Getting title to car by court order, a car story with pics

[georgewe4]

My uncle has a brother that died several weeks ago. His brother wasn't married, has several kids, but the kids and him had nothing to do with each other. It is my understanding that it had been years since they had even spoken. They probably don't even know that their dad is gone, and no one even knew how to get a hold of them. The brother rented an apartment, had very few belongings and two vehicles. One is a 95 Astro Van, the other is a 88 Fiero Formula.
My uncle is trying to get rid of this stuff, he wants me to have the Fiero. I never had a desire for a Fiero but after hearing about this one, my intrest was sparked. The history of this car is that the Mom bought it when it was a few years old. She drove it a little bit and then the brother got it. He didn't drive it much and then 8 years ago someone ran a light and hit it in the front driver quarter. The car sat in a gravel parking lot from that day until this weekend. The car had not been started or moved. His health got bad enough that he just couldn't fool with the car. He probably had a lot of trouble getting in and out of it. He was a body man, and he rented an apartment attached to a body shop. That is where the car sat.
I went last week to look at the car. All four tires flat into the gravel and dirt. We found the key and opened it up to find the interior in really great condition. The sunroof hadnt leaked, everything was pretty decent. The battery was of course dead. The paint faded, clear coat flaking and of course the damage to the front end. The front had been moved over about 3/4 of an inch. I looked at the odometer to find it a little over 49,000 which is actual. I took the battery out of my truck, put it in the car and it immediately started and idled smooth. Still had 3/4 tank of gas! We let it run for about 5 minutes, I put it in drive and it would try to move, but with flat tires it wasn't going to happen too easy, and I didn't want to damage the wheels. I was really interested in the car now.
The next day I took my air compressor and my used battery I had purchased. We filled the tires with air which was interesting. The looked like it was rising out of the ground. All the tires aired up, I put the battery in and she starthed once again with barely tipping the key. I put it in drive and drove around the parking lot. Only one wheel braked. My uncle asked me if I wanted the car and I decided that I would take it.
I borrowed a trailer to haul it home on and put her in the garage. I got a used master cylinder and replaced at and bled the brakes real good to clear fluid and changed the oil and filter. I drove it around town and it did fine except for the steering. It's not aligned at all, probably from the accident. It drives straight but with the wheel turned. I got the front hood open and removed it. I had to remove it because of the front end. I can say that under the car is very clean and not rusted. At this point I have stopped doing anything else to the car until things are in order with the title.
My uncle is talking to a lawyer and is going to get a court order to get the title transferred. I understand that it could take weeks on end to do this. The car probably isn't worth much as it sits which is good. It needs a lot of work. The body shop owner said it needed to be put on a frame rack. The upper control arm on the driver side is also bent. I have a new fender and front facia for the car along with a front brace. There are other new odds and ends I have with the car. All of this came with the car.
I know if a body shop was to do all of the work needed the value would be far exceeded. I think this may help fend against any unforseen circumstances. Does anyone see this court order thing going way south? I would like to keep the car, fix it and have fun with it. Later on maybe do the 3800 supercharged V6 conversion or the 4.9 V8 Caddy conversion.
Thoughts about the title issue or car?

 

[MY85pontiac]

my friend would love to have that car.

in kentucky in order to get the title to a car by court order you have to give notice in the newspaper of filing in court to take title of the car and the owner has X amount of time to respond. if they dont, the car is yours lock stock and barrel. you publically announced you filed to take title of a vehicle and gave plenty of time for the owner to claim it, time expires, the court gives you the car. that's the basics of it here.

ohio may be like this but we're a commonwealth so our laws are goofy sometimes.

i doubt there'd be any problems unless someone wanted to fight for it. pray it doesnt happen.

 

[corsair231]

I can say that under the car is very clean and not rusted.


At this point I have stopped doing anything else to the car until things are in order with the title.

Plastic don't rust!!!!! :biggrin:




Good call on holding off on repairs. I like Fieros and had an '84. I wouldn't be opposed to owning another one some day, providing that the power problem (or lack of power rather ) is solved. There is a member here who's son is big into Fieros and I must admit that we give him a hard time about his choice of cars, but that is just because we can. (You're all right Korey but we'll never admit it in public )
Anyway, the '88 model is the one to have. Pontiac made some suspension changes that supposedly helped the cars handling tremendously and added to the fact that it is a Formula and the last year of production you have the making of a future classic. Unfortunately the cars worth is not very high and with the damage, the cost of repair will probably exceed the value of the car so give up on the idea that you will ever get most of your money back out of the car.
That being said, this would be a car that you repair either just because it touches something in you or you just love the challenge. If the car passes that test and you still want to revive it, making sure the title is taken care of will prevent the kids from having a claim on it. I've seen families fight over a $200 dollar lawn mower after a death and although he may not have had any dealings with his kids, if he did not make legal preparations stating otherwise, they still have a claim on his property if they choose to excercise that right. It would be a shame if some one came in and stole it from you after you had it almost repaired.

 

[CARTMAN]

Wouldn't your uncle's brother be your uncle also?

Wouldn't the executor of his estate have to track the children down and make sure they either got the car or the proceeds from its sale? I wouldn't spend a cent on it until it is legally yours and even then it sounds like the repairs needed to the car would far exceed its value.

