How can I transfer the title of my jointly-owned car without my wife being present?
You need to transfer the title to your name, but that probably takes a few weeks. Maryland might accept the title if it is signed, if they don’t require a witnessed signature (Notarized). No notary is going to risk their stamp on a phone call. You could hire a ringer to pose as your wife and sign the title with you. Take your wife with you. She can sleep on the way. Call the dealer and ask what the requirements are, then go from there. If only a signature is required and your wife is not opposed to the trade, forge her signature; without witnesses of course.
Call the dealership and ask them what they would prefer. Since they are in the business of transferring car titles, they undoubtedly have encountered the situation many times in the past and can tell you what works for them. My guess is that they probably will have her execute a power of attorney form authorizing you to act and sign on her behalf. You’ll need to move quickly, since this is Thursday and you are talking about a Saturday closing. Don’t even think about asking a notary to verify something over the phone. That is potentially criminal and insulting to an honest, competent notary. In every state in which I’ve conducted business, a notary is supposed to eyeball you and personally verify that the person signing the instrument is in fact the person in question. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notary_public Good luck!
It may be as simple as having her sign the title beforehand and nothing else is needed. If you want a little more certainty, you could have her sign it in front of a notary and have the signature notarized. Getting the title in your name only also solves the problem, but generally, the Department of Motor Vehicles will just give you a receipt and mail the title to you which could take 7-10 days. You could also get a Power of Attorney from your wife, but that seems to be overkill. If you have already selected a dealership in Maryland, contact their finance and adminstration office and ask them if her unnotarized signature is sufficient. Hope this helps.
They state the seller must sign in the presence of a notary public. If I were you, I would *shudder* call the Pennsylvania DMV and explain the situation. The worst case scenario is they will require you and your wife to be present for the signing. The complete fact sheet can be found at the address below: http://www.dot3.state.pa.us/pdotforms/fact_sheets/fs-buysell.pdf However, it may also depend on the laws of Maryland, since you certainly won’t be able to get a Pennsylvanian notary public to go with you to sign over the title. Alternatively, perhaps you and your wife can go to the Pennsylvania DMV and sign the portion together in the eyes of the notary public, then when you go to Maryland, all that’s left is for the buyer to sign. Sources: http://www.dot3.state.pa.us/pdotforms/fact_sheets/fs-buysell.
