into my sons' name, but not telling him.
i'm thinking if i leave behind unpaid medical bills or something; they will have to seize something else; he will still get the car.

am i right or wrong?
or make him co-owner?

i'm not thinking of checking out anytime soon; but i just turned 50, and have high blood pressure.
i'd like to be sure that my kid gets the car. i just don't want to tell him.

Eh, I won't care. Probably crushed or derbied as the kids have zero interest in them and the wife doesn't want to drive an old car she can't work on.

I don't have kids, and will hopefully sell it before I'm too feeble to do anything with it.

edit: Is it possible to transfer it into his name without him knowing? I'd think he would need to sign papers.

Ask your attorney/estate planner.

im leaving my cars to an unsuspecting friend or two..

This! PY is a great place for car advice, but not so great for legally accurate info.

My kids (14 & 16) love the old cars and both have already claimed one each as theirs when I kick off. Any others owned at the time will be sold off based on advice my wife will receive from Pontiac knowledgeable friends.

Daniel (my 20 year old) will probably end up with it.

That suits me now and I certainly won't care then.

I am passively selling my car now. What I tell people is "It isn't for sale but it can be bought." If someone offers me the price I have in my mind the car will be sold. If not I will drive and enjoy it until I can't.

It'll get pushed to the curb so the wife can finally park her car in the garage.

After your gone, will it really matter?
No, in seriousness , Id leave it to whoever might enjoy it. Your idea of placing the title in your sons name is a good choice.

I don't know what will happen to the racecar, but my daughter is definitely taking the GTO. I have to teach her to drive it soon, it can be a handful.

Weird this topic just came up.
Only today I was thinking about how much money I'm dumping in my 68 right now and that if something happened to me I'd need someone to help my wife liquidate things for what they are worth.

If I had any warning at all ... it's possible I'd try to find a local person right here on this forum to help her with it.
(but don't touch her till I'm gone :)

Good response.

Mrs71 and I are just finishing our estate planning. The Cutlass and some pontiac stuff, goes to my nephew. He knows it, the family knows it. Don't spring it on someone, make a plan. Don't leave to someone who has know idea it was coming. This could hurt them on taxes.

An easy way to do this without involving attorneys or planners, is to simply go to your dmv and ask about TOD. Transfer On Death. Easy, shouldn't cost a thing. Takes only a few minutes.

My youngest son gets my 67 GTO. He's worked on it for 25 years. Since he was just old enough to hand me stuff so he deserves it. My 64 GP I haven't decided yet. I have 3 more sons and grandsons so I don't know.

You could always adopt me real quick like :)

She had a plan right from the start...
 

Funny/True statement.
Daughter has been around the cars since born.
When she was about 6 or 7 years old she said something to the effect how she can't wait to drive the LeMans, I laughed and said she would never.
She then in all seriousness blurts out you'll be to old to stop me :eek:
So clearly she had/has a plan and I guess no need for me to worry about where it ends up ;)

If you transfer the car to your son's name, you can't keep it secret. He would have to be involved in buying the new license plates, insurance, etc.

As mentioned, an estate planner would be a good idea.

Eric

I guess buried with me.

Since my son isn't a car guy I put mine in my will to be sold buy a knowledgeable person designated by me and proceeds donated to Cancer Research.. I would think some of my buddies would step in an help him liquidate the parts at a decent value..
Otherwise...I won't care..;)

They will probably sell the parts for pennies on the dollar and what isn't sold I'm sure would be scrapped. Kids aren't very interested in cars.

I keep saying I'm going to go through all my parts and make a list so I/they know what I have. Esp. the SD parts.I found parts i dont remember where they came from.Maybe next week! Sooo.

I really worried about this before I finished my car. Whoever in my immediate family wants it can have it. And if they want to sale it wont be a bunch of boxes and trying to figure what is what and the worth.

Shawn

My wife would probably just be happy to have the garage back. And the outbuilding. And the basement. And two bedrooms. And one bathroom (ran out of room plus gives new meaning to Don’t s*%t where you work :D).

Now where the stuff goes if something happened right now, already gave her a contact list of who to call to help sell it. Would leave it up to her if she wants to keep anything. Kids are still too young to want one of the cars and taking care of the kids would be top priority.

that dude in Texas did get buried in his Cadillac......

And Pontiacs too (posted on this site before I believe)


http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/5...ice=tablet&c=y

Hey...
 

