My husband passed away a few months ago, and I need some help figuring out what to do with a truck he purchased. (2019 F150 XLT, 57,000 miles) According to the paperwork I have, he made a $9000 down payment. He financed $20,485, which included sales tax of $1800. Interest rate is 8.54% for 72 months. Payments are $365 per month. The loan is just in his name, so I have no legal responsibility for the loan. He passed away before he could get the truck registered.
From speaking with the finance company, it seems that I have two options:
- Let the truck be repossessed
- Pay $1500 in back payments and apply to get a loan in my name
I do not want the truck. But I am wondering if I can get the truck in my name, then sell it to a dealership, trying to recoup some of the $9000. I don’t know if I would qualify for that much of a loan. There are also other issues here to consider.
- He had a fender bender, and the front bumper needs to be replaced. I do not know how much that would cost to fix.
- The truck is at a property in a very remote hilly location. The driveway to the property crosses a creek and has been partially washed away due to flooding. The driveway there is too narrow for the truck to cross. So, I can’t get it to a repair shop. I am estimating that it will take $2000 to fix the driveway to where it is passable. A few thousand more to get the entire thing fixed correctly, which I will need to do eventually. (Driveway is 1/3 mile long.) I can pay a couple of thousand dollars but would need a loan to get it fixed the correct way. And, if I do qualify for that, I am pretty sure I would not qualify for a loan for the truck.
- If I decide to let the truck be repossessed, and the repo company cannot get the truck due to the driveway, then what happens?
- The truck is not registered, so I cannot legally drive it to get it to a repair shop.
- There are a few things (including fishing boats) that I could sell to help pay for some of this.
I have been paying for the insurance on the truck.
There are too many unknowns here for me to make a sound decision. I am hoping for someone with more knowledge to provide me with some advice. Thanks in advance.
I need help with an issue after my husband passed away
byu/tdwdtg inpersonalfinance
Posted by tdwdtg
18 Comments
The way to get the truck in your name is to pay off the loan.
There’s no way you can profit from this situation without doing that.
Did he have life insurance?
Sorry for your loss.
You didn’t post what you think the market value of the truck is (aka what you could sell it for.)
He probably overpaid ~$4-5k plus there was $1.8k sales tax plus ~$5k on repairs so I am not seeing any meat left on this bone. Even with the $9k down payment I don’t think you can profit. Let it go.
I’m sorry for your loss. I am sure this is only one of many issues you are dealing with. From what I’m reading, with all the known and unknown costs, you may go through a lot of work to hopefully break even on this. Would it be less stressful to just let it go to be repossessed? Your mental health matters as well. If you do decide to go forward with fixing the truck, will insurance cover part of the cost of the fender repair? Good luck to you.
Selling the truck to a private party would net you more than selling to a dealer. This would require: getting a loan, paying the late payments, transferring the truck into your name, fixing the driveway to make the truck accessible, repairing the bumper, marketing/showing the truck to prospective buyers, finding a buyer willing to pay enough to make this all worthwhile, completing the sale and repaying the new loan. What is the Kelley Blue Book value of the truck? What’s the likelihood of recouping the added expenses?
It’s all about trade-offs and priorities. Walking away and letting the truck be repo’d sounds MUCH easier and with a LOT less financial risk.
I’m sorry about your husband.
It’s far less hassle to let it get repossessed. As to how they get it off the property, that’s actually not your problem.
You have other things to worry about besides that truck
I’m not into gambling but I’m willing to bet the resale value of the truck is less than the loan balance. If you plan on selling it back to the dealership it would not even be a gamble.
Ask the lender if there is credit life policy included with his note. They may not volunteer this info without specifically being asked . You may have some of the paperwork somewhere since it was a recent purchase.
No one has asked this, but is there an estate? It might need to go through probate.
I am sorry for your loss. The loan is now the responsibility of your husband’s estate. If repossessed, the lender can go after his estate.
As for selling the car, the administrator/executor of his estate is the only person who has the legal authority to sell the vehicle. Have you been appointed to that role yet? If not, you will want to begin that process.
If you want to keep the truck, you will need to wait until probate is complete to get the vehicle titled in your name.
First, sorry to hear of your loss, I know this is a difficult time. I’ve had to deal with three deaths in the family since 2019 as the personal representative on the estates, so I know what you are going through.
My thought is let the truck be repossessed. All you need to do is contact the lender about returning it to them and the location of the truck. It is their problem recovering it, not yours. As it was not in your name, it should not affect your credit but you may want to ask at your local bank, even if it isn’t where the loan originated. Bank customer service or lending officers should be able to answer that easily.
My reasoning is even if you go through all that hassle to get it in your name, make payments while it is being fixed, and manage to sell it, is the financial outcome worth it? Will you come out ahead, or at a loss? If so, how much? I think the hassle far outweighs the possible benefit, and you have other more pressing things at this time (like your own mental health) to care for.
How’d he get a fender bender before getting it registered?
Did he purchase the truck the day before he passed away? If not, why isn’t it registered? Why can’t you sell it without it being in your name? Take it to a dealer, be sure to have the title, lienholder information and his death certificate.
Pause the insurance until you are able to drive it.
Because of the situation with the driveway, take the keys to the dealership where he got it and tell them where it is. Getting it out of there is their problem. (Not that I think they should get screwed like this – but unfortunately one of you is gonna end up screwed over this truck and you have enough on your plate.) Stop paying for insurance on it – your name isn’t on it so you aren’t obligate to insure it. There doesn’t seem to be any point in paying to fix the driveway to get it out of there, repaired, registered in hopes of selling it for a profit. He wrecked it. He is probably upside down on the loan.
The last thing you should have done was speak to the leasing company.
I would speak to a lawyer.
The truck is part of his estate assets, and the loan is part of his estate debts. So even if you don’t have legal responsibility for the loan (not the case if you live in a joint marital set state), If you let it get repo’d, the estate will still owe any debt not covered by the sale of the truck. So bottom line, you need to sell the truck. CarMax is a great way to get an instant quote. What I don’t understand is why your probate lawyer doesn’t understand how to do this. I’d push him or her harder to figure it out. It’s literally their job.
If he didn’t register it, who technically owns the truck? The loan will be payable by his estate so if there are significant assets going through probate the loan will be part of his estate. If he didn’t have assets going through probate, just let the loan go to collections and have the truck repossessed. Getting a new road to the Portillo cost a lot of money – let someone else deal with getting the truck. You will not make anything off it and it sounds like a lot of work.
Estate debts are your responsibility