Invalid Bill of Sale?

[Shalimar31]

Hello, I was wondering if someone would give me advice regarding the bill of sale of my vessel?
Long story short, I sold my last (solely owned) boat a number of years ago in order to purchase my fathers boat as he was in severe financial difficulties.
I went ahead, and gave him payments via a cheque, card machine payment, and cash.
Three years ago, we decided to sell the boat, and put the money towards a larger vessel. A local broker sold my boat for us, and supplied us with a larger vessel.
The broker was well aware that the boat he was selling belonged to myself. This was put to him in writing, and he also knows us from being in the same marina as us for over 10 years.
My parents paid the balance for the larger vessel, which equated to nearly 1/3rd the value of my boat that was being sold.
However, I have only recently been given copies of the bills of sale.
Firstly, my father signed the sale agreement for my boat, with no mention of myself. Surely this cannot be valid as the broker knew that I owned the boat, and that my father was only acting on my behalf?
Secondly, there is no mention of me on the bill of sale for the larger vessel, even tho the sale of my vessel paid for more than 2/3rds of it!
When I recently approached the broker regarding this, he told me to sort it out with my father and that he wants nothing to do with it! Oh, the he said 'tough luck' to me!
Ultimately, it has been pointed out to me that the culmination of the paperwork indicates that I have nothing to do with the new larger vessel, legally.
My sister is using this to her advantage, and has convinced my parents to let her and her family have the boat as they have kids and I do not! This has caused a split in the family.
Is the broker at fault here?
Does anyone think that I have a legal right to have the broker provide new documents to myself?

 

[Tranona]

From what you say, your father had title to sell according to the BoS even though you had an interest in the original boat. So the problem is really yours - when you paid your father you should have got evidence of your title share by way of a Bill of Sale transferring your share to you. The broker can only act based on what the paperwork says - your father had sole title, signed the contract with the buyer and the BoS to the new owner reflected that.

So you have to sort this out with your father, agree what percentage of the new boat you own and he should execute a new BoS reflecting this. Hopefully you can resolve this amicably, but worth documenting your payments to him if you need to take formal action against him to get what you claim is yours.

 

[RJJ]

Your sister sounds nice.... ?

Is it acknowledged that you contributed heavily/in the majority to the purchase? Or has your dad forgotten?

 

[Shalimar31]

Thanks for the response.
Yes, my sister is 'lovely'
Basically, my father has been told by my mother and sister to deny everything, and my sister is using her kids as leverage
I still cannot understand why the broker is washing his hands of it, even when he knew that I owned the boat which was being sold. Again, there is written correspondence between me and the broker on this (prior to the sale - I even gave written instruction to the broker to allow my father to deal with this 'on my behalf'). If this was property, the conveyance would be invalid

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

Pretty sure that the broker was wrong in accepting your father's authorisation in the sale of boat #1. It then must follow that he was also wrong to use the proceeds of that sale in the purchase of boat #2.

 

[Bru]

Sad when it's within the family but you need legal advice, not forum advice

 

[ean_p]

You seem to be missing the BoS of the boat from your father to you. From this flows the trail of ownership.

 

[Tranona]

Pretty sure that the broker was wrong in accepting your father's authorisation in the sale of boat #1. It then must follow that he was also wrong to use the proceeds of that sale in the purchase of boat #2.

How than that be? The father has title on boat 1. The broker would actually be wrong in accepting instructions from the son, who has ne evidence of title. The broker is quite right - the sale of a share of boat one was between father and son and should have been covered by a BoS showing the change in ownership. The broker would in fact be wrong in taking instructions from the son without the agreement of the father.

The son has evidence of a financial interest in the new boat and he has to sort this out with the father if he wants his name on a BoS

 

[pandos]

I think you saying that:
1. You paid your father in full for his boat, and therefore you were the sole owner of that boat at that stage! Did you get a BOS then, put insurance on it in your sole name? Is there any objective proof that you were the sole owner?
2. That you decided to sell this boat, and to use the funds to contribute to the purchase of a larger boat with you providing effectively 75% of the purchase funds.
3. This current boat was bought, using your funds which the broker knew were yours.
4. The broker prepared paperwork which did not reflect your contribution to the funding.
5. Your father is behaving as if he is the sole owner.

If the above is true it sounds like a constructive trust situation, with you being the majority beneficial owner, with your parents jointly owning the remainder and your father holding the legal title in trust for you and for both of your parents. That is a battle between your father and yourself

You could focus on the broker in terms of having a duty to you to ensure that the new boat was purchased with paperwork which reflected the actual source of the funding.

The alternative view maybe that you sold your boat so that you would have funds to help your father by gifting him money, he then traded his boat in against a larger vessel, so at best he owes you some money.

Ultimately You will need to sort this out or wave good by to your interest in the boat.

The sooner you do this the better.

If it is a sizeable amount of money then get a good lawyer to act for you. If it is a few thousand it might be better to adopt a low key approach.especially if the running costs will be a a good proportion of the value...(if that is the case you'll soon enough be asked to cough up again)

Your sister sounds like a typical sibling who does not contribute but thinks they are entitled to use whatever daddy has...

You may need to decide whether family the boat, or your pride, is more important to you.

Best of luck.

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

How than that be? The father has title on boat 1. The broker would actually be wrong in accepting instructions from the son, who has ne evidence of title. The broker is quite right - the sale of a share of boat one was between father and son and should have been covered by a BoS showing the change in ownership. The broker would in fact be wrong in taking instructions from the son without the agreement of the father.

The son has evidence of a financial interest in the new boat and he has to sort this out with the father if he wants his name on a BoS

We don't know if there is a BoS for the sale of boat #1 from father to son, so you could be right about title. That doesn't affect the ownership though, and the broker was told, in writing, that the boat belonged to the son.

 

[jwilson]

Tranona as usual is correct.

Horrible situation, but without a valid Bill of Sale between father and son, the boat still technically belongs to the father. If you told the broker it was your boat then the broker should have seen the BoS transferring ownership or part ownership to you as part of his due diligence, and if it did not exist flagged this up and sorted it out. You should also have received the new BoS within days of the change of ownership, and that would have been the time to sort it out if there was a problem.

Also, it appears that the parent sold the boat without declaring your interest (ie part share). Again, a truly unpleasant family problem.