Recommendations who to use to create a Trust

[tklement]

Anyone have recent experience with creating a Trust and having their timeshares put in it? Any recommendations on who to use? I think I've previously seen Hawaii Document Service and LT Transfers. Anyone have a ballpark figure on how much it costs? Thank you.

 

[VacationForever]

Creating a Trust is a legal document, and always best done by trust attorneys. LTT simply does title transfers, nothing to do with setting up trusts. I have never heard of Hawaii Document Service but they are unlikely to be trust attorneys. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars creating and updating the trusts through the years, all done by trust attorneys.

 

[GerryWA]

Anyone have recent experience with creating a Trust and having their timeshares put in it? Any recommendations on who to use? I think I've previously seen Hawaii Document Service and LT Transfers. Anyone have a ballpark figure on how much it costs? Thank you.

Think twice before you put it in a trust. They arent worth much on resale market and difficult to sell. This could really raise havoc with trying to disburse and close the trust in the future. Talk to your trust attorney.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

This thread will be interesting to follow.

It is my understanding from past threads that if the timeshare owners are deceased and the TS is not in a trust and has enough value that it makes sense to sell it, that it will be difficult to sell. Hopefully, Leslie D. will opine.

 

[Henry M.]

Derek Christensen (derek@legionlawpllc.com), also in Dallas, created my trust. I haven't gone through the transfer of my timeshares to it. I haven't decided if I want to do that. He was easy to work with to create my trust and various other estate documents (wills, POA's, etc.

www.legionlawpllc.com

 

[tklement]

Thanks all, I'll do some more research. All of my timeshares are WKOR and Nanea so hopefully they retain value more than others Just not sure if our kids would use them as much as we do.

 

[mauitraveler]

Thanks all, I'll do some more research. All of my timeshares are WKOR and Nanea so hopefully they retain value more than others Just not sure if our kids would use them as much as we do.

We put all of our timeshares into our Trust, so that the timeshares won't have to go through probate. Also, the final trustee of our Trust will be able to sell the TS more easily if they are not tied up in probate, if those are the wishes of our family. They can also be used by the family until which time they decide they no longer want to keep the TS, since we will be leaving them enough funds for the MFs.

 

[Luanne]

We used an attorney in California who specialized in trusts to draw up our trust. We did put our timeshares into the trust. When we moved to New Mexico we consulted another attorney who "tweaked" our trust to adhere to New Mexican laws. He also drew up wills, power of attorney and advance directives for both of us.

 

[LeslieDet]

Think twice before you put it in a trust. They arent worth much on resale market and difficult to sell. This could really raise havoc with trying to disburse and close the trust in the future. Talk to your trust attorney.

That’s simply inaccurate. It’s when owners fail to use a trust that creates nightmares for the executor of the owner's estate.

 

[SteveinHNL]

I hold our timeshares in a free-standing timeshare trust that is separate from our revocable trust. There is no reason why holding them in trust would make them any less easy to sell or affect their value in any way. In my opinion, selling them from a trust is actually much easier because you don't have to deal with opening an estate, having an estate representative appointed to accomplish the task, and dealing with a probate or intestate estate.

 

[5finny]

I have my timeshares in a trust and favor that
I will note that the trust does tend to cause some confusion with some resorts and exchange companies--but nothing terrible
My timeshare trust is separate from my regular trust
No real need for that but I somehow feel timeshare assets are just different
The form of both trusts is about the same just a different trust number
I would go with a local attorney
I would expect a simple trust to be as little as $1,500-$2,500
Substantial assets and complicated trust expect much more
Cost will also vary substantially based on location--either coast or bigger city will be costlier

 

[SteveinHNL]

I have my timeshares in a trust and favor that
I will note that the trust does tend to cause some confusion with some resorts and exchange companies--but nothing terrible
My timeshare trust is separate from my regular trust
No real need for that but I somehow feel timeshare assets are just different
The form of both trusts is about the same just a different trust number
I would go with a local attorney
I would expect a simple trust to be as little as $1,500-$2,500
Substantial assets and complicated trust expect much more
Cost will also vary substantially based on location--either coast or bigger city will be costlier

$1500 to $2500 should be the cost for a full estate plan with a trust, pour-over will, durable power of attorney, healthcare POA, and advance directive. A simple TS trust should cost a lot less. Conveying the timeshares into the trust will be the larger expense, imo.

 

[LeslieDet]

Thanks all, I'll do some more research. All of my timeshares are WKOR and Nanea so hopefully they retain value more than others Just not sure if our kids would use them as much as we do.

Even if your kids decide they aren’t going to use the timeshares, unless you are ready to sell now, you’ll make your estate significantly easier to deal with by avoiding probate when your real property is owned by your trust. Otherwise, the executor of your estate is required to probate in every jurisdiction where the deceased owned real property. Whereas, when real property is owned by a trust, the successor trustee simply steps in to manage the property. That management can include selling if none of the beneficiaries are interested. All without court intervention or supervision.

