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What is the easiest way to will a timeshare

medicman1855

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The wife and I are trying to get our estate in order just encase something would happen to us. We've taken care of most assets to bypass probate. We want to set up a fund that would pay for M-Fee's for maybe the next 20 years. That way our 3 children would be able to use the TS with out worrying about paying M-fee's. We own Surrey Grand Crown in Branson. I assume on death the deed goes to someone. Do we just pick a child and they are the new owners and the other children are able to use it like we do now with guest cert. through II. Do we, or can we put all 3 kids in the will to receive ownership. But that might complicate things down the road for them. I do not foresee any in family bickering. If the TS is not listed on the will what happens to it. Does it go through probate and one of the kids have to take it? Just looking for ideas. Thanks
 

vacationtime1

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You live in Ohio and own real estate in Missouri. That means probate in (at least) two states. You need to talk to a competent lawyer and most likely set up a trust. Even if you could avoid this particular problem with joint tenancy, the latter has its own issues, and your proposed arrangement (a common fund to maintain a property you want shared among your kids) is not simple.
 

tschwa2

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I would talk to the kids to see if any or all even want the timeshare. The easiest thing to do if one does would be to put that child on the deed now.

It isn't a timeshare that has any resale value so it might just be easier to sell it or give it away when you no longer can use it and let them purchase another one themselves if so inclined.
 

dioxide45

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It sounds like you want to setup a trust. You also need to consider, perhaps your kids won't want the timeshare and will be too busy or not know enough about how to use it properly to take advantage of it. Perhaps they would rather just have the $15,000-$20,000 that you have put in a fund to pay the MFs.
 

Passepartout

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My first thought is "What do you have against your kids?", but I think you are serious. Easy, and equitable are at opposite ends of the spectrum here. In a simple will, your property- including timeshares goes to your estate, to be distributed, or disposed of by whoever you designate as executor, after probate. By the way, no one HAS to accept any inheritance. A timeshare is a prime example of something to refuse. It has negative value. (looked at resale prices of Branson TSs lately?) It has ongoing and increasing costs.

Do the kids want your timeshare(s)?

If it was me, I'd put in my will, that the timeshares should be refused, and then advise the kids that if they want a timeshare, they should acquire one at resale for a few bucks if they want it.

This is what I've done regarding mine and the offspring who have no desire to own TSs, but enjoy getting invited to use ours.

Jim
 

bogey21

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I would talk to the kids to see if any or all even want the timeshare. The easiest thing to do if one does would be to put that child on the deed now.

Disagree. Do what I did. I had 6 Weeks and decided to stop traveling. I asked my kids if they wanted any of them. Two declined. My Son said he wanted the Orofino ski Week. I immediately transferred it to him outright (as opposed to putting him on the Deed) but continue to pay the MFs.

Before you transfer a Week to one of your kids make sure they understand that you have first crack at using it while you are alive. If you can't trust them, maybe they weren't raised right!

George
 

dmharris

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The wife and I are trying to get our estate in order just encase something would happen to us. We've taken care of most assets to bypass probate. We want to set up a fund that would pay for M-Fee's for maybe the next 20 years. That way our 3 children would be able to use the TS with out worrying about paying M-fee's. We own Surrey Grand Crown in Branson. I assume on death the deed goes to someone. Do we just pick a child and they are the new owners and the other children are able to use it like we do now with guest cert. through II. Do we, or can we put all 3 kids in the will to receive ownership. But that might complicate things down the road for them. I do not foresee any in family bickering. If the TS is not listed on the will what happens to it. Does it go through probate and one of the kids have to take it? Just looking for ideas. Thanks

These are such great questions. We own a Marriott Grande Vista Gold 2 br lock off which to us is valuable because we're able to do two weeks vacation for about $500 a week (maintenance fees). With two daughters, we were thinking they could alternate, one gets the 1 bedroom one year and then the lock off the next. In either case, I did not even think about probate. Who wants to think about that? We baby boomers are forever young!

