Cornelia, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If your father owned the car, then the car became part of his probate estate when he died. If he didn't have a Will, then his probate estate assets must first be used to pay any year's support claim, debts, funeral expenses, administrative expenses, and taxes, and the remaining assets (if any) are then to be distributed to his heirs. Your father's heirs would include his spouse, if any, any living children, and any living grandchildren he might have by any child of his who died before he did. A surviving spouse or surviving minor child can make a claim for a year's support from the estate; adult children or other heirs can't. If there is no year's support claim or the claim does not take all of the probate assets, then the probate estate assets that remain after everything has been paid are divided among the heirs, with an equal share (not less than 1/3) for the spouse and an equal share of the rest for each child. If the car loan was not paid off, the lender on that loan would be entitled to the proceeds from the sale of the car until the loan is paid. The loan will have to be paid before any heir could keep the car. If there is insurance that will pay off the loan, then the car may still need to be sold and used to pay other debts before it can be kept by any heir. If there are other assets, like real estate or bank/brokerage accounts, that became part of the probate estate, then someone may need to get appointed as the Administrator of the estate. As part of the administration process, the Administrator would need to gather up the assets, make sure debts, expenses, and taxes are all paid, and then distribute any remaining assets. The Administrator can either sell the car or distribute it as part of this process, by signing the title as Administrator and providing a copy of the Letters of Administration to the buyer or recipient so they can get a new title. If there are no probate assets other than the car (except perhaps for things like clothing and furniture without any significant value and less than $10,000 in any given bank or brokerage account), then the heirs may be able to transfer the car to one of them using an Affidavit of Inheritance along with the title to the car. Please note: just because the car can be transferred this way does not make it exempt from creditor claims, and if an heir takes the car and the estate has more debt than it has assets, the creditors can come after the person who received the car personally, to get back the value of the car. If the original title to the car can't be found, the estate will have to be opened because the replacement title can only be issued to the estate, not to any heir. The replacement title would then be needed to sell or transfer the car to a new owner. You should consult an actual attorney for help in determining the best way to deal with your father's estate.  

I'm not exactly clear on what your question is, but it appears to relate to how you could step in as successor trustee of the trust. Unfortunately, there's no way to answer that question without a lot more information that can be provided in this kind of forum.   The first place to start when figuring out who becomes successor trustee of a trust when a serving trustee stops serving is the document that actually creates and contains the terms of the trust, plus any later documents that might have affected the trust's terms. Since the attorneys are trying to find your grandfather's Will, I assume that the Will is what created the trust. If that Will was filed for probate (in NY or elsewhere), then the probate court should be able to provide a copy, although if it was filed in 1972 it can take a while for them to pull up that record, so hopefully it will eventually turn up. If the Will was not filed for probate, then it may be that a separate document created the trust- in that case, you'd need to get a copy of that document (hopefully your father had one). If the trust was created in part by state law, however, you'll need to see what the applicable law said.   If whatever document controls the trust does not provide for a successor Trustee and does not address the question of how to select one if one is not named, then you will need to look to applicable state law (which may actually be NY law if the trust was created by a NY Will, even if the trustee and beneficiaries are all in GA and the trust was being managed here), and figure out how to make it happen. A court petition may be required, and you'll need to figure out what is required for that petition to be filed and granted.   If there are already attorneys involved (it sounds like there are), then you should let them figure things out. If at some point it looks like they aren't figuring it out, then you can hire a different attorney. I recommend hiring an attorney who works with fiduciary litigation as well as general trust and estate administration- that kind of attorney is most likely to have the experience and knowledge needed to help you figure out what needs to happen and get it done.   Best wishes to you.