Hey all,
I know some folks have talked about the challenges of buying from an estate sale. Thought I’d open a thread to discuss. I’ve just done this, as documented in my Sonerai thread. I don’t have any paperwork yet - still working with the sons of the builder. One of them is local, and they are both going to end up as friends so I don’t think I’ll have a problem. I just don’t know what to ask for. Any advice and experience is welcome!
There’s some good information here: Buyer Beware - KITPLANES
Like it says in that article you want to maintain a chain of ownership which is true of any partially completed kit. The estate executor should be able to fill out a FAA 8050-2 with the word “aircraft” crossed out and “kit” written in. Don’t quote me on this but I would think the deceased owner’s name would appear as the seller with the executor signing for them with their name and title.
If it’s a kit, ideally they would have the original bill of sale from the manufacturer. I didn’t get one with my kit but Sonex was able to reissue one (I also read they may not have issued with some kits since people tend to loss them). I don’t know how this would work for the Sonerai. All the bill of sales get sent in when the aircraft is registered.
Depending on how much work was complete you may also need a build log, pictures and receipts. These were useful for me for the airworthiness inspection to prove it was amateur built.
For that project, I’d used the first option on 8050-88 declaring it as “miscellaneous parts”. No receipts or paperwork will be required, and if you take pictures of it now, no one could question it. If you ever select that Kit option, there’s no going back if they don’t happen to like the paperwork.
Rusty
I purchased my kit from aan estate.
The only additional documentation you need is the document of appointment as executor. Make sure it is official, with the stamp of the appropiate issuing court.
This is the document that gives the executor the legal right to sell. No big deal, the executor should have it. Sonex and or the FAA will require it.
I’m currently executor of an estate and what John notes here is absolutely correct. One other caveat to note is to be certain that ownership is in the name of the person for whom the certificate of appointment is given.
Let me explain … in one instance a document received in the name of the wife of the person named on the certificate of appointment came in that is causing me a bit of headache. She passed several years ago and her will gave everything to him. He passed last year. But because the document is in her name nobody wants to touch it. I’m told there is a form that has to be filed with probate to clear this up.
Not to get too far into the weeds but just to say to make certain that all the links are clean and clear as any little jot or tittle out of step makes the whole process quite messy … and dealing with the FAA can be challenging enough when all is correct.
“We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming,” Wernher von Braun.
“When the weight of the paperwork equals the weight of the plane, the plane will fly,” Donald Douglas.
Some things never change.
I’m not sure if the same process applies for the Sonerai plans, but when I bought my kit second hand, I followed the ownership transfer process laid out by Sonex (Sonex Web Store - SNX-Ownership Xfer Plans/Kit/Flying Aircraft Ownership Transfer SNX-Ownership Xfer Plans/Kit/Flying Aircraft Ownership Transfer). If I remember correctly, the process didn’t require the seller to do anything. Although I had a kit bill of sale from the EAA chapter I bought it from, I reached out to Sonex when I was getting ready to register the airplane and they reissued the bill of sale with Sonex as the seller to reestablish the chain of ownership.
I’m kind of doing this right now with a quickie tri q 200 I’m picking up. It was flying at one point but registration is lapsed also. I’ve done it quite a few times with planes that weren’t complete. Only real change is having a IA I know go through it to get the registration valid again instead of dealing with the local fsdo
I also registered with Sonex. They required the appointment document.
For the instances when the signiture on the BOS doesn’t match the name in the Sonex register, one has to provide evidence that the signator is authorized to sell the kit.