A great experience at the New Jersey department of motor vehicles

[dennis thompson]

Yes,you read that right. I was helping my older brother reregister his three cars in his wife’s name. I studied the requirements online and filled out as much paper work ahead of time as possible. As we were driving there we both expressed doubts about getting all three cars completed in one trip. At the DMV we were taken in within five minutes, the clerks were all amazingly helpful and we were in and out of there in less than an hour, with new license plates and titles for all three cars, ( all for a mere $348). The DMV in NJ has been a horror show in years past, and I never thought I’d be saying this, but our experience proves that finally they have gotten it right.

[Frederick Skelly]

Good to hear.
It's always a little astonishing to me when a "customer"- facing government bureaucracy like DMV actually gets it right. There are so many that leave you feeling like they could care less.
You might consider sending a letter to that location telling them how positive your experience was.

[Rob Luter]

Good to hear. The BMV here in Indiana used to be a horror show. When we moved here from Michigan in the 90's you'd have thought we were immigrating from an Eastern Bloc nation. We needed several forms of ID from various sources to prove who we were and where we lived (our Michigan DL wasn't accepted as ID), we needed mail addressed to us at the new address, police inspections of our vehicles (by appointment only) and a check to make sure they weren't stolen, and all of this after having to endure an hour wait for a clerk. It was almost guaranteed you would have to make multiple trips.

We got a new governor a couple years later and one of his main priorities was to clean the mess up. It runs like a Swiss watch now. All the requirements for any given transaction are posted online to you can come prepared. Simple plate and drivers license renewals are handled on-line.

[Bill Dufour]

You really need to go back and do it again! Expensive property and bank accounts should be registered in both spouses names as co-owners. Saves a lot of hassle when one of them dies. He will have to go back and do it again anyway if she dies first. Better to do it while he is younger, healthy and not shell shocked by her death. Of course statistically he will not have to do it, she will.
California DMV IS stupid. Sent a letter to renew the wifes car. Went in to AAA and they said it was too early to pay. DMV can not accept payment more then 60 days early.
BilL D

[Jim Becker]

You really need to go back and do it again! Expensive property and bank accounts should be registered in both spouses names as co-owners.

Since the reason for this set of transactions was not provided, we cannot make the assumption that what you mention was forgotten. There may be a material reason that supersedes the normal best practice of assets being in both spouse's names.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Co-owning a vehicle exposes both of you to liability. This means in an accident, a judgement could take everything you both own because your are co
-owners. Otherwise, other party could get no more than 50% of your properties and moneys.

[Jim Becker]

Co-owning a vehicle exposes both of you to liability. This means in an accident, a judgement could take everything you both own because your are co
-owners. Otherwise, other party could get no more than 50% of your properties and moneys.

That's what insurance is for and why folks shouldn't buy minimum liabilities if they have assets.

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I can confirm that the situation that the OP is writing about is being done for a specific and valid reason, but it's a private matter and that's all I'm going to say.

[Zachary Hoyt]

This brings up a question I have wondered about. An insurance salesman at a national firm told me that I needed to have liability coverage as a driver that was at least equal to the value of my house. I don't understand how that would help, because there is no way to know how much you could be ordered to pay. If I had $100k liability but was ordered to pay $200k I would still be stuck, as far as I understand it.

OP, I'm glad that you had such a good experience.

[Jim Becker]

This brings up a question I have wondered about. An insurance salesman at a national firm told me that I needed to have liability coverage as a driver that was at least equal to the value of my house. I don't understand how that would help, because there is no way to know how much you could be ordered to pay. If I had $100k liability but was ordered to pay $200k I would still be stuck, as far as I understand it.

OP, I'm glad that you had such a good experience.

Zachary, in general, most carriers offer up to about $500K for liability on an auto policy. That used to be about $300K, but...the world revolves. For those of us who need more, an Umbrella policy comes into play to bring things up to say, a million. One coverage that many folks totally screw up is having lower limits on their uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. That should always be at the same level you insure others since that's what protects you when the other party doesn't have insurance or has low/mandated limits.

[Dave Anderson NH]

The safest answer is not to own anything valuable. In our case both our cars, checking accounts, savings accounts and real estate are all owned by a revocable trust with SWMBO and I as trustees. This both protects us and eliminates the need for probate when one of us kicks off. And yes, we are well insured.

[Ron Selzer]

once all the kids were out of the house, my insurance agent dropped the coverage on all vehicles to $100,000 and started up a $1,000,000 umbrella policy for not much more than we were already paying.

[Mike Henderson]

This brings up a question I have wondered about. An insurance salesman at a national firm told me that I needed to have liability coverage as a driver that was at least equal to the value of my house. I don't understand how that would help, because there is no way to know how much you could be ordered to pay. If I had $100k liability but was ordered to pay $200k I would still be stuck, as far as I understand it.

OP, I'm glad that you had such a good experience.

You can get an umbrella policy for a fairly low cost. That covers you for any liability - auto accident, accident around your home, etc. A $1,000,000 policy is not all that expensive.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

The safest answer is not to own anything valuable. In our case both our cars, checking accounts, savings accounts and real estate are all owned by a revocable trust with SWMBO and I as trustees. This both protects us and eliminates the need for probate when one of us kicks off. And yes, we are well insured.

Your state may be different but here, if you have a revocable trust (as opposed to a none-revocable), it can be tapped for judgements. Only retirement accounts are safe.

And by retirement accounts, I mean IRA, 401K, pension accounts, and similar. I don't think they can tap your Social Security but I'm not sure.

Mike

[I believe the legal thinking is that once someone has a judgement against you, you are obligated to satisfy it, to your ability. Since the trust is revocable, you can revoke it and pay the judgement. The only way to protect assets is to give up control of them, which you may not want to do. For example, to transfer them to a child. But then, if the child has a judgement, those assets will be used to satisfy the judgement.
I think Florida will not allow your home to be taken to satisfy a judgement. That's why O.J. Simpson moved to Florida and bought a big house there.]

[Patty Hann]

Your state may be different but here, if you have a revocable trust (as opposed to a none-revocable), it can be tapped for judgements. Only retirement accounts are safe.

Mike

I have a revocable trust... and I never knew that (or maybe I did and forgot )
I googled it and I think assets in a revocable trust are "fair game" for creditors and adverse lawsuit judgments regardless of state.
In any case, I have sufficient liability coverage, including an umbrella policy.

[Brian Elfert]

once all the kids were out of the house, my insurance agent dropped the coverage on all vehicles to $100,000 and started up a $1,000,000 umbrella policy for not much more than we were already paying.

My insurance company requires me to carry the maximum liability on my auto policy in order to get the umbrella. I couldn't do $100,000 liability on my auto insurance and then get the umbrella.