I sure appreciate it, Brother! BTW...how ya feelin'? ;) I DID have a friend with two '66 SS 396 Chevelles....one black/black...other one red/red...both 4-speeds...both low mile garage kept cars that he and his brother bought new. Another friend asked him to will one to him and his response was "There's somebody else who won't be getting one of them!" I guess his son-in-law had asked him the same thing days earlier and he officially wrote him out of the will.
My '64 is going to my grandson or possibly my nephew...since my son has two '64's of his own.

you guys make assumptions...you should make plans and write them down..heres what i have seen in the last 30 years when my buddies have died

most of the kids want nothing to do with the stuff

those valuable friends will take advantage of your family 8 out of 10 times once you are gone

no one knows the value in the future..its prob a pipe dream we make money on our cars in the future

usually the car family is just putting up with your hobby and when your gone,,,they will take some time..and then sell everything you are, away..and youll just be memories and pics in an album..so find a kid or grandkid that loves them and groom them to take over

find someone you trust outside the family like a lawyer set it all up get it written down..because unless you state it..who knows what you want

im not being a downer or bad mouthing anyone..but ive seen more widows screwed by close family or friends on their husbands stuff or cars than you can imagine..she is vulnerable and hurt..when theres money the vultures circle

so..get it in writing..get values put to your stuff..and hope they get 10 cents on the dollar for your parts etc.

on the other side..the widow..they are overwhelmed..they have no clue, and what i have seen is, they just dont care and want it all gone so they can move on..after all..life goes on after someone dies..
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In Missouri...you can take your title to the license office and ad T O D to your family member...that is Transfer On Death...you fill in his name etc..its still yours but the car goes to the person on your death and he has to sign off for it to sell..so no one can jump the title with out that person knowing..it kills the title til its transfere to the person and they turn the title in and get it in their name...i just went thru this last week..and before i bought the car i took a pic and went to the license office..its been explained as a way to protect assets in an elderly death so one surviving family member has control of assets...and the lady told me its very big and happens daily

I'm guilty.

My dad left me a list of things to do from beyond the grave.

I didn't, because I wanted to leave everything the way he had it.

K

Yeah...
 

I have a lifted Wrangler with 20k miles and my sweet son said "I can't wait until you can't get up into that thing."...thinking it would be his turn. I told him I was being buried in it, so it didn't matter!

I'm going to go against the grain here and suggest that you don't need a lawyer or estate attorney unless your estate is over $5 million (and into estate tax territory), or you've got complications like a second marriage with kids from the first that you want to take care of.

You definitely should have a trust, and should hold your assets in that trust so that your heirs won't need to go through probate. Legalzoom.com can help you out with that and your wills for a couple hundred bucks.

Giving your cars to a family member is easy, too: The "gift tax" thresholds are pretty high (7 figures); so you probably won't need to worry about them. Just sign it over to them.

Like anything: do your research. If you can learn how to keep your Pontiac running, you can certainly look around and figure this stuff out.

Probably give everything to my ex-girlfriends son. He's a good kid.. 25 married with a kid doing the right thing. His mom is worthless.. His dad is a total piece of trash that eats out of a garbage can...literally....

I'm 47 with no kids

Just want to throw it out there .... if anyone feels too much pressure thinking about this kind of thing I can accept your car free of charge and take care of it like I built it.

All this for no charge, storage, driving, maintenance, affection and gentle abuse in keeping with their intended purpose.

Your car will never be lonely, and never alone. I'm the perfect new boyfriend for your cars when you go.

Again ... I'll provide this service for free :)

I should be buried in mine. Only fitting that I be buried with it in death, since I'm buried alive in it now...

I hope my kids will enjoy it in time and if they dont want it my wife can sell the car and enjoy the money.

I am 36 so I hope to have a long run, but my end game is to have a car for each of my 5 children that are in nice working condition. I discussed this with my layer brother in-law and is a work in progress. The idea being that they stay in the family, so if any of my children do not want the car they have been given, any of the other children have the first option to buy it from them at say 1/3 appraised value. If there are any disputes, the car or cars in dispute will be given to our church to be put up for auction. If there are no disputes and nobody wants the car or cars, they can be sold with that child keeping the funds.

Not sure exactly how it will be written up, but something similar to this.

How are things Mark, it's your old friend Steve!

lol...

now thats funny..i needed that today...

i cant remember steve,,you a Pontiac Or Buick guy...? my Olds is spoken for..lol

I don't own any Buicks, Yet.

My cars are included in my will to my sons but I don't think they really want them. I understand completely, they are a different generation and have their own lives. They can always sell them to someone who really would appreciate them. Both my sons are in the auto business but 60's cars are not their thing. Who knows, I might sell them some day to pay for a nicer nursing home!

