Marriott Trust Points after member dies

[dcrand]

Hi,
My mother has recently died. She had three Marriott vacation club properties that she successfully sold using a realtor I found through this website. So thanks! She thought she only had 1,000 trust points remaining, but it looks like she actually has 3,000. She was told (not sure if it was by the realtor or by Marriott) that if she only had 1000 points, she wouldn't owe any maintenance fees, but she has more and I recently paid her maintenance fees. What's the deal with trust points? Will they disappear now that she has died, or no? None of the heirs want the points. I think the realty has her points up for sale, but they are not selling. Any insights would be helpful! Thank you.

 

[Fasttr]

Reach out to MVC exit folks. They may pay you $2 a point to take them back, but worst case would likely be that they take them back for free. May be a bit more complicated with probate, etc. It’s likely your quickest way to get them off your hands.

https://www.marriottvacationclubs.com/s/exit

 

[1Kflyerguy]

The points won't just go away, and as far as know you would still owe the MF even if it was just 1000 points. I think you need to sell or give them away.

 

[dioxide45]

Points are deeded in the same way that weeks are deeded. You will need to have those transferred out of the estate. The MVC exit group is likely to tell you that you first need to transfer them to a living person and then they will be willing to take them back. You should be able to sell these for a couple to four bucks a point resale, if you can find a buyer.

 

[dcrand]

Reach out to MVC exit folks. They may pay you $2 a point to take them back, but worst case would likely be that they take them back for free. May be a bit more complicated with probate, etc. It’s likely your quickest way to get them off your hands.

https://www.marriottvacationclubs.com/s/exit

Thanks for the link. I will call tomorrow and see what they say.

 

[dcrand]

The points won't just go away, and as far as know you would still owe the MF even if it was just 1000 points. I think you need to sell or give them away.

She has been trying to sell them but with no luck. I think there is a big lump sum that needs to be paid in addition to the per point cost? I can't remember, but it was something that made me think you couldn't really give them away because of the additional cost.

 

[dcrand]

Points are deeded in the same way that weeks are deeded. You will need to have those transferred out of the estate. The MVC exit group is likely to tell you that you first need to transfer them to a living person and then they will be willing to take them back. You should be able to sell these for a couple to four bucks a point resale, if you can find a buyer.

I want to avoid transferring them to anyone since we've already had them up for sale for many months without selling them.

 

[Fasttr]

She has been trying to sell them but with no luck. I think there is a big lump sum that needs to be paid in addition to the per point cost? I can't remember, but it was something that made me think you couldn't really give them away because of the additional cost.

Are you saying there is an outstanding loan on the points?

 

[daviator]

There is a $2/point fee which they buyer has to pay to MVC to register points bought via resale. That's probably the lump sum you're thinking of.

But even with that, there's usually a resale market for these points.

 

[Fasttr]

There is a $2/point fee which they buyer has to pay to MVC to register points bought via resale. That's probably the lump sum you're thinking of.

But even with that, there's usually a resale market for these points.

Ahhh… that is likely it.

 

[jwalk03]

There is a $2/point fee which they buyer has to pay to MVC to register points bought via resale. That's probably the lump sum you're thinking of.

But even with that, there's usually a resale market for these points.

It's $3/pt.

 

[daviator]

It's $3/pt.

Oops, I stand corrected, you are right.

 

[davidvel]

As others have noted this is not a timeshare question (yet) it is an estate question. Even if you find a buyer or MVC willing to take back, you cannot just "transfer" the points as the owner is not alive. You need to figure out the estate part first.

 

[Dean]

I want to avoid transferring them to anyone since we've already had them up for sale for many months without selling them.

Assuming you have figured out the estate and probate info. If they are paid for would this be something that would benefit you? I'm not a lawyer but have delved into this issue pretty deeply in the past. The estate will be responsible for any ongoing fees and wont' be able to be settled until this is taken care of one way or another. If there are no assets, you might not have to do anything as the executor is only responsible for the process, not the costs involved. Even if there are assets, you could try to do a deed back to MVC or have your lawyer ask the judge ro remove the timeshares from the estate which I understand they will usually do if you show a good faith effort to dispose of it over a period of time, usually around a year or so.