 

[VacationForever]

Our main issue with not putting our MVC timeshare in a trust is that we have a couple of weeks that were enrolled under "exception" and we may lose the enrollment if we put them into a trust. Our intention is to divest from all timeshare ownership in another 6 to 8 years' time as we get older and long roadtrips become more difficult. In the meantime, we are avoiding all beer trucks.

 

[LeslieDet]

Our main issue with not putting our MVC timeshare in a trust is that we have a couple of weeks that were enrolled under "exception" and we may lose the enrollment if we put them into a trust. Our intention is to divest from all timeshare ownership in another 6 to 8 years' time as we get older and long roadtrips become more difficult. In the meantime, we are avoiding all beer trucks.

While I am not familiar with the exception you’re referring to, estate planning transfers do not cause enrolled weeks to become ineligible. However, if you were grandfathered into a status level, ie having the equivalent of 13500 Club Points as of April 2015 and being categorized as chairman level despite the threshold increasing to 15k, yes, a transfer to your trust would indeed terminate the grandfathered status.

 

[SteveinHNL]

Even if your kids decide they aren’t going to use the timeshares, unless you are ready to sell now, you’ll make your estate significantly easier to deal with by avoiding probate when your real property is owned by your trust. Otherwise, the executor of your estate is required to probate in every jurisdiction where the deceased owned real property. Whereas, when real property is owned by a trust, the successor trustee simply steps in to manage the property. That management can include selling if none of the beneficiaries are interested. All without court intervention or supervision.

I know this strategy isn't one that LeslieDet would approve of, but holding everything in a standalone trust and having all your assets in a conventional trust also allows the beneficiaries to simply ignore the TS and walk away from them once you are gone, as the TS companies would have no recourse (since nothing else is owned by the decedent's estate, and nothing else is owned by the standalone trust).

 

[VacationForever]

While I am not familiar with the exception you’re referring to, estate planning transfers do not cause enrolled weeks to become ineligible. However, if you were grandfathered into a status level, ie having the equivalent of 13500 Club Points as of April 2015 and being categorized as chairman level despite the threshold increasing to 15k, yes, a transfer to your trust would indeed terminate the grandfathered status.

It's even "worse"/"better" than that. It's not grandfathering of status, although we are at Chairman's Club level because we have enough points. MVC made a mistake and then they had to go to their management chain to get an approval to get the weeks enrolled. I cannot touch those weeks.

 

[mauitraveler]

Thanks all, I'll do some more research. All of my timeshares are WKOR and Nanea so hopefully they retain value more than others Just not sure if our kids would use them as much as we do.

This may be soon for you to consider, but if and when your kids show an interest in taking over your TS, you might consider adding them to your deed/s. My niece and her husband are interested in one of our ownerships. We are using LT Transfers to help us with adding the two of them to our deed. It is a simple process, and one that they are very experienced in handling.

 

[silentg]

We created a family trust with our lawyer he also created a will . Going to update since we are moving, and also some timeshares that are listed in the trust we have sold.

 

[SteveinHNL]

We created a family trust with our lawyer he also created a will . Going to update since we are moving, and also some timeshares that are listed in the trust we have sold.

For the ones you don't own anymore, you could just note that on the inventory sheet that is normally attached to the trust.

 

[LeslieDet]

This may be soon for you to consider, but if and when your kids show an interest in taking over your TS, you might consider adding them to your deed/s. My niece and her husband are interested in one of our ownerships. We are using LT Transfers to help us with adding the two of them to our deed. It is a simple process, and one that they are very experienced in handling.

Idk which timeshare you own, but be aware that by adding a niece or nephew to your deed may result in your deeded weeks being ineligible to enroll. There are definite consequences to adding third parties to your deeds.

 

[Henry M.]

What about just adding our daughter to the deeds of our weeks instead of putting them in a trust? She wants the TS and she would be the executor too, when we pass?

Is it about the same amount of work and expense to add a name to the deed vs. adding the deed to an existing trust? From my layman's view, it seems like it might be similar.

 

[mauitraveler]

Idk which timeshare you own, but be aware that by adding a niece or nephew to your deed may result in your deeded weeks being ineligible to enroll. There are definite consequences to adding third parties to your deeds.

Our Vistana (KORV) ownership is already enrolled. Both Vistana (title department) and Marriott have said that our ownership status will not change when we add our niece and her husband to that deed. We shall see...

 

[5finny]

Our Vistana (KORV) ownership is already enrolled. Both Vistana (title department) and Marriott have said that our ownership status will not change when we add our niece and her husband to that deed. We shall see...

Sounds like an important communication
I hope you found a way to get it in writing

 

[mauitraveler]

Sounds like an important communication
I hope you found a way to get it in writing

I have emails from both Vistana and Marriott. However, as I said, "We'll see..." Thanks!