Buying a plane from an Estate

[Lindberg]

The FAA is actually quite helpful in this regard. They'll tell you what they want if you ask them. And they'll reject it if it's not right, which may seem like a PITA, but it's actually better than the alternative, which is accept it for recordation without telling you anything is wrong and **** up the chain of title. That's what your county clerk would do.

 

[Bell206]

The FAA really needs a way to “assign on death” or to have a designated beneficiary.

The Registration Branch is merely a repository of aircraft records. The legal side falls to the applicant. And since states determine property ownership you basically have 50 different procedures for that as well to include not all states accept POD/TODs 100% of the time. The best route that I've found in my experience is to have an estate plan that includes your aircraft.

 

[midlifeflyer]

Which is why I would use one of the OK City title/escrow services.

1) They know how to do things.
2) They walk the paperwork over and if something is wrong, it can be fixed NOW rather than 6 weeks later when the FAA letter reaches you.

Absolutely! By a wide margin, the title issues I get to fix are mostly from situations where the buyer didn't use a title/escrow service. More difficult to fix things later than at closing.

 

[PPC1052]

i Bought my fathers aircraft from the estate when he passed. It was in a trust,

Wait. Which was it? In the estate or in the trust? Those are mutually exclusive.

 

[Gary Ward]

I almost had to buy my plane from my late friends estate. I bought it from him before he passed.
I ordered the 10 dollar CD from the FAA to check on liens and the history of the plane. It was quite informative. Then filled out both FAA forms and had my friend sign his name as the seller. I mailed them to Ok and weeks later I got the registration with my name on it in the mail.
I paid him with a $9900. bank check and the rest in cash.
This was in 2018, wow did I get lucky as the prices of 172 took off shorty afterwards and I am sure my friend was rolling over in his grave.

Also a few years later I ordered the CD again from the FAA to be sure my mechanic was filling the 337s for STC for it. You can get the info instantly if you don't want to wait for the CD to be mailed.

 

[DJTorrente]

Seller:
John J. Smith

Signature:
Nancy Smith

Title:
Executor, Estate of John J Smith

Executrix? So hard to know these days.

Has anyone considered that the reason you're getting modestly conflicting reports is that ultimately it's up to the particular Legal Instrument Examiner (LIE) whose desk in OKC -- or more likely remote workstation in their home or somewhere else -- that your file lands on to determine precisely what is required in your particular state/case and how closely what you've submitted matches it? Yes, they have rules and guidelines -- but the fact is they have to deal with matters from all 50 states, each with their own laws and practices on testamentary procedure. Bridging the gap between the regs and reality often leaves room for interpretation.

You get the service that you pay for. Sometimes less.

 

[ChemGuy]

I emailed OKC...well used their little contact us thing on the webpage since I couldnt find a real email address...on August 24th. I asked how they would like the 8050-2 filled out for an estate plane with a court appointed "executor"...well personal representative in MI...but you get the idea. I never heard back. Until today. So their answer que is taking about 3 weeks.

Here is their response. Adding this in case some else tries to DIY their estate airplane purchase. Here it is straight from the horses mouth:

Greetings,

If a court appointed someone to represent the estate, we need the following to change ownership of the aircraft:

1. Submit a court-certified true copy of the Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or Letters of Representation showing the appointed executor, administrator, or personal representative of the estate of the deceased. A document issued by a court of law must be certified as true by an officer of the court.

2. Submit original evidence of ownership to the new owner. The document must state that it transfers all rights, title and interests in the aircraft. Our suggested form is AC Form 8050-2. Show the name of the estate followed by the representative’s name, (i.e., Estate of John Doe by [name of representative], title (e.g., Executor/Administrator/Personal Representative), and signature of the representative in the SELLER portion.

3. Submit an Aircraft Registration Application, AC Form 8050-1, in the name of the applicant.

4. Submit a $5.00 registration fee in form of check or money order made payable to Federal Aviation Administration.

Once completed, send the forms and fee to us at the following:

Mail (USPS): FAA Aircraft Registry, PO Box 25504, Oklahoma City, OK 73125

If I get this plane transfer done using my 8050-2 i will post a copy, again for future pilot to use in his estate plane purchase.

Thanks to all who helped me figure this out.