[ 2009 ] Can a 17 year old be on the deed?

[Craig]

Does anyone know if a 17 1/2 year old can be listed on the deed for a week of timeshare? The resort is in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Thanks!

 

[Carolinian]

You should ask an attorney in that state about the ramifications.

A minor can be a grantee on a deed in North Carolina, but cannot be a grantor without court approval until he reaches his majority. That means if there would ever be a desire to convey it to someone else before he turned 18, it would involve an expensive court proceeding.

 

[richardm]

I would recommend against it. As Carolinian mentioned, it can create problems with executing contracts for both sale and purchase. Also, even if the youth shows on the deed, the resort most likely has age restrictions in place. You can always add him on later (but check with the resort to determine if any resort fees would then apply to update the ownership account)..

 

[Craig]

We actually just bought this week and the new deed is being prepared. It is a 3BR fixed Christmas week that we plan to use for the next couple of years. I will not be selling it anytime soon, and wanted my children on the deed to prevent probate in the future. However, my youngest is currently 17 1/2.

Is it legal to list her on the deed?

 

[theo]

Why bother???

....wanted my children on the deed to prevent probate in the future. However, my youngest is currently 17 1/2. Is it legal to list her on the deed?

Best answered by an attorney, but likley entirely unnecessary anyhow, as the ownership would go to your heirs upon your passing regardless (...if they chose to accept it --- they would not actually be obligated to do so).

 

[Bill4728]

We actually just bought this week and the new deed is being prepared. It is a 3BR fixed Christmas week that we plan to use for the next couple of years. I will not be selling it anytime soon, and wanted my children on the deed to prevent probate in the future. However, my youngest is currently 17 1/2.

Is it legal to list her on the deed?

It likely isn't legal for a 17 year old to own property. BUT who cares? She be 18 very soon and no one will care that she was put on the deed when she was 17.

Doing this will not help or hurt in the case of probate. BUT it will mean that as an owner, she'll have less trouble using the unit in future years than if she isn't an owner. I'd go for it if it was me.

 

[Dave H]

It likely isn't legal for a 17 year old to own property. BUT who cares? She be 18 very soon and no one will care that she was put on the deed when she was 17.

Doing this will not help or hurt in the case of probate. BUT it will mean that as an owner, she'll have less trouble using the unit in future years than if she isn't an owner. I'd go for it if it was me.

Actually, not necessarily true. As I seem to recall in talking with our attorney, if a 17 year old enters into a contract, which they lack capacity in Florida to do, the minor has until age 21 to void out the purchase contract in a court of law.

That means a court would unwind the deal and the seller has become the proud new owner of their old timeshre they did not want.

Rich, you might remember one we had a while back that went along those lines, you might be able to shed some extra light on it.

Dave

 

[BocaBum99]

Actually, not necessarily true. As I seem to recall in talking with our attorney, if a 17 year old enters into a contract, which they lack capacity in Florida to do, the minor has until age 21 to void out the purchase contract in a court of law.

That means a court would unwind the deal and the seller has become the proud new owner of their old timeshre they did not want.

Rich, you might remember one we had a while back that went along those lines, you might be able to shed some extra light on it.

Dave

Dave's example is the correct one. It's not that it is unlawful for a 17 year old to hold title to a timeshare. It's that a minor under the age of 18 years old cannot enter into an agreement without the automatic provision of being able to opt out of it. The other adult parties cannot opt out of the agreement, but the minor can.

What you do is simply have a separate contract that adds them to the deed later and then record it with the minors name. Then, if they opt out, they can do so without impacting the rest of the owners.

 

[1950bing]

17 is too young for such matters. Would they have a full understanding?
They may not want to be on the deed. Would you want your kid on your house deed?

 

[Harry]

I would add to this

Actually, not necessarily true. As I seem to recall in talking with our attorney, if a 17 year old enters into a contract, which they lack capacity in Florida to do, the minor has until age 21 to void out the purchase contract in a court of law.

That means a court would unwind the deal and the seller has become the proud new owner of their old timeshre they did not want...

Dave

Dave is correct about Florida's statute regarding minors. Craig's daughter's conveyance would be voidable. The court would not "unwind the deal."
There would be an attempt to honor the conveyance but merely exclude the daughter (the voidable portion). Of course, Dave is correct if the daughter up to time of majority does not want the timeshare. This does not seem to be the case. I think, although I am not licensed in Florida, that Fl would honor the conveyance if the seller contests as it pertains to the others on the deed.