 

[LeslieDet]

Hi,
My mother has recently died. She had three Marriott vacation club properties that she successfully sold using a realtor I found through this website. So thanks! She thought she only had 1,000 trust points remaining, but it looks like she actually has 3,000. She was told (not sure if it was by the realtor or by Marriott) that if she only had 1000 points, she wouldn't owe any maintenance fees, but she has more and I recently paid her maintenance fees. What's the deal with trust points? Will they disappear now that she has died, or no? None of the heirs want the points. I think the realty has her points up for sale, but they are not selling. Any insights would be helpful! Thank you.

Just FYI - go to the Orange County Florida Recorder's Office website and search for your mom's name (condolences on her passing). That will give you access to the recorded deeds for the Trust Points she owned. Trust Points are deemed an interest in real property in Florida. The deeds will identify how many beneficial interests she purchased. If she bought more than one time, there will be multiple deeds. Each beneficial interest = 250 Trust Points. So, if she owned 3000 Trust Points, then she bought 12 beneficial interests. There has never been any provision that if one only owned some small quantity of points that they would not have to pay the maintenance fees. Whoever said that to you did not understand how the Trust Point ownership works. Anyway, you'll need to do an ancillary probate in Orange County FL in order to do anything with the owned MVC Trust Points, even to give them back to MVC. As others have noted, there is a resale market, but it will take time for you to complete the ancillary probate. During that time, you won't be able to do anything with the points, except pay the maintenance fees.

 

[dcrand]

Just FYI - go to the Orange County Florida Recorder's Office website and search for your mom's name (condolences on her passing). That will give you access to the recorded deeds for the Trust Points she owned. Trust Points are deemed an interest in real property in Florida. The deeds will identify how many beneficial interests she purchased. If she bought more than one time, there will be multiple deeds. Each beneficial interest = 250 Trust Points. So, if she owned 3000 Trust Points, then she bought 12 beneficial interests. There has never been any provision that if one only owned some small quantity of points that they would not have to pay the maintenance fees. Whoever said that to you did not understand how the Trust Point ownership works. Anyway, you'll need to do an ancillary probate in Orange County FL in order to do anything with the owned MVC Trust Points, even to give them back to MVC. As others have noted, there is a resale market, but it will take time for you to complete the ancillary probate. During that time, you won't be able to do anything with the points, except pay the maintenance fees.

Hi LeslieDet - thank you for this information - it is very helpful. I looked everything up on the Orange County site. It looks like she bought 3000 points in two separate transactions. It also appears that she sold 2000 of those points, so I am not sure why she was charged for the maintenance fees and why they still show up on her owner portfolio, but possibly it is a timing issue. We have hired a lawyer to probate her will so I guess I'll turn this over to him. It's a shame that it is so complicated. Thanks again.

 

[LeslieDet]

Hi LeslieDet - thank you for this information - it is very helpful. I looked everything up on the Orange County site. It looks like she bought 3000 points in two separate transactions. It also appears that she sold 2000 of those points, so I am not sure why she was charged for the maintenance fees and why they still show up on her owner portfolio, but possibly it is a timing issue. We have hired a lawyer to probate her will so I guess I'll turn this over to him. It's a shame that it is so complicated. Thanks again.

If she sold 2000 MVC Trust Points, then pull a copy of the deed transferring those points and reach out to MVC and confirm that those points were removed from her owner account. The maintenance fees are billed at the end of the prior calendar year for usage, meaning that the bill for the 2024 points was issued in or around October 2023 and was due by 12/1/23. If your mom sold the 2024 usage, then the maintenance fees should have been reimbursed to her as part of the closing, assuming the deal closed on or after 12/1/23. If you know the broker she used, then reach out to that broker and get a closing statement. There definitely should have been a reimbursement for the maintenance fees if the sale included the 2024 usage. If for some reason the sale was for the 2025 usage forward, then yes, she'd have borne that cost of maintenance for the 2024 use year. Best of luck to you.