Can Car be Transferred to Spouse after Death?

“My mom died and owned a car. Can my dad register it in his name?”

If your parent dies and was married at the time and you still have one surviving parent, and the one who passed away owns a car in their own name, in New Hampshire, at least, the surviving parent and surviving spouse is able to go down to the Department of Motor Vehicles with the death certificate and transfer one car into his or her name so they don’t have to go through a probate court process, which could take up to close to a year to get that car in your surviving parent’s name. If there’s only one car and the one who died owned it, the surviving spouse can in fact transfer that car over without a probate.  If a parent passes away and there’s just one surviving child, that child is able to, just like a surviving spouse could, go down to the Department of Motor Vehicles with the death certificate and a copy of the title and transfer the car into that sole living child’s name without going to a court process like a probate to get the car in their name.