So I'm sure our girls would want the timeshare opportunity but I'm not going to set up a trust for them for maintenance fees, they can deal with that, so where do I look for info on probate? We're in PA and TS property in FL. I'd like to avoid attorney fees as much as possible and I'm capable of researching this, but Tuggers have such great insights, so I'm joining this conversation. And what happens if we retire eventually, God willing, to North or South Carolina?
 

vacationtime1

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I'd like to avoid attorney fees as much as possible and I'm capable of researching this, but Tuggers have such great insights, so I'm joining this conversation. And what happens if we retire eventually, God willing, to North or South Carolina?

Estate planning is not a DIY operation. In addition to wills and trusts, you need to consider durable powers of attorney, health care directives, etc., all of which can vary state to state.

The good news is that different lawyers charge different amounts for what is the same work in many situations. Focus your research on finding someone competent and affordable rather than trying to draft documents yourself that you may not completely understand.
 

TUGBrian

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definitely explain the resale market as well as the annual MF obligation to your kids when asking them if they want it.
 

dmharris

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Estate planning is not a DIY operation. In addition to wills and trusts, you need to consider durable powers of attorney, health care directives, etc., all of which can vary state to state.

The good news is that different lawyers charge different amounts for what is the same work in many situations. Focus your research on finding someone competent and affordable rather than trying to draft documents yourself that you may not completely understand.

To clarify, I want to educate myself first to avoid having an attorney do things, ask things, plan things that I can do prior to contacting an attorney. I wouldn't do a will without an attorney. We do have a will but it needs updating.
 

csxjohn

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.... I do not foresee any in family bickering. ...

This may start a family feud, them trying to out maneuver each other to get out of this ownership.:hysterical:

Seriously, that is a very nice timeshare and if you own a 3 br lockoff there you could will it to me if none of your children want it.

I agree with the others about explaining the ins and outs to them and let them decide if they want it or not.

I would not set up a fun to pay the MF, give them the money to do what they want with it and if it goes to MFs fine, if they all refuse the inheritance of the TS what contingency would you have in place so that your money is not paying the MF for a stranger who ends up with the TS?

I check eBay for that resort once in a while and I've not seen the 3Br lock offs for sale there.
 

bogey21

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To clarify, I want to educate myself first to avoid having an attorney do things, ask things, plan things that I can do prior to contacting an attorney. I wouldn't do a will without an attorney. We do have a will but it needs updating.

Understand that my situation is pretty simple as I gave all my assets to my kids and ex-wife about 15 years ago. But even so I have a Will, a Do Not Resuscitate Order, a Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates, a Medical Power of Attorney, and a Durable Power of Attorney. I used LegalZoom.com for all except the Do Not Resuscitate Order which is a stock form from the State of Texas. It was years ago but my recollection is that the cost was reasonable. I think I spent less than $100 for the package and continue to be happy with the quality of the finished product.

George
 

silentg

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We have our timeshares in a family Trust. My parents had a timeshare and when Dad past away Mum was still able to use it or let us or one of my siblings use it. I would only use it if she came along with me. I did use it once for my son to stay while changing apartments. Then Mum became too ill to travel, so my brother took over the week and let's his adult children use it, unless he has plans. We hope to decrease our number of timeshares in the next ten years. Although I keep seeing deals that are too good to pass up! I have been adding, but also subtracting, but still own too many weeks!
 

Ace

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I am going through past postings (there sure a lot to wade through), and thought I would add my two cents' worth here (in other words, roughly the financial value of a timeshare) because this (like others) caught my interest. I've been talking to my boys about timeshares, and as of now, they are not interested. They might change their minds in the future, but as of now, they are happy, for example, going to Las Vegas (where one of them happens to live) and staying in a hotel in the middle of all the action. I even told them there are some timeshares on the strip. They tell me, which I find a little hard to believe, that they can stay (and have) in nice hotels comparable to what I get at Grandview on "last call" or "on sale" deals for about the same cost (maybe slightly more). This could be true when you factor in costs like RCI dues and maintenance fees, which I have explained to them. I mentioned Orlando, where they might want to take their families to Disney World and stay in a nice place. Still no interest. I mentioned one of the things I like - getting up and fixing breakfast in your own room instead of going to a restaurant. Still no interest. They are happy to go out or tell me that there are reasonably priced hotel rooms with cooking facilities.

