Car tax and ownership question ?

[Old Merc]

A very good friend of mine sadly died recently,I have agreed with his daughter,who is also a good friend of my family, to buy his Mercedes for my wife.
Probate and all the legals have not been finalized and may take a few more months.The solicitor dealing with this is also a good friend which makes the sale so simple. The car is registered in the deceased name,it is taxed till November,parked up in his driveway,not being used so all ready to go.
My question is, if I just give her the money, start using the car,keep the RK details and road tax as they are until November,or when Probate is finalized,could I land myself in trouble with Mr Plod,or DVLA ? I have a full motor traders insurance so I would just add the car to my MID list,the car would show up on NPR as taxed and insured.

[HantsRat]

Motor trade insurance is for use in the motor trade not for the use of your wife. And yes we quite often seize cars used in this way. Abuse of motor trade policy is looked into and dealt with regularly.

You would need to check the policy wording of your insurer. If your wife is not connected to the business, in most cases it would not be covered.

Edited by HantsRat on Friday 21st April 11:22

[TooMany2cvs]

Old Merc said:

A very good friend of mine sadly died recently,I have agreed with his daughter,... to buy his Mercedes for my wife.

The car is registered in the deceased name...

My question is, if I just give her the money, start using the car,keep the RK details and road tax as they are until November,or when Probate is finalized,could I land myself in trouble with Mr Plod,or DVLA ? I have a full motor traders insurance so I would just add the car to my MID list,the car would show up on NPR as taxed and insured.

Umm, why would you do that?

You are buying a car for your wife, not for your business use. So your business policy is unlikely to cover it.
Even if you were buying it for business, why would you not either change the V5C to "in trade", if you're selling it, or register it in the business name?

Simple answer - because you know that doing it properly will cost you more...

Buy it, register it appropriately, insure it appropriately, tax it.

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Friday 21st April 13:16

[Old Merc]

My wife is covered on my Motor Traders Policy for driving our privately owned cars for SDP only.This has been part of my policy for the last 30 years.I am now a semi retired one man band sole trader.
Insurance is not an issue.My question was the probate side,as far as I`m aware I cant register the car in my name until probate has been granted.

[speedking31]

In my inexpert opinion, the car belongs to the estate, not the daughter, even if she is an executor. Therefore you cannot buy it yet. Say an unknown tax bill surfaced, then the estate might have to sell the car to cover the bill.

[TooMany2cvs]

speedking31 said:

In my inexpert opinion, the car belongs to the estate, not the daughter, even if she is an executor. Therefore you cannot buy it yet. Say an unknown tax bill surfaced, then the estate might have to sell the car to cover the bill.

The daughter, as executor, can sell the car. The proceeds of the sale form part of the estate, and it can be registered in the buyer's name immediately.

[grumpyscot]

Since the solicitor is a "good friend" why not ask him?

[anonymous-user]

TooMany2cvs said:

speedking31 said:

In my inexpert opinion, the car belongs to the estate, not the daughter, even if she is an executor. Therefore you cannot buy it yet. Say an unknown tax bill surfaced, then the estate might have to sell the car to cover the bill.

The daughter, as executor, can sell the car. The proceeds of the sale form part of the estate, and it can be registered in the buyer's name immediately.

This seems about right. Why not?

[Old Merc]

REALIST123 said:

TooMany2cvs said:

speedking31 said:

In my inexpert opinion, the car belongs to the estate, not the daughter, even if she is an executor. Therefore you cannot buy it yet. Say an unknown tax bill surfaced, then the estate might have to sell the car to cover the bill.

The daughter, as executor, can sell the car. The proceeds of the sale form part of the estate, and it can be registered in the buyer's name immediately.

This seems about right. Why not?

And me. I would prefer to register and tax it in my name straight away. I suppose DVLA will refund the road tax to the estate? whats the bet that will cause issues.
Thanks for the replies guys.

[TooMany2cvs]

Old Merc said:

I suppose DVLA will refund the road tax to the estate? whats the bet that will cause issues.

It really shouldn't do. There should be an executor account that the daughter has access to, and can pay checks to the deceased into.