questions & answers

Question: I recently purchased a car and put it in my girlfriends name because she has the drivers license and I currently do not also she agreed to sign a public notary stating that I am the sole owner of the vehicle and we only put the car in her name because she had a license at the time and I did not and for insurance purposes. Now my question of course would be does that legally protect me from her having legal ownership of the vehicle say if hypathetically we break up and she decides to try and take my car.

Answer: This is general legal information. For specific instructions on your situation please contact an attorney. Generally, the certificate of title is proof of ownership of a vehicle. However, if there is enough evidence to the contrary, ownership may become a question to be decided in a civil court cases under Arizona law, (A.R.S. § 28-101 39) "Owner" means 1) a person who holds the legal title of a vehicle, or 2) if there is an agreement to pay for the car over a period of time (a conditional sale) and with the immediate right of possession being with the buyer (the person presumably making some sort of payments), the buyer is considered the owner. The law also requires the seller of the car to provide certificate of title when the buyer takes possession of the car, whether the sale was a cash sale or a conditional sale. (A.R.S. §§ 28-2058, 2161) If there were no payments made, the "seller" may sue the "buyer" for the payments not made for the car. However, the issue here is going to be that you must first find your car and/or locate the person that you loaned your car. If in fact you are able to locate this person, you may be able to sue this person in civil court for breach of contract to recover the car and/or payments that were never made. For claims up to $2500, the case must be filed in Small Claims Court within the Justice Court System. For claims up to $10,000, the case must be filed in the Justice Court as well but not under small claims. Forms and instructions may be found online at the Maricopa County Superior Court.