Avitar Associates

The customer sitting in front of you recently lost their spouse. That information might send you right into panic mode where you find your brain is completely blank. Take a couple breaths. We have been in your clerk shoes and understand the stress of survivorship transactions, for all parties involved. This blog post is to get you a little more prepared for when this situation sneaks up on you.

We get many calls regarding processing survivorship titles and registrations: New, Renewal, and Transfer. There are many ways a Survivorship Title/Registration can be processed. You need to be sure you gather enough information, in order to begin using the correct process.

First: Does your customer qualify for a Survivorship Transfer? The Requirements to qualify for Survivorship Title/Registration (per page 42 of the State of NH, Procedure Manual for Municipal Agents a/k/a MA Manual, latest edition 2019), are as follows:

• The owner must be deceased.
• The new owner must be the Surviving Partner and be listed on the Death Certificate pursuant to RSA 261:17.
• No additional owners added.
• Application is made within 13 months of Decedent’s date of death pursuant to RSA 261:20.
• No change of vehicle is involved (If the surviving spouse purchases a new vehicle to replace the old, they do not qualify for a survivorship transfer).

Second: Some investigation of the current/registration title is required:

• Is it in the registration renewal MONTH?
• Is the Surviving Spouse currently on the existing title/registration?
• If the Surviving Spouse is on the existing title/registration, are they the first or second owner?

Third: It is now time to figure out where to start… Follow the link below to view a few of the procedural beginning points:

• Procedures.

There are many variables to Survivorship titles/registrations, if you do not see a clear place to start (in the link provided above), please give us a call.

Lastly, an important note: As of the date of this blog post, you can only process the town portion of a Lease Transfer Survivorship registration. Your customer will need to complete the State portion of the registration at the State level. To begin the process:

• Select Transfers | Lease Survivorship – (AP, PS, EX, Title App on File, or Existing Title) | Town portion only

For more information on Survivorship Transfers, and step-by-step instructions, please see our online documentation: Survivorship Registrations.