Every car owner possesses a car title that shows that the vehicle is truly theirs and this car title can sometimes have more than a name on it.
Car titles prove that a person owns the vehicle legally. If the vehicle was gotten on a loan, the lender of the money will hold the car title until the debt is fully paid.
Since two names can be on a car title, the question now is, if two names are on a title who owns the car?
If there are two names on a car title, the names of the two people on the title are the legal owners of the vehicle and they both have equal rights as regards the ownership of the vehicle.
Vehicles can be co-owned by two or more people and this can be done either as joint tenants or as tenants in common.
Is it Possible for Two Names to be On a Car Title?
A car title as reiterated earlier is one of the numerous documents that every car owner signs when they just acquire a vehicle.
This document is issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) in the state and it contains information proving that you’re the legal owner of the car.
However, the Department of Motor Vehicles allows more than one person to own a single car. Two or more people can have their names on the car title of a car.
When there are two or more people’s names on the title of a car, it’s called joint ownership by the two of them.
In cases where there are more than two names on the car title, all the people whose names are written on the car title and who have signed the necessary documents co-own the car.
So, Yes, two people can own a vehicle. Although the kind of ownership of such vehicles would be determined by how the names are written on the car title.
If Two Names are on a Title Who Owns the Car?
In cases where there are two names on the title of a car, the car is owned by the two of them.
However, this joint ownership can be of two kinds as reiterated earlier, joint tenancy or tenants in common
Joint Tenancy
This type of ownership usually comes with the right of survivorship. This means that if anyone of the two owners of the car dies, the other person can take over sole ownership of the car.
In Joint tenancy, the names of the two or more different owners of the car are written as “Jack Will or Joy Will” which connotes the two of them owning a hundred percent (100%) of the car.
This means that in a situation where one of them wants to sell the car, only one signature is needed as each one of them owns 100% of the car.
Tenants in Common
When the multiple owners of a vehicle are listed as tenants in common, this means that there’s no right of survivorship and each one of the owners of the car has an equal percentage of the car to make a hundred percent(100%).
If there are two people’s names on the car title, they both own fifty percent of the car(50/50) and any one of the owners of the car can decide to give his or her share of the car to anyone or do with it as they please.
When the type of joint ownership is tenants in common, their names would be written as “Jack Will and Joy Will”.
So the major way to differentiate the type of joint ownership is the way their names are written on the car title. If the names are joined by an “OR” that shows it’s a joint tenancy.
Likewise, if the names are joined by “AND” this shows that they are “tenants in common”.
Can I Remove a Co-Owner from a Car Title?
Removing a co-owner’s name from a car title depends on the type of joint ownership you have with the person.
On the car title, if the names are written and joined by “OR” you can easily remove the other person’s name from the car title without the person’s signature and the other person’s permission.
However, if the names of the people that own the car are joined by “AND” you will need the other person’s signature and permission to remove their name from the car title.
How Do I Remove a Co-owner from a Car Title?
Removing the name of a co-owner from a car title isn’t that complicated.
If the names on the car title are joined by an “OR”, the entire process of transferring ownership can be done by just one person and it is completely legal.
First, you have to treat the transfer of ownership like a car sale, all names of the car owners would be listed as the seller and the name of the person retaining the car title would be the buyer.
The form to be filled is at the back of the title and once the form has been filled, all you have to do is visit the DMV nearest to you and get a new title that has only your name on it.
While changing ownership of the vehicle, you should also check for lien holders. Lien holders mean that the car’s purchase was financed by another person and usually, lien holders have the car’s title until the debt has been paid off.
The car owner would have to come to terms with the lien holder about the transfer of ownership and if they don’t agree, the transfer cannot be completed.
So you have to either pay off the lien holder or forfeit the transfer of ownership until the lien holder has been paid in full.
Advantages of Having Two Names on a Title
Transfer of Ownership is Easy
When the names that are written on the car title in joint ownership are joined together by an “OR”, transferring the ownership of such vehicles in the case of any tragic happening would be easy because anyone of the two owners can do it without the other’s presence.
Insurance Privileges
In situations where one of both parties is enjoying privileged insurance, having the person’s name would mean that they would enjoy the same insurance privileges for their car too.
This happens mostly when a parent is enjoying insurance privileges and their child wants to get a new car or their first car, they would be listed as co-owners so the child enjoys the insurance privilege too.
Disadvantages of Having Two Names on a Title
Affects Decision Making Concerning The Vehicle: When a vehicle is owned by two people, no single person can make decisions as regards the vehicle without the consent of the person because they have a share in the vehicle too.
Restrictions On Getting a New Vehicle: Co-ownership restricts people who are already listed as co-owner from getting a new vehicle that is completely owned by them without the consent of the other person.
They can either get the consent of the other person or co-own the new car too.