How Did My Sister Get Ownership of My Deceased Mother's Car?

Full question:

If my sister was awarded guardianship by my consent how did she obtain to own my mom vehicle. When she wanted house she had to get my signature but for car she didn't in some how she has got a court order to take ownership of car in mom past away now I don't have no rights to my moms car. I thought it was 50/50

• Category: Wills and Estates
• Subcategory: Property of Estate
• Date: 04/07/2025
• State: Florida

Answer:

When a person dies, their assets are distributed in the probate process. If a person dies with a will, a petition to probate the will is filed with the probate court in the county where the deceased resided at the time of death, asking for letters testamentary to be issued, giving the executor authority to handle the estate affairs. If a person dies with a valid will, an executor is named to handle the distribution of the estate. If the person dies without a valid will, the court appoints an administrator to distribute the decedent's assets according to the state's laws of intestacy. The court will issue letters of administration, also called letters testamentary, to the administrator, giving the authority to handle the affairs of the deceased. An heirship affidavit may also be used to conduct estate affairs when a small estate is involved. In cases where the decedent didn't own property valued at more than a certain amount, which varies by state, the estate may go through a small estate administration process, rather than the formal probate process.

I'm assuming that your mother died without a will, in which case, normally siblings share equally in the estate. However, it is possible that the sister was allowed to transfer the car to her name prior to death, or was a co-owner with right of survivorship. An asset jointly owned with a right of survivorship passes automatically to the survivor outside the probate process.