My wife and I were talking about this subject recently, and to my surprise, she said that she would keep my car if I were the first to pass. She hasn't really shown any interest in driving the car, but she explained that because I've poured my heart and soul into the car, she considers it a piece of me and would like to hang on to it. I'm sure at some point the car will be passed along to my son, who at 8 years old, uses a GTO as a benchmark to compare performance of every other motorized vehicle under the sun.

Actually this restoration is costing me so much I can't afford to die.

I guess one option would be to tell the wife to beat the living crap out of it and when it dies, take it to a Pontiac show, park it and leave it with a note on it.

I already have a trust, and since my wife is already gone my situation is easy. My daughter will be in control of everything. I'm sure some of my younger Pontiac friends would be willing to help her out.

She still needs to learn how to drive my hot rod, so Robert Johnson was giving her some preparatory experience.

I'm getting up there in age and had heart surgery so I've been getting rid of all the stuff I've collected over the years. Anything that doesn't fit my cars I have been selling and giving to people that I know. I got rid of a couple dozen Pontiac drive shafts, 8 working auto trans, and several engines. Plus boxes of small parts. I realize that I'm too old to build any more cars. I still have some used "smalls" to get rid of. The 2 things I can't bring myself to part with are a complete 1966 Tripower and a complete 1965 Tripower. I've had these so long and they are in good shape (though the carbs would need new gaskets and pumps from sitting) that I just can't part with them.

I started thinking about this a few years ago.

Last year I started putting together a list of the cars I have. I wrote out detailed descriptions based on what I could remember on each car, and listed an estimated value and date of the estimate. I will only say I have far more project cars than I need.

I've started the same with the more expensive parts. I used paint sticks to write the basic details of what the item is on the part. Hopefully my wife or kids will be able to search my files and find more info on the corresponding part.

I have two sons, both seem more interested in 4x4 trucks than my old Trans Ams. I wouldn't feel bad if they sold the cars and used the money to buy something they really like, even it if is a lifted truck.

Once I begin retirement in 3 - 5 years, I'll start selling off cars, keeping only my favorite five. If something happens before then, my wife and kids should be able to follow my notes and figure out reasonable prices and dispose of what they don't want.

I have started doing some estate planning, and I may end up setting up a trust.

Mike

Great thread. I never knew about, and just printed the T O D form for Pennsylvania and plan to get that done. I have been wanting to have a trust drawn up, but not sure what would need to happen. My son likes cars, but sports more. I always assumed he would get my Truck and GTO, but he is only 9 now.

My 454SS truck is a part of me since I have owned it for 25 years, yet it really isn't worth much to anyone else (I would love to know it is stored/taken care of until my son can respect it, and care for it the way I have over the years).

My GTO is worth more than I have invested in it, but was my father's car so it'd be great to pass on for generations. However if it is sold, the money could be put to better use.

My Girlfriend/spouse (his mother) doesn't have much interest in vehicles, but would hold onto them for my son if he wanted. She knows what they are insured for, so I would think she would have an idea what to sell it for. A few months ago, I had a conversation with a very close friend of mine about this. I asked him to assist her with maintaining/selling them if something were to happen to me. I would hope between the two of them, they would do what is best. I also asked him if he could take them out and drive my son around and keep them driveable until my son can learn to enjoy/drive/maintain them.

My lovely wife has no idea, so if I kicked, I would need to have a trusted Pontiac nut sell my car and all my crap.

Not such a good idea
 

Sorry but unless you are irretrievably estranged from your other sons (or they from you?), what you are suggesting is a sure fire way to create long and lasting dissent between them and your youngest son.

Grandsons, doesn't matter unless you are treating one or more of them more generously than another. Better not to include them at all UNLESS, they are the progeny of one of your sons that may pre decease you in which case that child should be treated as equally as the other surviving brothers (your sons).

None of us can rule from the grave. Leaving an unbalanced (read unfairly balanced) will not create a lasting fond legacy of you.

JMHO

Ian

I have nothing rare or valuable.

Out of the 67 Firebird and 72 Lemans, my son said he wants the FB "because it runs".

My daughter would easily take one off my hands. She likes the old cars.

I'd hope a couple of my Pontiac/car buddies would help dispo my car stuff so my wife wouldn't have to deal with it. She has her own pile of hoarder crap to deal with.

I want all you guys (and gals) to think of your prize Poncho..... after you're gone and looking down..... still has the healthy big engine you built.... still sounds good...... however, the honeycombs, or rallyes, or Americans you loved are now rusting behind a shed still have the BF's on...... while your pride and joy car you put 2500 hours in is at a car show! With 30 inch rims so shiney special sunglasses are needed and tires an inch tall. Yippeee.....................

No whooptees will ever roll on any of my keeper Pontiacs, not with my son, he was raised right!

To answer, the OP, we set up an irrevocable trust.