Repossession When Owner Dies

[angientim1@cox.net]

My brother in law passed away and the vehicle is solely in his name. My sister is going to turn the vehicle in. She can't afford to keep it. The finance company is out of arkansas, and we can't find anything that has to do with these circumstances. Any suggestions????

[LawResearcherMissy]

She can call the finance company and tell them that the owner has passed on, send someone to fetch the car.

[angientim1@cox.net]

this is going on in Louisiana. Can she be held responsible for the vehicle? The car was in his name no one else was on it, and he died. She nor his children should have to pay anything should they.

[LawResearcherMissy]

The state of Louisiana is a a community property state. In community property states, debts contracted during the marriage are considered jointly owned debts even if only one spouse is named as the debtor, unless it can be shown that the debt was exclusively that of the named spouse.

So yes, she could be held responsible for at least some payments.

What happens with a repo is that the lender will pick up the car, then make arrangements to sell it at auction to recover the losses. Whatever is left after the proceeds of the auction have been applied to the balance of the loan is called a deficiency.

It will likely be expected that the deficiency be paid from his estate. If for whatever reason this is not possible, the lender may bill your sister.