Parents Want Me To Register A Car And Own A Title In My Name But They're Paying In Cash And They Will Be The Primary Drivers

Location: Utah, USA

Hey everyone. Some background: I'm 23, I live at home with my parents still. I graduated college last semester but I have physical and mental health issues that make it difficult for me to work a typical 9-5 job. I currently do freelance stuff, which generates enough cash for me to pay for basic things, but I'm still very reliant on my parents for things like food. I don't qualify for SSDI (not enough work credits), in the process of applying for SSI.

My parents have recently applied for bankruptcy (chapter 13), they generated a lot of debt and are very careless with money. My dad is into stocks but not good at it and has lost a lot of money. He had told my mom he was paying the auto loan for a car with the money, but he was instead putting it into stocks and losing it, which led to the car being repo'd after 3 months of non-payment.

Bankruptcy was quickly filed to generate an automatic stay on the car and get it back. We have 4 cars and a camping trailer. However, after my mom did the new budget, she realized we wouldn't have enough to live off of, so they decided to sell one car and the camping trailer, which was also in a loan with another one of the cars, so we will have two cars. These cars are not the most reliable, they're from the 90s and have had many issues over the years. My mom had said that they would be getting a new car.

Today, my mom texted me saying that when they get a new car, they can't register it in their names because of the bankruptcy, and asked me if I would be okay registering it in my name, as well as having the title in my name. They said they would be paying cash in full, so there would be no debt.

Immediately I felt uneasy, it felt like a massive thing to ask me to do. I feel like it's a huge legal liability. Because I don't have a car or have moved out or anything like that, having something like that officially in my name feels massive. I honestly do not want to do it. I don't even drive myself because of my health issues.

I tried telling my parents I was uncomfortable with this, and they're fighting with me on it and putting a lot of pressure on me to agree. It feels like every concern I have was brushed aside. I asked if they could co-title and they said no, they can't do a title or co-title for 5 years because of bankruptcy, but that they'd buy it from me in 5 years and it would be fine.

I obviously have an issue with it from the financial side of stuff, if anything were to happen and financial/legal responsibility fell on me, I do not make enough money to pay for anything, and my parents have proven unreliable with money.

I was also worried that the car would be considered uninsured if it's under my name with the title and registration. My parents have auto insurance and I'm listed as a named insured, so they tell me that if they're driving and something happens, it will be insured because I'm listed as a named insured, even if I'm not the policyholder. I don't know enough about insurance to know if that's correct. I'm reading about "insurable interest" but it's a bit confusing since I'm the owner of the car but my parents are the policyholders of the insurance with me as a named insured, and they would be the primary drivers, so I'm not 100% sure how that would work out in practice.

I'm definitely feeling very pressured to say yes. Part of my mental health struggles make me feel inherently like a burden due to my disabilities, so I have a tendency to overextend myself to prove being useful to my parents. So there's a part of me that feels like I have to give in, even though I'm really uncomfortable with it.

I guess my overall question is whether or not this is a good idea and if there's anything I should keep in mind if I do go ahead with it. Would it be fine if I'm the owner of the car and they're the policyholders of the auto insurance with me as a named insured? Is there any massive legal liability I could get into that they might be unaware of or being dishonest about?

TIA