They do not want to inherit timeshares. And even if they were interested, quite frankly I am not sure I would want to put them through the trouble and extra expense of out-of-state ancillary probate proceedings to deal with these through my estate. If they want timeshares in the future, they can by them at a small resale cost (if not for free).

From reading other postings, it looks like there are people who inherited their parents' timeshares and are perfectly happy. (On the other hand, it looks like there are more who are frustrated with what they inherited and are looking for a way out.) This could be because they enjoy timesharing themselves, or it could be because it brings back memories of past times with their parents in their timeshares.

I'm obviously unaware of what the original poster's situation and motivation is. It's possible that some people, knowing they paid a developer big bucks for the timeshare weeks in the first place, are under the likely mistaken impression that they have valuable timeshare assets, when in reality what they have is worth small bucks now (if anything). And they want to make sure these "valuable" assets are handled properly after their deaths. It's possible that some people may have a sentimental or emotional attachment to their timeshares because they love to go to them.

But timeshares are different than family homes. Homes have real value, and they have sentimental or emotional value as well (even though homes are likely to be sold upon death). But timeshares have no significant (if any) value as real estate. If they are not wanted, and unless the children properly and successfully disclaim them as part of their inheritance (a process itself that sounds like it would add some expense to administering an estate), they become a financial burden with the maintenance fees.

So, what to do?

I think I will keep the timeshares as long as I want them and as long as I want to use them. It's possible that I may reach a point where I might be unable to travel. At some point (which I hope is in the far distant future), unless the boys tell me they want them, I will get rid of them. I do not really want the timeshares in my estate if the boys do not want them. If they change their minds and tell me they want them, it might be a good idea to go through the expense at some point of transferring the deeds for whatever they want to whoever wants it.

But what about an earlier untimely demise before I can get rid of the timeshares? I may not reach that "far distant future." I probably will tell the boys what my overall plan is (above), but I think I also will leave a letter about the timeshares with my will and with my timeshare papers. This letter will say something along the lines that I intended to get rid of these timeshares, but obviously I did not get around to doing that. I will tell them that they can accept the timeshares as an inheritance if they wish, but they have my full blessing if they want to disclaim the timeshares (and I will explain how to do that). They need to be educated about this because they will need to discuss it with the attorney handling the estate.

The original poster mentioned the possibility of setting up a trust for the purpose of paying future maintenance fees. I would not do that, just as I would not set up a trust to pay future real estate taxes on my home. Presumably, if the children inherit the timeshares and then want to get rid of them later, the money in the trust would revert to them anyway. (I doubt if the intent was to pay future maintenance fees on behalf of some future buyer!) If they want the timeshares, they can handle the maintenance fees, just as one or more of them would pay future real estate taxes if they decided to live in my home.

If I were inclined to set up a trust so they could enjoy future vacations, I would just set up a trust to be distributed to them over time and they could use the money however they see fit. They might know my intent was for them to use it as "vacation" money, but I would not want to tie them to that. And they might really need the money for something else. There are sometimes good reasons for setting up trust funds in general, though.

The family trust concept sounds interesting. It sounds like this means the timeshares are titled in the name of the trust. If so, that might bypass probate, except trusts cannot legally last forever. Someone still has to pay the maintenance fees. Eventually, with grandchildren added into the mix, there could be a lot of people who have rights through the trust to use the timeshares. And someone will be chasing down all of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren to pay their shares of those maintenance fees (unless as the original poster suggested, funds for this are in the trust). And eventually, at the end of the trust, someone still will have to figure out what to do with the timeshares, unless the timeshare has become obsolete in the meantime. The other thing about trusts is that there has to be a trustee. Surely, unless you have a huge estate in the trust, you wouldn't want to hire a bank as a trustee to keep track of timeshares that are basically not worth anything financially. Wouldn't this mean that one of your descendants would be tasked with keeping track of this and chasing down everyone?

