I have a sticky situation. I am in Virginia.

1. Grandmother has a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
2. Her 57 yo son has posession of the truck
3. he will not title it in his name because he has people after him for leins (unaid taxes)
4. he has no insurance on the truck
5. registration is due next month and I can not register it w/o insurance
6. I can not get it insured because he has possession and it is in her name
7. I know if he is in an accident, she is liable
8. he has 2 previous DUIs and I am not sure he has a license
9. I can not take the truck back from him even thougth I have POA because he also has POA

So here's the question: How can I protect my grandmother from his negligence?

Thanks.

Fr_Chuck

You can have the grandmother buy insurnace on it and pay for it.

You can get her to take away his POA, or you can get her to order him to return it. POA can not do anything the person does not want them to do.

If grandmother signs the truck over to you, ( or you can even do it as POA) and then it is in your name.

hbnorlund

The insurance company said that it can not be insured in her name unless it is at her address. If he is driving it he must insure it. They also said that one of the reasons for this is because it is unknown if he has a valid license.
I have filed for guardianship, but the process for that is longer than I realized. In that petition we included a request that the truck be returned. I neglected to mention that she has stage 2 alzheimers.

Fr_Chuck

Insurance company is lying, they just don't want to insure it with him driving, check with other insurance companies.

At one point and time I was insuring the car my mother in law drives ( at different address in same town) and one my son drove in another state.
And of course she can just insure it, no reason to give more facts to them than they ask for.

ScottGem

Talk to a different insurer.

Also, since you have POA you can transfer title to your name, then tell the son, if he doesn't return the vehicle you will report it as stolen.

RichardBondMan

There are different kinds of Powers of Atty, read yours and see if it includes your ability to purchase insurance on the vehicle. Also see if the POA you have gives you the power to transfer the title to your name or to a name such as "hbnorland as Cnservator/Guardian of the Estate of Mrs. ABNorland, NCM, (non compos mentis)" if you are granted such status by the Court you are petitioning. If you are indeed successful in your petition for conservatorship/guardianship, then it definitely becomes your duty to protect her estate and you would then want to either recover the vehicle from her son and not give him access to it and to insure it for appropriate coverages depending if their is a lienholder involved and/or if the vehicle will be driven on public roads. You might also onsider selling the vehicle to the son (if your POA allows it) to eliminate any further legal liablity for your grandmother. If she no longer owns the vehicle, then I cannot see that she would have any further liability. Of course, the best source of legal advice is an attorney and I am not an attorney.. I have been in the insurance, estate bond business since about 1982 and my answers are simply based on my experiences in these areas.