"Vehicle Deregistration Should Be Allowed Without Consent from Children When Remarried Spouse Passes Away"

Consideration Given to Inability to Obtain Consent Due to Severed Family Ties
Unreasonable Tax and Insurance Burden Despite Negligible Vehicle Value

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission has recommended that even if a person is unable to obtain consent from the children of their deceased, remarried spouse—due to loss of contact after the spouse's death—they should still be allowed to deregister the vehicle.

Government Complex Sejong National Rights Commission. Photo by Hyunmin Kim

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission announced on May 8 that, in response to a grievance filed by Mr. A, who sought to deregister a commercial vehicle jointly owned with his now-deceased wife, it expressed the opinion that if it is impossible to obtain consent from the children, who are joint heirs, vehicle deregistration should be permitted without submitting written consent from them.

Mr. A attempted to scrap (deregister) the truck he had shared with his remarried wife after she passed away. However, the local government refused, citing relevant laws. Under current law, in order to deregister a vehicle following the owner’s death, consent forms from all registered heirs and interested parties are required.

After his wife’s passing, Mr. A tried to locate her biological children but was unable to meet them. He could not even establish contact, making it impossible to obtain their consent. As a result, although he could no longer operate the vehicle, he still had to pay automobile taxes and mandatory insurance premiums every year.

The commission considered several factors: the vehicle’s property value is only about 600,000 won, the deceased’s share (1%) amounts to just 6,000 won, and Mr. A is bearing the financial burden of automobile taxes and insurance due to his inability to deregister the vehicle. Based on these circumstances, the commission concluded that it would be appropriate to allow the vehicle to be deregistered.

Heo Jae-woo, Director of the Grievance Settlement Bureau at the commission, stated, “This decision takes into account unavoidable circumstances in which, due to various family structures, communication among heirs has been severed and obtaining consent forms has become impossible.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.