When a car owner dies does his auto insurance remain in effect until the expiration date and will it cover family members who drive the car?

Answer 1

It varies by state. Read the 'Assignment of Benefits' section of your automobile policy and it will provide a specific answer. As a general rule, the executor of the estate will be able to drive the vehicle when using it for 'estate' business - that is, to and from appointments with the attorney handling the estate, etc. No other drivers would be covered. In most cases, the policy will only cover for a certain period of time after the death of the named insured. Also, if it is a spouse that passes away and the other spouse survives and is listed as a co-insured on the policy, the Assignment of Benefits would not come into play and the policy would just have the spouse that passed away removed. If that is the case, the policy would cover as it would have normally even if the first named insured had not passed away - i.e., anyone with permission to drive the vehicle and is not excluded under the policy would be covered.