I'd be interested in hearing the pros and cons of putting the timeshares in the name of a trust (probably will find the answer as I continue to wade through this forum). I'd also be interested in hearing whether any developers have refused to accept deeds transferred to a trust.
 

bogey21

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. We want to set up a fund that would pay for M-Fee's for maybe the next 20 years. That way our 3 children would be able to use the TS with out worrying about paying M-fee's....

As I mentioned earlier I gave all my assets to my kids and ex-wife many years ago and am determined not to leave a meaningful estate. But one of the things I do is help my kids while I am alive by making car payments, health insurance payments, contributions to 529s toward grand kids education, etc.

I make no effort to treat them equally but they all appreciate what I do for them. As to a fund to pay for things in the future what I have done is open a joint bank account with me and them and try to maintain a balance in it to cover 3 years of the items I am paying for. I anticipate that they will just let it gradually wind down after I die but if they decide to do something else with it, I won't care as I will be gone.

George
 

theo

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<snip> I do not really want the timeshares in my estate if the boys do not want them. If they change their minds and tell me they want them, it might be a good idea to go through the expense at some point of transferring the deeds for whatever they want to whoever wants it. <snip>

<snip> I'd be interested in hearing the pros and cons of putting the timeshares in the name of a trust (probably will find the answer as I continue to wade through this forum). I'd also be interested in hearing whether any developers have refused to accept deeds transferred to a trust. <snip>

You are wise to have had that "timeshare inheritance" discussion and, by doing so, discovering in advance that your offspring may actually want nothing whatsoever to do with involuntarily inheriting your timeshare(s). It would be truly unfortunate if, absent any such advance conversation having taken place, the offspring instead someday discovered to their surprise and consternation that you added their names to your deeds without their knowledge and informed consent, thereby making them the involuntary and unwilling co-owners of something with which they may never have wanted any involvement in the first place.

As far as your "trust" question goes, no resort would object to deeds in which a valid, lawfully established trust is the named grantee (...unlike a resort's very different view and stance on the entirely different matter of attempting to make a contrived, bogus "LLC" the named grantee). Many people (including us) willfully choose to have their timeshares in the name of their legally and formally established revocable / living trust.
 
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NZBGSF

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You pose a very important question regarding your estate plan including a timeshare. Assuming your children are willing and able to assume use of your timeshare in future years, after you have both passed on. Consider the following: 1) If needed, consider deeding your timeshare interest into your revocable living trust, 2) If you are concerned about your children inheriting future maintainence fees and desire to help them out, then you may want to designate funds in your estate to cover future MFs, or consider funding a "second to die" life permanent insurance policy payable to your children. We have our timeshare deeded to our family revocable living trust and adequate life insurance. In any event I recommend seeking legal advice or speak with your financial planner to address your particular situation.
 

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Will it to me and you will know that it will be put to good use:). I will book it every year ensuring to maximize the use piggybacking Bonus Time to the usage.

Joking aside you need to put it into a Family Trust and then ensure the resort has all the names of the people who can use it. If you get sick the best way is to name the heirs and your husband and wife would be authorized users so you could still use the week as guests etc.

You could even setup a Bank Account and Call it Timesahare Maintenance Fees and in the Will state that John and Jim Smith can use this account to pay off the Maintenance Fees. So essentially you could divide your money into this account and once its depleted then they can pay using their own money. This account can also pay for Interval and RCI membership Flights etc. You may even name it Travel Funds. So as long as the heirs are allowed access to the account and you are the authorized users and the heirs are the Primary Account Users so when you die all the Primary has to do is remove you no questions asked.

Hope this helps.
 
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