Transfer of registration

(1) On the change of possession of a motor vehicle otherwise than by death– (a) the motor vehicle shall not be used for more than seven days after such change of possession unless the new owner is registered as the owner thereof; and (b) the registered owner and the new owner shall within seven days after such change of possession make application in writing signed by both of them to the Department giving the name and address of the new owner and the date of change of possession and such application shall be accompanied by the certificate of registration and the prescribed fee and the transport officer shall thereupon by endorsement of the certificate of registration and entry in the records substitute the name of the new owner for that of the registered owner Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic [CAP. 230 23 and shall date and initial the substitution and from such date the new owner shall for all purposes be deemed to be the registered owner of the motor vehicle described in the relevant entry in the records and in such certificate of registration, but where the ownership in any motor vehicle is transferred under any legal or judicial process or by virtue of a bill of sale and such motor vehicle has been seized in accordance with such bill of sale and the Bills of Sale Act and the owner satisfies the Department that no order has been made restraining the removal or sale of such motor vehicle, the application aforesaid may be made by the new owner alone subject to the other provisions of this section being complied with. CAP. 246. (2) Subject to sub-section (3), in the case of the death of the registered owner, the legal personal representative of the deceased in Belize shall be deemed to be the owner for the purposes of such transfer, and in the absence of any legal personal representative in Belize, the person into whose possession the motor vehicle lawfully comes, shall, for the purposes of such transfer, be deemed to be the registered owner. (3) A legal personal representative or other person as mentioned in sub-section (2) shall notify the Department of the death of the registered owner within one month of such event. (4) At the discretion of the transport officer, a new certificate of registration may be issued instead of endorsing the original 24