Harry

 

[richardm]

Asking for trouble is never a good idea...

Rich, you might remember one we had a while back that went along those lines, you might be able to shed some extra light on it.

Dave

Dave's example is the correct one. It's not that it is unlawful for a 17 year old to hold title to a timeshare. It's that a minor under the age of 18 years old cannot enter into an agreement without the automatic provision of being able to opt out of it. The other adult parties cannot opt out of the agreement, but the minor can.

What you do is simply have a separate contract that adds them to the deed later and then record it with the minors name. Then, if they opt out, they can do so without impacting the rest of the owners.

It means possible trouble and headache for the sellers.. Bottom line- regardless of who is legally right or wrong- chances are there isn't enough dollars in this to warrant legal action by either party. The only ones who would be satisfied by such action would be the attorneys who got paid to argue over it.. Probably the biggest risk here is the Buyer defaulting on the contract and claiming the agreement was invalid due to the age of one of the parties involved.

I wouldn't recommend a seller sign what could possibly be determined to be an unenforceable purchase agreement. Also, it's just not needed in this instance. Boca's recommendation of either a subsequent contract or deeding is perfectly reasonable- and would seem to be a simple solution.

We've had instances where minors held title due to parent deaths- and they are headaches every single time.. What generally happens is in those instances you are not only dealing with the counsel for the estate- but also the representative for the children. Often, neither one has any real knowledge of the industry (but plenty of arrogance) and it just leads to a disaster..

If you are worried about probate- talk to your estate attorney and think about setting up a trust and vesting the ownership accordingly at that time.

 

[dougp26364]

We actually just bought this week and the new deed is being prepared. It is a 3BR fixed Christmas week that we plan to use for the next couple of years. I will not be selling it anytime soon, and wanted my children on the deed to prevent probate in the future. However, my youngest is currently 17 1/2.

Is it legal to list her on the deed?

Being on a deed will not necessarily avoid probate. While it will pass to the heirs despite probate, anything you own including joint property is still subject to probate. Exactly how it is handled in probate court will depend upon the laws in your state but, as a general rule, if you own it (even jointly) then probate court will need to know about it and it will affect the total amount of your estate, depending upon how the joint ownership is drawn up.

I believe if it's held as tennents in common, every owner has an undivisable right to the property meaning, there may be 3 or 4 owners but, each owns the property in entirety, not as a divisable asset. In this case, for probate purposes, the value to each persons estate would have been the total value of the property but, because they were all owners of the land, it would pass unopposed to the survivors.

I guess what I'm saying is that estate planning can get complicated quickly and it's never a good thing to assume anything. I've been involved in some way, shape or form in the settlement of three estates and there's always some little glitch that causes at least minor irritation. Don't assume that putting a name on a title will make things run smoothly or take something out of an estate for probate purposes.

My personal feeling are, why would you want to put your child on the hook for the responsiblity of disposing of this timeshare in the event of your death? By leaving their name off the title, they may have the option of deciding if they want to accept the inheritance of the timeshare or let it go. With their name on the title, if you ever default on the MF payments, they're automatically on the hook to make them. You could inadvertanty end up gifting them a bill, even before you're passing. This is something I think could create more problems than it would solve and, I'm not even certain it would solve the problem you're trying to avoid.

 

[taterhed]

deleted

 

[jehb2]

[deleted by me]

 

[dioxide45]

My kids are still in middle school. I wouldn’t want them to be legally responsible for timeshares unless they are in a place in their lives where they can afford them and this type of travel works for their lifestyle.

You are replying to a nine year old post. Thread, it seems, was brought back to life in error.

 

[jehb2]

Me laughing. How the heck did this get revived. And I worked on my response. Well thank goodness it’s Christmas break and I’m just hanging out with family.

 

[dioxide45]

How the heck did this get revived.

It's @taterhed fault!

 

[dayooper]

It's @taterhed fault!

Isn’t always @taterhed fault?

 

[sharewhereMiMi]

You are replying to a nine year old post. Thread, it seems, was brought back to life in error.

I wonder what that then 17year old is thinking about ownership

 

[taterhed]

I was actually replying to a new thread with the same subject matter quoting something out of this threat but then accidentally posted into the wrong thread and deleted it.

So yes, it is all my fault

Tater on my Note8 tapatalk