Sorting private reg plate after death - complicated

[richatnort]

Hi all,

I have a fairly complicated issue i need some help with. My uncle while visiting his wife's family in Russia passed away from a large heart attack at the start of August. His wife is Russian and have been living in Bulgaria for the past 10 years. My uncles wife has said that I can have his private reg plate which we believe is still on his car (although the car is SORN) as she's no use for it and would like it to stay in the his side of the family.

I'm at a lost as to what I need to do because of various reasons being:

1. His death certificate is a Russian one (although we have it translated to english)
2. He's living in bulgaria full time and we are pretty sure he doesn't have a registered address in the UK
3. We found what we think is his V5C but its still registered to his old house he sold back in the UK but has a SORN number on it
4. I thought that given we have his V5 we could easily put his reg plate on retention and then with that certificate we could put it onto my car and i would therefore be the owner of it however when we followed this process DVLA is unable to find the vehicles record saying its incorrect or doesn't come from the latest log book.

I'm unsure where to go next bar speaking to DVLA who aren't open until next week and i'm worried if i speak to them it could get complicated.

Could I simply apply for a new V5C and put in his old address and see if it issues a new one? I would go round to the house he lived in and explained to the new house owner of his death and if any letters came for him could she let me know so i can collect or is that illegal / dodgy ground as i'm impersonating a dead person.

Thanks

[stevemcs]

I would be putting it on retention and not mentioning death certificates.

[KungFuPanda]

stevemcs said:

I would be putting it on retention and not mentioning death certificates.

The OP has already tried that and it won’t work because the reference from the V5 they have doesn’t come up with anything. This seems to suggest they have an out of date V5.

[andyalan10]

Where is the car? Because when you declare a car SORN you are stating that is of the road, and in the UK.

[richatnort]

Thanks all, I have no idea where the car is registered, knowing my uncle it’ll still be registered at his old address which is why I’m tempted trying to pay £25 for a new V5 and seeing if it turns up at his old house and retrieving it.

[ferret50]

Would it be easier to apply for a new V5c in your own name at your own address?

I have a feeling that the vehicle will need an MoT before you can lift the plate of it, will it pass one?

[richatnort]

ferret50 said:

Would it be easier to apply for a new V5c in your own name at your own address?

I have a feeling that the vehicle will need an MoT before you can lift the plate of it, will it pass one?

That’s not a bad shout but the car the reg is on is in Bulgaria so I have no idea how I would do that.

Why does it need an MOT to swap the plates over?

[Cylon2007]

richatnort said:

That’s not a bad shout but the car the reg is on is in Bulgaria so I have no idea how I would do that.

Why does it need an MOT to swap the plates over?

Because it needs to be MOT'd and have been taxed in the last 5 years, I believe the fact it is SORN will stop retention of the Plate. Ring DLVA tomorrow it's your only option, expect to not be able to retrieve the plate though, if you can it WILL be complicated.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

SORN won't stop the retention, the lack of MOT will.

[ferret50]

So now, OP, you have to decide if the plate means enough to you to recover the car from, where did you say, Bulgaria and fix it enough to pass an MoT...

[richatnort]

hahahaha I know! It is very good it’s basically my first initial and then my surname.

I wonder if we scrap the car somehow there is a way of doing it that way?

[Sebring440]

richatnort said:

I wonder if we scrap the car somehow there is a way of doing it that way?

If it's scrapped it won't have a current MoT.

[interstellar]

If the car is abroad is this then impossible?

Would exporting the car with DVLA make the plate available if it’s staying in Bulgaria?

[B'stard Child]

Apply for a reg doc in your name and your address

DVLA will send a letter to current keeper at registered address

Then if no response they will issue new reg doc to you

Depending on how long SORN you might be able to transfer the plate without an MOT

If you can’t do that then you are gonna need to find it….

You have checked on line to see if last MOT and SORN status is there?

If it’s MOT’d and tax someone has already got the car/or plate (if it’s on different make/model)

[richatnort]

Thanks, we’ve got the v5 and he had written on the sorn number for it on there and dated it 2016.

Speaking to his wife it’s got two flat tyres and a blown engine so it can’t be moved and she doesn’t want the car so would likely scrap it over there however that works but I need to get the reg off.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

I reckon you've lost it.

The car needs an MOT to transfer the plate. That isn't going to happen because it wasn't legally exported, just SORNed.

So either find someone to issue an MOT (highly unlikely) and apply for the V5c in your name, or retrieve the car and do it legally and properly.

[richatnort]

The plot thickens….

I’ve been informed by my aunt (uncles sister) who is out there that the car is on Bulgarian plates! However still has a broken engine and flat tyres but I wonder if he must of transferred the vehicle to be there permanently. Annoyingly no one knows his laptop password or PIN code to his phone (who doesn’t know their parents phone passcode!!)

[ADJimbo]

richatnort said:

The plot thickens….

I’ve been informed by my aunt (uncles sister) who is out there that the car is on Bulgarian plates! However still has a broken engine and flat tyres but I wonder if he must of transferred the vehicle to be there permanently. Annoyingly no one knows his laptop password or PIN code to his phone (who doesn’t know their parents phone passcode!!)

In this case then the Legal Executor of the LW&T needs to do a Subject Data Access Request to the DVLA to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

If the VRN was issued in the UK it belongs in the UK regardless of where the physical vehicle sits, and what it’s wearing.

[richatnort]

ADJimbo said:

In this case then the Legal Executor of the LW&T needs to do a Subject Data Access Request to the DVLA to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

If the VRN was issued in the UK it belongs in the UK regardless of where the physical vehicle sits, and what it’s wearing.

Given he hasn’t written a will (don’t ask) does that mean his wife? Does it also matter that is wife isn’t a UK resident but a Russian one

[dingg]

If the car it was on is now in Bulgaria and on Bulgarian plates, then either

A he's put it on retention and hopefully renewed the retention after its expiry (10 years)
B Sold it. Ask mid as suggested earlier
C Not gave a toss about it and once he's exported the car and changed plate it will be available to purchase from the DVLA, again....

I reckon you're on a sticky wicket sorting this out...