 

[georgewe4]

There is a guy within 15 miles of me that parts out Fieros and rebuilds them. I stopped by his house the other day to meet him and my son counted 18 Fieros in his driveway alone. He has a building with a lean to that is full of every part you could ever need for the car. He also has a semi trailer full of parts. So. The parts are not a problem, the prices is also right. He knows every bolt nook and cranny of the cars so I got a great source for info and fixing it. He said fixing the car was not a problem at all and it won't be that bad. I got a master cylinder and headlight covers from him for 20.00... Thats reasonable. The saving grace to me is that it runs, shifts, has 49,000 miles and the interior is nearly perfect. The car does mean something to me. I remember when the mother bought the car. They thought it was crazy she bought it. I had no idea that the car still existed.
No. The man that passed away is not my uncle. My mom has a twin sister whos husband is the mans brother that passed away.. Theres a brain teaser As the car sits right now damage and all...I know its not worth much at all..Thats good.. Thats what I want. Less chances anyone would ever want it. I came VERY close to saying no way. I can however make a nice little ride out of it if I get the chance. It will take effort though, something they probably lack.

 

[terik.m]

Those are cool little cars. One of my older brothers had an 86. There were rumors that in the early 90s GM wanted to bring the fiero back with more of a F'Bird look to it. I also heard that there were prototypes that had the LC2 in it.

 

[whitehot84]

There's one here that has the Caddie motor in it. The owner said he did it himself and it was relatively easy.

 

[NCTyphoon]

Plastic don't rust!!!!! :biggrin:
There is a member here who's son is big into Fieros and I must admit that we give him a hard time about his choice of cars, but that is just because we can. (You're all right Korey but we'll never admit it in public )

Haha Randy! Yep Korey catches his share of grief over his cars(and everything else!) He now has 3 in the yard
The car in the pic looks pretty decent. I would hold off on spending much until you can get the title changed. Getting the frame aligned back would be probably be fairly easy to have done. Parts are cheap at most discount yards, Korey even managed to find one in his same color so if he crashes he can just slap another panel on already in faded gold:biggrin: BTW..the starts driver ed driving this week! I can almost hear my insurance rate go up.....

 

[robertmee]

Unfortunately, if there is no will, you have an uphill battle to fight. With no will, the estate will go into probate court intestate. At that point, the court will go down a predetermined list of heirs rights. First spouse. If no spouse, then children. If no children, then parents. If no parents, siblings. So on and so forth. The estate will need an administrator, something that your uncle could apply for to administer the estate. If your uncle doesn't apply and noone else pops up, the court will act as administrator. They will then attempt to contact next of kin according to the above list.

I'm in the process of administering my sister's estate and while not terribly complicated it is very stringent as to the rules and one misstep and the administrator could be held liable for misappropriation.

As for notification, an earlier poster was correct. You uncle or whoever is administering the estate has to take out a notice in a local paper. This notice notifies all creditors and debtors as to the estate and gives them an opportunity to make claims. If a creditor pops up and has a claim (maybe unpaid medical bills), and the estate doesn't have the money to pay it, the creditor can and likely will attach a claim to the estate at which point all assets (including car) have to be sold to cover such claims. There's also a list of who gets paid first....Any heirs are last on that list. The tax man is first....Make sure your uncle doesn't dispose of everything only to owe taxes on the estate come next year.

In a nutshell, the estate will need to go through probate before a court will likely honor any request for title change. There's lots of people ahead of you with claim to the car or its value, so I wouldn't invest much time or money into it. Sorry to be the bearer of potentially bad news.

 

[georgewe4]

No news yet, so the car continues to sit. No one has came forward with any claims, etc. He had nothing really, just the car and another older vehicle and he lived in a little apartment. He had a little bit of furniture. I really want to work on the car, but I have to keep my hands behind my back.
I have got to drive it around just a little. Its a peppy little car, but nothing like a 3800 SC motor would be. Thats my ultimate goal!
Thanks for the advice folks..

 

[CamoDeafie]

what's the engine in there? little info, the P series (Fieros) shared the engine cradle with the following GM lines; FWD A-body vehicles such as Celebrity, Century, Ciera, 6000; and the FWD U-body vans; the dust buster shaped ones are the most compatible i believe..you can find the whole engine cradle, 4 speed auto, 3800 S1 or S2 engine and see if it fits... if the car came with a 2.8L HO v6, that one did 140HP i think...better than the 2M4 2.5L engines....but i dont htink the v6s ever had 5 speed autos.....i could be wrong; the A-cars had the bewildering options of 2.2L 4, 2.5L 4, 2.8L v6 in 3 forms, 3.0 Buick carbed v6s, 3.1L v6s in 2 forms, 3.3Ls in 2 forms, 3.8s in 3 forms (flat tappet vin B, roller lifter with distributor, vin 3 (1985 only) and roller lifter LG3s 1986+)....
if you find anything with say LG3 or even the 3.3s, i think the 3300 series shared the basic engine architecture with the LN3 pre series 3800s, and possibly compatible with the Series 1 L67 upper ends....that would make for a rather awesome high revving engine in the fiero!

 

[Guess]

I had to get a "Bonded" title for my 87 GN. The guy I bought it from never registered it because it wasn't road worthy. Texas required additional paperwork that made him go down to get it registered in New Hampshire. The problem is that NH requires a VIN certification required to be done by the police. They had to physically see the car. However the car was in Texas.

I had to buy a $322 bond for claims up to $22,500. I finally got my title though. Pain in the a$$.