Well the Subject pretty much sums up my question, but here are the details.
I know a family who has a boat for sale. The wife wants to sell it to me, but her name is not on the previous bill of sale, only her husbands. Does she have the right to make that sale to me or does the husband have to (99% sure he won’t, he hates me)? The husband bought the boat recently, during their marriage, so it is communal property not separate. Doesn’t she have the power to sell communal property without his agreement?
May depend on what state you are in, but in CA you need both signatures since it IS community property and both people have rights associated with it.
Imagine if her pissed off husband after hearing that his boat was sold behind his back went out and sold the house without his wife’s knowledge… not good. Of course, IANAL.
IANAL, but the other day Mrs. D18 and I were in our lawyer’s office and he strongly suggested we get powers of attorny drawn up. That’s in Ontario. YMMV.
And the two times Mrs. D18 and I have sold a jointly owned house, both of us needed to sign the papers. Again, YMMV.
Dealing with this right now.
In CA. it depends on whose name is on the pink slip and registration. If it says Mrs AND Mr, both must sign. If it says Mrs OR Mr, either one will do. If it is registered only in one name, that person can do with it whatever they will. In the event of divorce, they may have to answer the community property issues, but they can still do it.
Being in the Air Force, the question of power of Attorney comes up frequently, we are highly encouraged to get one in case we are deployed overseas, or in a war or what have you. I know that marriage does NOT grant Power of Attorney, so my wife and I have dual general powers of attorney in case anything happens to us. The previous post was right about the AND/OR statement on a title of a car, if it is AND, you need both signatures, an OR, you just need one. Be careful however, a general power of attorney does NOT cover things like a house or a car though, you must have a SPECIFIC power of attorney drawn up for thing like that.