declaration of ownership following death of original owner

A friend of mine is in the process of trying to sell a classic car (scimitar N reg ) that since the death of her brother in 1994 has been garaged. (in this time also no car tax has been paid although I believe due to the age/type of car no tax would have been payable anyway).

At the time of the death the car was not re registered in their name.

they are now concerned that this may have implications with the DVLA. (at the time of the death the last thing they thought about was re registering the car).

Has anyone had experience of this so can advise what to do. (the car has not set foot on a public road since 1994).

Many thanks for any help anyone can provide to put minds at ease.

Reply to
djboreham
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djboreham (u37648@uwe) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

N-reg was '74, so wouldn't fit into the zero-rate historic VED class.

Not that that would make a difference in this case, anyway, as you still do the tax disc game in the same way, you just don't hand over money for it. SORN still applies.

Since it's been untaxed since before the introduction of SORN, it doesn't matter than it's not been SORNed up until now.

Given that it'll still have a (very) old-style V5, where it's down to the new keeper to register the change, it shouldn't be any problem whatosever. Just send it in with their details. I doubt it'll be a problem, but they WILL need to SORN it if they put it into their own name before sale, as will the buyer.

TBH, I'm not sure that it'll make a big difference putting it into their name now vs just waiting for a buyer. Given that it's going to need work before it'll see the road anyway, any delay caused by the paperwork is going to be largely academic, assuming any buyer's a reasonably sensible person and not going to chuck a tantrum over something relatively minor in this context. It certainly wouldn't put me off.

I DO NOT NEED A SCIM.

Reply to
Adrian

Reply to
djboreham

djboreham (u37648@uwe) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Definitely not.

Possible, but unlikely in the circumstances.

Reply to
Adrian

The message from Adrian contains these words:

I have my doubts whether it will need to be SORNed regardless of change of keeper as long as it remains off the public roads.

As to the V5 this only ever indicated keeper rather than owner anyway and any transgression for failing to notify change of keeper would surely need to be dealt with under the law in force back in 1994 when the offence was committed.

Reply to
Roger

Reply to
djboreham

djboreham (u37648@uwe) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Just ring DVLA on Monday... They're staffed (surprisingly) with friendly, helpful human beings, y'know.

Reply to
Adrian

It is perfectly legal for a car that has been garaged since 1994 to have no tax, no MOT and no SORN. That date is before the SORN rules were introduced, and SORN only applied to cars that were taxed and/or on the road when the new regulations were brought in, or were purchased after that date.

As I see it, on the death of the owner, the car became part of his estate, and any proceeds from the sale should be dealt with in accordance with his will or the laws on intestacy.

I am not absolutely sure, but I believe that there is no time limit for the executor to dispose of assets, so I don't think there is any legal problems with the fact that the owner died in 1994 - it is just part of his estate, and the car is just part of the estate that wasn't dealt with until now. Unless of course, the car was specifically left to a named person, in which case it should have been re-registered when handed over.

The problem with selling it is that by now, everything on the Swansea computer should have had a V5c. The old V5 is technically obsolete, and DVLA might insist that the car is inspected to prove that it is genuinely the same vehicle and not a clone or a ringer. But they might not. And if it does have to be inspected, the Vehicle Inspectorate usually prefer a car to arrive under its own power, to prove to them that there is every intention of putting it on the road rather than breaking for spares or selling the number plate. But I believe by special arrangement it can be trailered there. So you need to find out if DVLA are going to insist on an inspection, and then worry about getting it there if they do.

I suggest the executor contacts Swansea and checks on what procedure they want followed to clear the deceased's estate, and then transfers ownership to the person who wants to sell it. Then they become the owner and the registered keeper, they get the new paperwork, and that makes it easy to sell to someone else.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

Jim Warren ( snipped-for-privacy@OMITblueyonder.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I think they're still doing straight swaps. It's not *that* long since they were still rolling the V5C out with SORN/tax renewals.

I had a vehicle inspected a month or so ago, because of wanting to change a detail on the V5C. The inspector came to my house.

Reply to
Adrian

Gentlemen,

I bought a Rover P6 in April this year from the Daughters of the owner who had died two years ago, I signed the V5 as did one of the Daughters with a covering letter explaining the death of their father plus a copy of the death certificate. After three weeks they received a thank you and a condolence letter from the DVLA and that was it.

Martin P

Reply to
campingstoveman

I haven't had a replacement for my Herald, which has been off the road since 1998: I do have a Big Blue Logbook (instead of the single sheet one) as I changed address in 2000. Am I supposed to ask for a V5c or are they supposed to send me one?

Ian

Reply to
Ian

The message from Ian contains these words:

You need to ask.

I had no problem a year or two back when I became concerned about some scare mongering going the rounds suggesting that there were plans afoot to wipe off the record the cars that didn't need to be SORNed. I have no idea whether they do have plans for some sort of time limit after which the will indeed deregister cars as they eventually did after the change from real logbooks to V5s.

Reply to
Roger

The message from "djboreham" contains these words:

Not exactly. AFAICR new keepers have always been required to notify change of keeper and indeed change of address but it is only in recent years that this seems to have been taken seriously.

Reply to
Roger

I have one car which was untaxed and unSORNed when SORN came in. and was like that when I bought it. I have since tried to SORN it and the DVLA just sent me a polite letter saying that I can't.

Until the car is taxed again, SORN is not only unnecessary, it's actually impossible!

Reply to
Chris Bolus

Gentlemen,

I have a Sunbeam Imp which I cant SORN until taxed again.

Reply to
campingstoveman

Are you sure?

I can see that being the case the if a SORNed vehicle was transferred but I didn't think it was the case if an unSORNed vehicle was.

I got a basket case BSA Bantam about 12 years ago. I didn't know it had a log book until 2 years ago when I pulled one box out of it's lid and found the log book that had been pushed down the gap. I sent it off last year with a letter explaining I had acquired it some years before and a new log book came back. Should I have SORNed it?

Reply to
Peter Hill

Peter Hill ( snipped-for-privacy@nospam.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

90+%.

AIUI, once you get the thing back on the "live" record, you're into SORN fair-game territory.

AIUI, yes. BUT - having said that, I've got two which have been registered in my name since the intro of SORN that aren't SORNed.

Because it's so little hassle, I've tried to SORN them, but DVLA don't seem to want to know - and I have V5Cs for 'em. Life may get interesting at tax time, I s'pose.

Reply to
Adrian

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