I am not a lawyer so I cannot comment on "most states", but this is not true in my state. We went over this with our estate planning attorney in the context of asset protection. We own our assets separately, with little beyond a checking account in joint tenancy with rights of survivorship. If my spouse were to be sued for an auto accident while they were driving their car, the plaintiffs could not go after me or my assets.I'm not an attorney, but in most states marital assets are both at risk of lawsuits even if they are only against one driver (though homestead equity and retirement accounts are often protected). In short, I don't think it would matter whether the title is just under you if you are in an accident and get sued. Any judgement would be against *you* which would inevitably impact your spouse one way or another.
This is one reason insurance companies usually require coverage for all adults in the home against all automobiles.
If my spouse were driving my car, then we both could be exposed.
Someone asking this question for asset protection purposes should check the laws of their state and probably review with an attorney who knows their state law. I gather states differ on this
Statistics: Posted by afan — Wed Aug 07, 2024 12:40 pm