My ex husband refuses to let me sign our car's title to him

January 2, 2022 6:55 PM

My ex and I shared a car with both our names on the title. We are in the middle of a divorce, and I want to give him the car (he has both the car and the title with him right now; we now live in different states). He refuses to engage and won't let me sign the title over to him. He's now getting fines I'm responsible for.

I am out west, he's in NY. I don't know how to detangle myself from that car, and I don't want to be responsible for his fines. What can I do, if anything, that hopefully does not involve lawyers?

posted by anonymous to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

I would contact the DMV in New York and see if there is a way you can get your name off the title. I had a complicated situation that I couldn't figure out across state lines and the person who responded to my message was able to point to me to the right form (with a misleading title) and show me which boxes to check to cover my situation.
posted by metahawk at 7:12 PM on January 2, 2022 [5 favorites]

Are you still n the middle of the divorce?
Could you include that in the divorce decree or as part of the separation of assets?
posted by calgirl at 8:23 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

Can you also include compensation for any fines incurred?
posted by trig at 9:40 PM on January 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

The legal way to do it would be to include it in the divorce decree / property settlement agreement.

Hypothetically, you can also notarize a "gift letter" GIVING your half ownership of the vehicle to your ex. Some property settlement agreement makes you do that anyway.

Your attorney can probably draft and notarize such a letter for you, and send it to his attorney. Then you file MV-82 with NY DMV

link here.
posted by kschang at 10:25 PM on January 2, 2022

You need to call your attorney about this.
posted by bile and syntax at 7:46 AM on January 3, 2022 [5 favorites]

I had a similar problem when I got divorced, except my ex and I lived in the same city. I was getting calls about his late car payments and also tickets. We ended up including the vehicles in the final settlement, along with a timeline for him to refinance and put everything in his name alone. I did end up paying fines up until everything was finalized though. I usually called or emailed to make him aware of the fines but paid them on second notice, per advice of my attorney. It sucked, and I could have probably requested that money back on final settlement but at the time I had bigger fish to fry. I'd check in with your attorney to see what immediate options you may have. This could probably go in a temporary agreement too, but I don't know that people really do those unless children are involved....
posted by cheese at 12:54 PM on January 5, 2022