I had a friend who was diagnosed with colon cancer two yeas ago. I was the one who took care of him (his family was in Afric...
Full Question:
I had a friend who was diagnosed with colon cancer two yeas ago. I was the one who took care of him (his family was in Africa) before he passed. On March 27 this year he told me that he would leave his car to me; so he requested for a notary public official to come to the hospital to have the car transferred to me. Everything went fine until the person who was supposed to execute the will came and said such a transfer would be illegal. My friend died two days later. I plan to transfer ownership of the car to my friend’s brother. Can I legally transfer the car to my friend’s brother, who is a foreigner or do I have a right to keep the car?
05/20/2009 |
Category: Gifts |
State: Pennsylvania |
#16736
Answer:
Unless there are constitutional, statutory, or treaty provisions to the contrary, aliens may generally acquire, hold, and convey personal property in the same manner as citizens.
We know of no Pennsylvania statute prohibiting someone who is not a United States citizen from owning an automobile in Pennsylvania.
As far as your keeping the car rather than transferring it to your friend’s brother, unless your friend had a valid will with a provision directing you to hold the vehicle in trust for his brother and convey actual title to him at a later time, the car belongs unconditionally to you. We are assuming that title to the car was properly transferred to you by your friend prior to his death.
