Deed Question - Lifetime

Just bought a timeshare and wondering if both husband and wife need to go on the deed or if just the buyer (me) should be on it. It is a Lifetime Deed.

Thank you.

1st, we hope you bought your timeshare resale. And 2nd, that is a good question to ask your attorney, as it has to do with your overall estate planning. Laws vary from state to state, and I'm not familiar with a 'lifetime deed'. Does this mean it expires with the owner? the buyer? Do you want the property to pass to your heirs? Is this even possible?

Many people deed their timeshares and other property something like, '___ &___, Husband and Wife, joint tenants with right of survivor-ship'.

Better consult someone more familiar with your needs and wishes than this or any other interest group.

Jim Ricks

Joint Tenants With Rights Of Survivorship.

Didi said:

Just bought a timeshare and wondering if both husband and wife need to go on the deed or if just the buyer (me) should be on it. It is a Lifetime Deed.

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Our timeshares are deeded not only in our names (The Chief Of Staff's & mine), but also in the names of our son & daughter-in-law, as joint tenants with rights of survivorship.

That way when I assume room temperature, The Chief Of Staff & the kids will all still own the timeshares together, mox nix my last will & testament. Likewise, when she departs this mortal coil, the kids' timeshare ownership continues, JTWROS between the 2 of them.

A side-effect of that arrangement has been that when we've sold off timeshares (or given'm away el freebo), more signatures have been needed on the paperwork -- no big deal, really, just an extremely minor nuisance.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

AwayWeGo said:

A side-effect of that arrangement has been that when we've sold off timeshares (or given'm away el freebo), more signatures have been needed on the paperwork -- no big deal, really, just an extremely minor nuisance.

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That is a hassle, expecially when the other "owners" are spread all over the US. But IMO setting things up the way you want is worth the hassle.

George

Is it very hard to add names post-sale? Thinking of adding child's name to our Marriotts.

Weimaraner said:

Is it very hard to add names post-sale? Thinking of adding child's name to our Marriotts.

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Do you want them to be jointly responsible for the maintanance fees? If you put them on the deed, your child will inherit the timeshare and the maintenance fees whether they want to or not.

Weimaraner said:

Is it very hard to add names post-sale? Thinking of adding child's name to our Marriotts.

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I believe you would have to re-record the deed with the county where it's deeded, and then likely pay Marriott for the change in owner registration. Soooo much easier/cheaper to do it the way you want it the first time.

Hence my earlier advice to consult the attorney/advisor who handles your estate planning.

Jim

This is a question only you can answer. If you tell us how you want to use this stuff now, and what you want to happen after you die, perhaps we can give you some advice.

You can title it any way you want. One name, both names, in the name of you and your children or even in the name of a corporation or trust There are different consequences for each choice you might make.


As Denise says, consult with your estate attorney. but know what you want to accomplish now and into the future and after you die.

Neither my wife nor my children want to own my timeshares. None of what I own is worth more than a doller or so on the resale market, (No Marriotts or Disney, etc) We all enjoy the use but Im the only one willing to do the management work. So I own them individually. Its not the ideal setup for everyone but it works for us...

ronparise said:

This is a question only you can answer. If you tell us how you want to use this stuff now, and what you want to happen after you die, perhaps we can give you some advice.

You can title it any way you want. One name, both names, in the name of you and your children or even in the name of a corporation or trust There are different consequences for each choice you might make.


As Denise says, consult with your estate attorney. but know what you want to accomplish now and into the future and after you die.

Neither my wife nor my children want to own my timeshares. None of what I own is worth more than a doller or so on the resale market, (No Marriotts or Disney, etc) We all enjoy the use but Im the only one willing to do the management work. So I own them individually. Its not the ideal setup for everyone but it works for us...

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Thanks to everybody responding.

The facts:

The decision to buy was MY decision. I bought on the resale market which in this case was Ebay. It is in an area that we love where there is no other timeshare and you'd have to be a millionaire to be able to afford "real estate" there ever. I bought week 16 as it's a school vacation week in our state and we could use this ourselves as we have both an adult child and a minor (14yr) child. It is a red week through II. We live about an hour away from this property and we visited there a few weeks ago before making the decision to buy. I also researched this property and it has very high reviews year around.

I have talked to our adult child and he is fine with taking on the financial obligation should something happen to us in the future and he assumes "ownership".

Still wondering exactly what a Lifetime Deed is though???

We don't have an estate attorney...we barely have an "estate".

If your deed says you were given a "life estate"... Your title lasts only as long as you do. On your death, it reverts to the grantor. This avoids sharing the burdens of a TS with one's heirs. But I doubt that's what you have, as its rarely done.

You would have to post the exact language of deed's "granting" clause to convinve me that is what you have. I think it far more likely that someone called a "lifetime deed" becuz you failed to name a co-owner with a right of surviviorship, and so, upon your death, it would have to go thru probate to find an heir.

I suggest that you ask an attorney, or perhaps, a R/E broker, to exam your deed to tell you what you own.

If you want to add a co-owner to the deed, you'll need to (1) draft a new deed that looks just like yours, only with your name as the grantor, (2) record it in the public records office of the county where the TS is located and then (3) send a recorded copy to the TS managment.

We added DD's name on our Massachusetts timeshare to avoid probate in that state when we pass. That still leaves us with properties in Georgia and Florida which could create a problem on my demise. Most are in my name alone. I would like to set up a trust to hold them. Had been waiting for DD to graduate from law school to help me with it, but now she tells me she can't play a role in the legal work since she would benefit from the trust.

Sheila

Didi - If you posted the name of the resort, we could give you a more accurate answer.