Buying a car for a family member out of state. How do I deal with the title?

So my sister was in a accident a few weeks ago. She is fine, but the car is totaled. She lives in LA (Lower Alabama) and there are not a lot of good choices around her. We were talking and I brought up that there are a lot more options in Atlanta where I live. The plan right now is she will find a few cars for me to look at. If any of them look good I will buy it and bring it down to her over Thanksgiving.

Any car we buy we buy would be roughly challenge priced, double challenge price at the most, private party, and paid for with cash. I have a trailer and can tow it down to her so we don't have to deal with registration or insurance.

My question is about how to handle the title. Could I write her name and address on the buyer line and have her sign it when I give her the car? Would I need to sign the title and then sign a bill of sale to her and she takes both to the DMV? 

I'd prefer to not title it in my name because I will have the car less than a week. Georgia would require emissions, tax, and take 1-2 weeks to get me the new title before I could get it to her which would be after Thanksgiving.

Thanks for any advice you can give or info on where I can look to find the information! everything I have been able to find is about buying a car as a gift and who's name goes on the loan.

If the seller is willing to leave the buyer blank, and most at this price point are, just make sure she fills in the correct section or put her info on it.  

Is Georgia a notary title state?  That might be the deal breaker. 

In reply to Patrick:

I know floating titles are illegal and I'm trying to avoid that. 

In reply to Stampie : 

Georgia is not a notary title state.

Have the seller list her as the buyer, which is true except for the source of funds, which doesn't seem to me to be anybody else's business?

Stampie said:

Is Georgia a notary title state?  That might be the deal breaker. 

Don't know for sure, but since they don't even require titles for "old" cars, I doubt it. 

Consider whether she can give you a power of attorney to execute title documents on her behalf

tomtomgt356 said:

In reply to Patrick:

I know floating titles are illegal and I'm trying to avoid that. 

I know selling a vehicle with an open title not in your name is illegal but I don't see how leaving it blank until she gets a chance to sign it is. 

You’re not flipping it to her, buying it on her behalf is different than floating a title to avoid sales tax.  There is one sale happening between her and seller, you’re just the intermediary 

I know in Georgia it is illegal for a seller to give a buyer a signed title with the buyer information blank. Are y'all saying fill out the buyer information I can and leave the signature blank for her to sign when I see her?

I just want to make sure there are not any issues on the sellers end, my end towing it down, or her end registering it.

I appreciate all of the input! I am looking into a power of attorney and that may be the route we take.

Check out the laws in both states.  If either state is a notary state, you're kinda locked into a certain way.  Texas was easy.  Seller signed the title, I took it to the tax office, done.  PA is a notary state and both parties have to be present for a PA-PA exchange.  If out of state, PA follows the laws of the origin state.

If AL is a notary state, you'll likely have to title it to you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Most states allow the transfer of a title to a family member without tax.  So you could buy it in GA, wait to get the title, then transfer it to her in AL without penalty.

have you tried dmv.org?  It has nice summaries of state rules for this kind of thing.

I think the person who mentioned at the start of "most people at this price point don't care" hit it right on the head.

The option of to how right you want to do it is yours and yours alone, limited only by your conscience.

I know how I would do it.  

Are you sure the buyer has to sign it before the seller signs and notarizes it? I've not done a title in Georgia, but in Ohio, the seller fills out the buyer's info, mileage, price paid, etc, and then signs and notarizes it. The buyer signs it whenever they want, until the time they transfer the title.

Actually, I don't see any requirements for a notary on a Georgia title. I don't see where it would be a problem for the seller to fill all the buyer's info out - the buyer being your sister - and then sign it. Here's a pic of a Georgia title:

I see nothing on it about notary and see no problem with there being either a time or geography disconnect between seller's signature and buyer's signature.

I do recommend getting a bill of sale as well, it can help you if anything does go wrong down the road. Just list your sister as the buyer on the bill of sale, as well. You can find example bills of sale online, search of "example bill of sale for car." Here's one I've used before:

https://www.dmv.org/images/bill-of-sale.pdf

In reply to dculberson :

I did just that when I bought the Integra for the family land in Nebraska. It's actually in my sister's name but I paid for it. I just had Evan fill in all of the info like my sister was buying it and then she jsut signed it when it got there. I cut evan the check. We had no issues and Nebraska was a notary state at one point. If neither state is a notary state then 0 issues at all would be expected.

You can also fill out the buyer spot as (your name) or (your sisters name) and fill in either address. Your name ends up on the title too, but she doesn't need you there to sell it later, and you can register it wherever it's cheapest.  If you get a plate in GA eventually she takes the title down and it's like she's moving from GA to AL, but she's got a year of registration in the meantime. 

oldopelguy said:

You can also fill out the buyer spot as (your name) or (your sisters name) and fill in either address. Your name ends up on the title too, but she doesn't need you there to sell it later, and you can register it wherever it's cheapest.  If you get a plate in GA eventually she takes the title down and it's like she's moving from GA to AL, but she's got a year of registration in the meantime. 

The last time I had to deal with a Georgia title with two names on it turned out to be a major nuisance. I had to get both signatures before I could register it, but the title only had one.

As others have noted, Georgia doesn't have any requirements for notarizing the title. It appears Alabama doesn't, either. And it looks like a limited power of attorney form would be the official legal document to use for this situation. The POA form does need to be notarized, but it looks like this is the sort of thing you can download and print out without involving a lawyer.

You need both signatures if someone does it wrong and puts (your name) AND (sisters name).  Don't use "and", use "or". It's a huge difference. 

Wat the world doesn't know can't hurt you. 

In your shoes, I'd sign her name on the title and move on. Who is to say you aren't whatever your sisters name is.

The way I see it, technically she is buying the car and you are just the agent/deliverer. You could consider her the purchaser and leave buyer blank or sign for(as) her. If it gets down to it, lower AL is not really that far from Atlanta. Maybe she could come by for a weekend visit and just happened to buy a car there while she's visiting.

Your intent isn't really what the floating title laws are written for, just doesn't fit the reason behind why the law exists. I understand trying to be legal and do things the right way but sometimes things just have to be twisted to make the intent and work with no intent to do anything illegal.