Car Title Question - "My young son bought a car and..."

[Dwayland]

Greetings all!

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. I've Googled, but got confused with all the "car flipping" topics...

Here's the skinny:
-My "17 year old, unlicensed" son bought himself a cheap car. Both he and the buyer signed the back of the title and had it notarized. So now the "paper title is in my son's name."
-Now he needs to file the paperwork with the DMV for the title transfer.
-BUT, the DMV states that the car needs to be insured prior to title transfer.
-BUT, my insurance will not insure the vehicle unless my son takes out a separate policy OR the title is transferred to me(Dad) and then it can be placed on our policy.
Sooo, this is where I become confused...

My thoughts:
-Have my son gift me the car and I sign the back of the title and have it notarized. I am now on the paper title as the owner.
-I call insurance and tell them the title is now in my name so it "should" be able to be insured?
-I then goto DMV, and provide proof of insurance and pay the tax, tag and title transfer fees and have it registered under my name, basically skipping my son in the official registering process.

Does the above seem correct? Folks buy and sell cars all the time, so I'd assume if you bought a car and immediately sold it, you (in this case, my son) you don't need to do the title transfer with the DMV?

Does this seem correct?

Thanks for any assistance!

Derek

[DYohn]

Yes, put the car in both of your names and then you can insure it. Beware, however, that some insurance companies will make you sign a statement that you will not allow your son to operate the vehicle until he is fully licensed. Also beware that as long as the title sits in limbo (signed but not filed) in most states it is legally not yours nor your son's yet. It is still the legal responsibility and property of the previous owner until the title is filed and officially changed.

[Dwayland]

Aug 15, 2020 11:45:08 GMT -5 DYohn said:

Yes, put the car in both of your names and then you can insure it. Beware, however, that some insurance companies will make you sign a statement that you will not allow your son to operate the vehicle until he is fully licensed. Also beware that as long as the title sits in limbo (signed but not filed) in most states it is legally not yours nor your son's yet. It is still the legal responsibility and property of the previous owner until the title is filed and officially changed.

Thank's so much for the response! Yeah, I read that too, that it really wasn't his/ours until we file the paperwork.

[pedrocols]

Yes. Here in Massachusetts you have to surrender the title at the time of registration and they will send you a new title with your name on it. Folks here hate the process because if you want to "flip" the car you can't until you get the new title and it typically takes up to 30 days for the new title to be issued and mail to you.

[SteveH]

It all depends upon which state you live in, I live in Florida, Florida requires insurance.
For instance:

California – Proof of auto insurance is not required.
Florida – Proof of insurance is required to transfer a title.
Michigan – Proof of insurance is not required to transfer