Who Should Have Mum’s Sports Car?

Sounds like you’ve got it covered Musky.

Thank you everyone for all your thoughtful advice. I didn’t make things clear enough in my post. Mum is not capable now of making rational decisions, hence the POA. If I ask her what she would like to happen to her car, she would tell me today and by tomorrow would have totally forgotten what she’d said or very likely changed her mind and tell one of my three Brothers something else.
I haven’t mentioned anything to her about this yet and apart from asking me “Is there a parking space here for my Mercedes? “ on the day she was brought by ambulance to the Care Home, very surprisingly she has never mentioned it at all.
There’s no immediate need to sell it to fund the fees.
I HAD requested an estimated value prior to posting ( from Parker’s) and viewed identical Mercedes model and year of cars currently for sale on Ebay. I hadn’t got as far as obtaining a true valuation from a Mercedes Dealership. The intention was not to “give” Mum’s car to a family member but to sell it to them (while she’s still alive seemed wrong) for the highest possible amount as part of her Estate ( maybe by asking for sealed bids at or above the market value).
The Grandson who is interested in the car has visited Mum once in the 10 months of her residence at the care home.
I am very clear on my responsibilities as her Attorney and everything I do is in her best interests.
I really do appreciate everyone’s comments on Gransnet, thank you again.

If mum wants to give it now (to whoever) she can -
Unless the PoA is active? I'm not sure if that's the case.

Has Mum been involved in any of this so far?

If I was Mum I'd tell them that it's still mine and I intend to drive it again one day!

This smacks horribly of people wanting first dibs - it simply, legally, isn’t on. End of.

Is mum asking for someone to have the car NOW?

Otherwise maybe reassure her it will be kept in the family as he other factors are too unpredictable. It won't lose its value stored safely.

You cannot just give it away because you have POA it must be paid for or another member of the family could accuse you of depriving your mother of an asset .

I think having a draw is a good idea but on the previso that who ever wins pays the value of the car into your mum's bank Musky.

Find out what the car's value is so anyone wanting to be entered into the draw will know whether or not they can afford to buy it.

Correct.

Katie59

A 17yr old Mercedes SLK is not a classic, decide on a value, probably around £5k. Draw lots who gets it but it’s value is deducted from their other inheritance, it is sentimental value after all, it will be sold quickly if you don’t deduct the value.

The value cannot be deducted from the potential inheritance because the car is mum’s and therefore any money it produces needs to be put into mum’s bank account. She may well need the money to pay for her care home fees. It’s her car and therefore her money.

Hetty58

Katie59, the problem with that arrangement is it complicates matters if the mother outlives potential beneficiaries. It's amazing how families can squabble and really fall out over wills - even intent on grabbing or selling stuff when we're still alive. My lot have 'bagsied' certain items for when I fall off my perch - nice!

Sorry I didn’t pick up that mum was still going, everyone was talking about inheritance.
If it is garaged it’s ok to leave it unused, if it’s in the open it will deteriorate quickly if unused. If nobody wants it at trade price sell it
We have a similar BMW, lovely on a fine weekend with the top down, not economical, not practical for everyday use, just a toy.

If you have PoA you must act in your mother’s best interests. That means getting a proper valuation for the car (it’s most certainly not worth as little as you think) and selling it. A family member can buy it for full market value. It must not just be given to anyone. Remember also that the value (on a sliding scale) of any gifts within 7 years of death remains in your mother’s estate.

Get it valued.
Ask your mother her thoughts; she may have left instructions in her will.
If not, sell it to the family member who offers the most. or sell it independently and either way pay the money into the estate.

Good point Witzend -disposing of assets could put you in a tricky position. It sounds as if anybody who wants it would have to pay the going price and the proceeds banked on your Mothers behalf.

Either draw lots (and have the unsuccessful ones sulk) or else sell it and add the money to the eventual ‘pot’ after she’s gone.

If you have P of A, though, shouldn’t you be conserving all her assets for care home fees? You can’t tell how long she’s going to last - my Dm was in her CH for 8 years, until she died at 97 - none of us had ever expected her to go on for so long.

Though of course if you know there’s going to be plenty anyway, this may not apply.

This happened with my father-in-law's car too. It was the love of his life and also about the same age. It had pale ecru leather seats and was pristine. We had it valued and let everyone know.

In the end the four children (my generation) didn't want it - nor did the grandchildren (at that point 6 drivers). One looked at it more seriously than the others but eventually it was sold in that perfect condition for, I think, £1200.

If you ask them with the understanding that this is a sale and cash will go into the estate you may find there is no scramble for it.

I think the gas-guzzling engine with excruciating insurance were certainly part of the decision.

I’m assuming that you are selling your Mums assets to fund her care? In which case you have to achieve the best possible amount for her car, a couple of valuations and then whoever wants to buy it can.
If your Mum wants to gift the car it might be an idea to get her to write a letter to the person she wants to have it, explaining that it’s a gift and keep a copy of the letter in your files.

If your mother still has capacity to make her own decisions (which it sounds as if she does), can't she just decide now who gets the car and gift it to them?

My family fights over the NatWest Pigs.
But what style to drive a car like that!

The first thing you need to do is get a valuation for the car. Speak to your local Mercedes dealer. You may get a shock to discover just how much it is worth.

The other thing to then remember is that, as your mother is still alive she owns the car and is among her assets and, as others have noted, as POA, you must act in her best financial interests.

From the sound of it your mother does not have dementia, so ask her what she would like to happen to her beloved car. her wishes should be pre-eminent and what she says goes, but discuss with her the alternatives available, but in the end she should make the decision.

Katie59, the problem with that arrangement is it complicates matters if the mother outlives potential beneficiaries. It's amazing how families can squabble and really fall out over wills - even intent on grabbing or selling stuff when we're still alive. My lot have 'bagsied' certain items for when I fall off my perch - nice!

A 17yr old Mercedes SLK is not a classic, decide on a value, probably around £5k. Draw lots who gets it but it’s value is deducted from their other inheritance, it is sentimental value after all, it will be sold quickly if you don’t deduct the value.

It was an impossible task to share MiL’s jewellery with so many females in the family and the values being so varied. The boys would have missed out too. Her sons decided the way to go and it worked.

My own mother left a letter of intent with her will, with most of her jewellery listed and going to a named recipient. I ensured that this is what happened. There were a couple of pieces left out because I had bought them for my mum later in her life, and so I decided who to give them to. Nothing was left to sell on so that didn’t arise.

We shared MIL's jewellery amicably many years ago but I believe that now everything of value has to be listed.

My husband and his brothers did this sort of arrangement when my MiL died some eighteen months ago. She had quite a bit of jewellery, some of it averagely valuable, most of it not so much. Anyway she had no daughters but several granddaughters and great granddaughters as well as grandson and great grandsons. It was decided to get the jewellery valued and then every piece had a price put on it. Every member of the family was free to ‘buy’ any piece they wanted and then the rest was sold second hand to a business. The money raised was put into her surviving husband’s account.
We bought a pretty little heart shaped locket set with tiny diamonds for our daughter. We didn’t get any other pieces. It was nice to get a memento for our daughter from her grandma.