Bill Text: NJ S906 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Authorizes transfer on death (TOD) of title to motor vehicle.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2022-05-09 - Approved P.L.2022, c.13. [S906 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S906-Amended.html
Sponsored by:
Senator PATRICK J. DIEGNAN, JR.
District 18 (Middlesex)
Senator JAMES W. HOLZAPFEL
District 10 (Ocean)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Corrado
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes transfer on death (TOD) of title to motor vehicle.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate Transportation Committee on February 3, 2022, with amendments.
An Act concerning motor vehicle ownership and supplementing Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A motor vehicle may be titled in transfer on death ("TOD") form by including in the certificate of 1[title] ownership1 a designation of a beneficiary or beneficiaries to whom the motor vehicle shall be transferred on the death of the owner, or the last to die of two or more owners with right of survivorship. The transfer shall be subject to the rights of all lien holders, whether created before, simultaneously with, or after the creation of the TOD interest. A trust may be the beneficiary of a TOD 1[title] certificate of ownership1.
b. A motor vehicle is titled in TOD form by designating in the certificate of 1[title] ownership1 the name of the sole owner, or the names of the owners who own the motor vehicle as tenants in common, tenants by the entirety or joint tenants with right of survivorship, followed in substance by the words "transfer on death to (name of beneficiary or beneficiaries)." The abbreviation "TOD" may be used instead of the words "transfer on death to."
c. The transfer on death beneficiary or beneficiaries shall have no interest in the motor vehicle until the death of the owner or the last to die of all multiple owners with right of survivorship. A beneficiary designation may be changed at any time by the owner or all then surviving multiple owners with right of survivorship, without the consent of the beneficiary or beneficiaries, by filing an application for a subsequent certificate of 1[title] ownership1.
d. Ownership of a motor vehicle titled in TOD form for which an application for a subsequent certificate of 1[title] ownership1 has not been filed shall vest in the designated beneficiary or beneficiaries on the death of the owner or the last to die of all multiple owners with right of survivorship, subject to the rights of all lien holders. If no beneficiary survives the death of the owner or the last to die of all multiple owners with right of survivorship, then such interest in the motor vehicle belongs to the estate of the deceased owner or the last to die of all multiple owners with right of survivorship.
e. A certificate of 1[title] ownership1 in TOD form shall not be considered a testamentary disposition.
1f. A
will shall not revoke or supersede a TOD beneficiary designation, regardless of
when the will was made.1
12. The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall publish appropriate information and forms to allow an owner, or multiple owners, of a motor vehicle to add a transfer on death beneficiary or multiple transfer on death beneficiaries to a certificate of ownership pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The information and forms shall be available in all commission agency locations and online on the commission's Internet website.1
1[2.] 3.1 The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to effectuate the provisions of this act.
1[3.] 4.1 This act shall take effect 1[on the first day of the fourth month following] one year after1 enactment.
