I am borrowing a "spare" car from my mother for about six months. Do I need to go through the process of transferring the title to my name, or can I just put insurance on it under my own policy and be "okay" legally? BTW, I live in Texas.

You should be able to insure it.

Your insurance company isn't going to have a problem insuring a car you don't own.

Our cars are in a private trust, so our names aren't on the title, but our insurance company insures them no differently than if we owned them.

If we were to have an accident, the claim settlement check would be made payable to the trust (and the body shop). For us that would be no problem, I would just submit a request for the trust overseer to sign over the check so the body shop could negotiate it.

Same with you and your mother. If you put her car on your policy, she is the one with the insurable interest since she owns the car, and the insurance check for damage to her car would be made payable to her (and the body shop). It would be in her interest to sign the check over to the body shop to repair the car.

Your insurer will probably ask if your mother will ever drive the car. If so, they'll want you to add her to the policy.

When it comes to insurance, there's a very good rule of thumb: Tell the truth. Liability insurance coverage is designed to cover things you're at fault for, never cover up anything. Just tell the truth and let the professionals you paid all those premiums to do their job and go to bat on your behalf.

Always remember, the reason you pay them is to be on your side right or wrong. They are there to protect you from legal liability and pay damages when they can't.

Issues like this should be brought out to them at the outset so they can do it right from the start.
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