Legal Question in Insurance Law in Tennessee

liability of a vehicle and driver in probate

vehicle part of an estate in probate-member of family drives the vehicle-If an accident happens involving this vehicle, does the driver or the estate carry the financial burden? Only the deceased's name was on the car insurance.


Asked on 2/22/04, 3:54 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Marshall Snyder Law Office Of Marshall Snyder

Re: liability of a vehicle and driver in probate

The driver would be liable for any damages

exceeding the limits of the policy. However,

the question becomes whether there is any

coverage on the policy at all due to the

fact that the deceased is the covered party.

I would suspect that the insurance policy

may not provide any coverage at all due to

the fact that the insurance company was not

notified as to the deceased's death. On the

other hand, the policy may be interpreted so that the estate is a covered party in place of the deceased and, therefore, coverage would be provided up to the limits of the policy. The insurance compnay should have been notified of the deceased's death. That would have taken away

any argument the insurance company may make about lack of coverage.

Read more
Answered on 2/28/04, 8:02 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Insurance Law questions and answers in Tennessee