Michigan Laws 324.80312 – Certificate of title for watercraft; issuance; compliance; transfer of ownership; requirements; petition for watercraft not owned; proof of ownership and right of possession; statement of lien
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(1) The secretary of state may issue a certificate of title for a watercraft to a person who complies with subsection (2) or (3) if the transfer of ownership of that watercraft is any of the following:
(a) By operation of law including, but not limited to, inheritance, devise, bequest, order in bankruptcy, insolvency, replevin, or execution of sale.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.80312
- Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
- Bequest: Property gifted by will.
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Devise: To gift property by will.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Person: means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, governmental entity, or other legal entity. See Michigan Laws 324.301
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o
- Watercraft: means a contrivance used or designed for navigation on water, including a vessel, boat, motor vessel, steam vessel, vessel operated by machinery either permanently or temporarily affixed, scow, tugboat, or any marine equipment that is capable of carrying passengers, except a ferry. See Michigan Laws 324.80301
(b) By sale to satisfy a storage or repair charge.
(c) By repossession upon default in performance of the terms of a security agreement.
(d) As provided in subsection (3).
(2) A person applying for a certificate of title under this section shall do all of the following:
(a) Surrender to the secretary of state either a valid certificate of title or the manufacturer’s or importer’s certificate for the watercraft or, if surrender of a certificate for that watercraft is not possible, present proof satisfactory to the secretary of state of the applicant’s ownership of and right of possession to the watercraft.
(b) Pay the fee prescribed in section 80311.
(c) Present to the secretary of state an application for certificate of title.
(3) A person may petition the secretary of state for a certificate or certificates of title for 1 or more registered watercraft that the person does not own, if each of the following circumstances exists:
(a) The record owner of the registered watercraft dies without leaving other property that requires the procurement of letters under the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.1101 to 700.8102.
(b) The total value of the deceased owner’s interest in all watercraft subject to the petition for a certificate or certificates of title under this section is $100,000.00 or less.
(c) The person petitioning for a certificate or certificates of title under this section is 1 of the following, in the following order of priority:
(i) The surviving spouse of the watercraft owner.
(ii) A person entitled to the certificate or certificates of title in the order specified in section 2103 of the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.2103.
(d) The person who petitions for a certificate of title under this section furnishes the secretary of state with proof satisfactory to the secretary of state of each of the following:
(i) The death of the owner of each watercraft for which a certificate of title is sought.
(ii) The petitioner’s priority to receive the decedent‘s interest in each watercraft for which a certificate of title is sought.
(4) A certification by the person, or agent of the person, to whom possession of the watercraft passed, that sets forth the facts entitling that person to possession and ownership of the watercraft, together with a copy of the journal entry, court order, instrument, or other document upon which the claim of possession and ownership is founded, are satisfactory proof of ownership and right of possession. If the applicant cannot produce proof of ownership, the applicant may apply to the secretary of state for a certificate of title and submit evidence that establishes that person’s ownership interest in the watercraft. If the secretary of state finds the evidence sufficient, the secretary of state may issue to that person a certificate of title for that watercraft. The office of secretary of state shall examine the records in its possession and, if it determines from that examination that a lien is on the watercraft, and if the applicant fails to provide satisfactory evidence of extinction of the lien, the secretary of state shall furnish a certificate of title that contains a statement of the lien.