You've Inherited a Car

Do not drive it first and sort the paperwork out later. The deceased person's policy may or may not still respond, the title is not yours until it is transferred, and the gap between those two facts is where people get hurt. The good news is that the sequence is short.

The policy does not transfer with the car

An auto policy insures named people at a named address. It does not attach to a vehicle and follow it to a new owner. Whatever coverage existed belonged to the person who died, and its status after death depends on the carrier and on how the estate is being handled. Call that carrier and ask two questions: is the policy still in force, and does it cover the vehicle while the estate is settled. Then get your own coverage regardless.

What to do before the car moves

1. Call your own insurer and ask them to add the vehicle. You will need the VIN, and they will ask where it will be garaged.
2. Confirm the effective date and time, not just the date. If you are driving it home tomorrow morning, the coverage needs to start before you turn the key.
3. Then drive it.

If you already have an auto policy, adding a vehicle is routine and can usually be done the same day. If you do not have one, you need a new policy — and the car will be your primary vehicle, which changes the shape of the quote.

The DMV side

Transferring a vehicle from an estate has its own DMV process, and the documents required depend on how the estate is being handled — a will, a trust, a small-estate affidavit, or probate. The DMV publishes what it needs for each route; use their forms and their checklist rather than a summary. Expect the transfer to take longer than the insurance change, which is exactly why the insurance should not wait for it.

Deciding whether to keep it

Two questions decide this faster than sentiment does. What would it cost to insure and maintain, and does the household actually need another vehicle? An extra car on a policy has a cost even when it sits, and a vehicle nobody drives is a slow expense. Ask for it priced before you commit — the number is often the deciding fact.

If you are keeping it but not driving it yet

Ask about comprehensive-only coverage while it sits, which protects against theft, fire, vandalism and weather at a fraction of a full policy. Consider a planned non-operation filing with the DMV if it will be off the road for a long stretch — bear in mind a PNO vehicle cannot be driven or parked on a public street.

If you are selling it

Keep it insured until the buyer takes possession, then file the Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability with the DMV within five days, as Vehicle Code section 5900 requires. That filing is what separates you from anything the car does afterward, and it is easy to forget in a month that is already full of paperwork.

Older cars and their quirks

An inherited car is often an old one, sometimes a very old one. Two things to raise with the agent: whether comprehensive and collision still make sense given what the vehicle is actually worth, and whether the car qualifies as a collector or classic vehicle, which is a different kind of policy with different rules about use and mileage.

Get it covered before the drive home — that is the whole point of this page.