By Sibley S.B. No. 1435
74R1945 DWS-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to joint ownership of a motor vehicle by spouses with
1-3 rights of survivorship.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. The Certificate of Title Act (Article 6687-1,
1-6 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Section 35A to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 35A. (a) If a rights of survivorship agreement meeting
1-9 the requirements of Subsection (b) of this section is submitted
1-10 with an application for a certificate of title, the department
1-11 shall issue the certificate in the name of both the husband and
1-12 wife and include on the certificate of title a statement indicating
1-13 rights of survivorship.
1-14 (b) A rights of survivorship agreement must:
1-15 (1) provide that the motor vehicle is to be held by a
1-16 husband and wife jointly with the interest of either spouse who
1-17 dies to survive to the surviving spouse; and
1-18 (2) be signed by both the husband and the wife.
1-19 (c) If a certificate of title includes a rights of
1-20 survivorship indication as provided by Subsection (a) of this
1-21 section, on the death of one of the spouses the department shall
1-22 issue a new certificate of title in the name of the surviving
1-23 spouse on presentation of a copy of the death certificate of the
1-24 deceased spouse. The department may not require additional
2-1 evidence of the rights of survivorship agreement or the spouse's
2-2 death.
2-3 SECTION 2. Sections 24 and 35, Certificate of Title Act
2-4 (Article 6687-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to
2-5 read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 24. The term "Certificate of Title" means a written
2-7 instrument which may be issued solely by and under the authority of
2-8 the department, and which must give the following data together
2-9 with such other data as the department may require from time to
2-10 time:
2-11 (a) The name and address of the purchaser and seller
2-12 at first sale or transferee and transferor at any subsequent sale.
2-13 (b) The make.
2-14 (c) The body type.
2-15 (d) The motor number.
2-16 At such time as the stamping of permanent identification
2-17 numbers on motor vehicles in a manner and place easily accessible
2-18 for physical examination is universally adopted by motor vehicle
2-19 manufacturers as the permanent vehicle identification, the
2-20 department is authorized to use such permanent identification
2-21 number as the major identification of motor vehicles subsequently
2-22 manufactured. The motor number will continue to be the major
2-23 identification of vehicles manufactured before such change is
2-24 adopted.
2-25 (e) The serial number.
2-26 (f) The license number of the current Texas plates.
2-27 (g) The names and addresses and dates of any liens on
3-1 the motor vehicle, in chronological order of recordation.
3-2 (h) If no liens are registered on the motor vehicle, a
3-3 statement of such fact.
3-4 (i) A space for the signature of the owner and the
3-5 owner shall write his name with pen and ink in such space upon
3-6 receipt of the certificate.
3-7 (j) <A statement indicating "rights of survivorship"
3-8 when an agreement providing that the motor vehicle is to be held
3-9 between a husband and his wife jointly with the interest of either
3-10 spouse who dies to survive to the surviving spouse is surrendered
3-11 with the application for certificate of title. This agreement is
3-12 valid only if signed by both husband and wife and, if signed, the
3-13 certificate shall be issued in the name of both.>
3-14 <(k)> If the motor vehicle is equipped with an
3-15 odometer, the number of miles the motor vehicle has travelled as
3-16 reflected by the application.
3-17 Sec. 35. When the ownership of a motor vehicle registered or
3-18 licensed within this State is transferred by operation of law, as
3-19 upon inheritance, devise or bequest, bankruptcy, receivership,
3-20 judicial sale, or any other involuntary divestiture of ownership,
3-21 the Department shall issue a new certificate of title upon being
3-22 provided with a certified copy of the order appointing a temporary
3-23 administrator or of the probate proceedings, or letters
3-24 testamentary or of administration, if any (if no administration is
3-25 necessary, then upon affidavit showing such fact and all of the
3-26 heirs at law and specification by the heirs as to in whose name the
3-27 certificate shall issue), or order, or bill of sale from the
4-1 officer making the judicial sale. If the security interest or
4-2 other lien is foreclosed in accordance with law by nonjudicial
4-3 means, the affidavit of the secured party or other mortgagee of the
4-4 fact of the nonjudicial foreclosure in accordance with law is
4-5 sufficient to authorize the Department to issue a new certificate
4-6 of title in the name of the purchaser at the foreclosure sale. If
4-7 the foreclosure is of a constitutional or statutory lien, the
4-8 affidavit of the mortgagee of the fact of the creation of the lien
4-9 and of the divestiture of title by reason thereof in accordance
4-10 with law and proof of notice as required by Article 5504a, Revised
4-11 Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, are sufficient to authorize the
4-12 Department to issue a new certificate of title in the name of the
4-13 purchaser. <If an agreement providing for right of survivorship is
4-14 signed by the husband and wife, upon the death of either spouse the
4-15 Department shall issue a new certificate of title to the surviving
4-16 spouse upon being provided with a copy of the death certificate of
4-17 the deceased spouse.>
4-18 SECTION 3. A rights of survivorship indication that was
4-19 included by the department on a certificate of title before the
4-20 effective date of this Act has the same effect as an indication of
4-21 rights of survivorship included on a certificate of title under
4-22 Section 35A, Certificate of Title Act (Article 6687-1, Vernon's
4-23 Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act. On the death of one
4-24 of the spouses the department shall issue a new certificate of
4-25 title as provided by Section 35A(c), Certificate of Title Act.
4-26 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-27 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.