marital car transfer

[Bryan]

I have been seperated from my wife for a while. I left the car to her. She now wants me to transfer the car to her name. Should I get this in writing (the value of the car and that it's a marital car etc.) and make her sign it or should I just give it to her? Our divorce process did not start yet.

[Clara]

I'd sign and date the title, plus get a dated appraisal online (maybe Kelly's Blue Book online would help) to show the present value, plus the dated transfer. Once the divorce begins, it's anyone's guess whether or not this will come into play. If you have two cars, then she's probably entitled to one of them. If you have children, she must have a car regardless. And if you purchased this during the marriage, you sort of both own it anyway, so she's probably entitled to some of its value.

Everything depends on your earnings vs. hers. Without knowing the other details, it's tough to say what to do. But a car purchased during a marriage belongs to both parties, regardless of whose name is on the title, so it doesn't really come into play too heavily in most divorces.

I'm not a lawyer, but I've seen enough divorces to know that a judge would probably order that she's entitled to a car, especially if you own two of them, and most especially if you have kids.