TITLE 49

MOTOR VEHICLES

CHAPTER 16

DEALERS AND SALESMEN LICENSING

49-1615.  Succession to ownership. Notwithstanding the terms, provisions or conditions of any franchise:

(1)  A licensee may appoint by will, or any other written instrument, a designated family member to succeed in the ownership interest in the dealership.

(2)  Unless there exists good cause for refusal to honor succession on the part of the manufacturer, any designated family member of a deceased or incapacitated owner of a dealership may succeed to the ownership under the existing franchise, provided the designated family member gives the manufacturer written notice of his intention to succeed to the ownership of the dealership within one hundred twenty (120) days of the owner’s death or incapacity, and the designated family member agrees to be bound by all the terms and conditions of the franchise.

(3)  The manufacturer may request, and the designated family member shall provide, promptly upon request, personal and financial data that is reasonably necessary to determine whether the succession should be honored.

(4)  If a manufacturer believes that good cause exists for refusing to honor the succession to the ownership of a dealership by a family member of a deceased or incapacitated owner of a dealership under the existing franchise agreement, the manufacturer may, not more than sixty (60) days following receipt of notice of the designated family member’s intent to succeed to the ownership of the dealership, or any personal or financial data which it has requested, serve upon the designated family member and the department, notice of its refusal to honor the succession and of its intent to discontinue the existing franchise with the dealer no sooner than ninety (90) days from the date notice is served. The notice must state the specific grounds for a refusal to honor the succession. A protest may be filed in accordance with the provisions of section 49-1617, Idaho Code.

(5)  If notice of refusal and discontinuance is not timely served upon the family member, the franchise shall continue in effect subject to termination only as otherwise permitted under this chapter.

(6)  This chapter does not preclude the owner of a dealership from designating any person as his successor by written instrument filed with the manufacturer and, in the event there is a conflict between that written instrument and the provisions of this section, and that written instrument has not been revoked by the owner of the dealership, in writing, to the manufacturer, then the written instrument shall govern.

History:

[49-1615, added 1988, ch. 265, sec. 388, p. 777.]