Transfer deeded week after death

[darilee]

How easy is it to transfer a Marriott deeded/RTU week to an adult child after the passing of the owner?

 

[WI GAL]

How easy is it to transfer a Marriott deeded/RTU week to an adult child after the passing of the owner?

I'm really curious to hear any input on this too as we're just in the process of purchasing Aruba Surf Club. Our first try, bought back by ROFR, the Redweek broker said Marriott told her that it has to go thru probate to get it even into the spouse's name as only the first person listed, even if husband and wife, is the true owner of the RTU. We chose not to list these in our trust because we didn't want to burden our children if they didn't want them, yet it sounds like if not listed in trust then must go thru probate which takes quite some time. Attorney said even with a Will that just says who you want it to go to but it would need to then be provided to probate court, again time involved and can be costly, to get into child's name if it is after the owner has died. That's what we're being told so I'll be watching this feed to see if someone has gone thru it and what was involved.

 

[rickxylon]

In order to avoid the probate issues we just added one adult child as an additional owner to each of our 6 weeks. For 1 week we also added 1 adult grandchild. It costs $100 for each week (Aruba) and takes a couple of months. I think that’s the same process for all MVC weeks although there might be some differences for different countries.

 

[bogey21]

If you add someone to the ownership, is it then possible to take the deceased off without going through probate...

George

 

[Dean]

If you add someone to the ownership, is it then possible to take the deceased off without going through probate...

George

My information says yes assuming the ownership was title appropriately.

 

[drlee]

Alternate way is to title the property in a trust. Title passes to child/children and little else is required.

 

[jeff76543]

I inherited my parents' timeshare (3 weeks, thankfully in the same Florida Marriott timeshare). They lived in Connecticut, where their will went through probate court, but the timeshare had to go through a separate probate process in Florida, as I wasn't listed as an owner. The probate process in Florida took about a year - perhaps it could have gone more quickly, but the contact with the lawyer handling the probate in Florida was through the lawyer for the main probate in Connecticut. If I remember correctly, the expense for the lawyer in Florida and the probate proceedings was around $3,000. I made the decision that it was worth it, and I am not sorry that I transferred the timeshare - even though it was time consuming and fairly expensive. I have talked with my children about adding their names to the timeshare weeks in order to save this process and expense.

 

[BigDawgTUG]

Alternate way is to title the property in a trust. Title passes to child/children and little else is required.

Although title will pass to beneficiaries in the trust, the deed will ultimately need to be "retitled" from the trustees of the trust to the beneficiaries to document the transfer. Ease of transfer via deed is dependent on the jurisdiction. For example, real easy in California. but much more difficult in St. Kitts.

Easiest way to handle transfers in my opinion is to place all properties in an LLC or corporation and then transfer the membership interests or shares. The owner remains the same, that is, the LLC or the corporation - only ownership of the entity change - which means no need to change title on the deed to effect a change in ownership. I have not done so for a number of reasons. For example, in minimum franchise tax in CA is $800 per year. Hard to justify that expense. May also need to register the entity in jurisdictions where it owns property, which could cost even more.

 

[wyannuzzi]

In order to avoid the probate issues we just added one adult child as an additional owner to each of our 6 weeks. For 1 week we also added 1 adult grandchild. It costs $100 for each week (Aruba) and takes a couple of months. I think that’s the same process for all MVC weeks although there might be some differences for different countries.

Rick, how do you add your children as an additional owner? Do I need to contact MVC, or can you do it on line (I did look on line and did not see anything there)?

 

[Dean]

Rick, how do you add your children as an additional owner? Do I need to contact MVC, or can you do it on line (I did look on line and did not see anything there)?

You have to do a new deed for each ownership week/points and get MVC to sign off. There are charges to do so both for the deed and for MVC to change it. LT transfers is likely the cheapest but they will not do a volume discount where applicable while some others might. We've gone through this thought process for our weeks and adult children. I can't see where a trust is a good way to go for our situation for several reasons including the yearly filing requirements after the principle owner is no longer available. My current plan is to change our deeds but wait a few years to do so. I then plan to leave sufficient funds to pay the fees indefinitely. I've discussed with my adult children and their spouses over time and they are on board receiving them and the obligations involved. If something happens before I get them changed, so be it, probate in 4 states, 3 just for this, is not the end of the world.

 

[vacationtime1]

Although title will pass to beneficiaries in the trust, the deed will ultimately need to be "retitled" from the trustees of the trust to the beneficiaries to document the transfer. Ease of transfer via deed is dependent on the jurisdiction. For example, real easy in California. but much more difficult in St. Kitts.

Easiest way to handle transfers in my opinion is to place all properties in an LLC or corporation and then transfer the membership interests or shares. The owner remains the same, that is, the LLC or the corporation - only ownership of the entity change - which means no need to change title on the deed to effect a change in ownership. I have not done so for a number of reasons. For example, in minimum franchise tax in CA is $800 per year. Hard to justify that expense. May also need to register the entity in jurisdictions where it owns property, which could cost even more.

Why must the property be retitled? The property is still owned by the trust after the original trustors die. The trustees have changed, that's all. It is only if the beneficiaries of the trust (who are probably the same people as the successor trustees) want the property in their names rather than in the trust, that deeds would be required.

It's exactly the same as what an LLC would accomplish -- the LLC continues to own the property, but the members (owners) of the LLC have changed.

Anyone who owns multiple timeshares in different states should seriously consider a trust to avoid multiple ancillary probates.

 

[BigDawgTUG]

Why must the property be retitled? The property is still owned by the trust after the original trustors die. The trustees have changed, that's all. It is only if the beneficiaries of the trust (who are probably the same people as the successor trustees) want the property in their names rather than in the trust, that deeds would be required.

It's exactly the same as what an LLC would accomplish -- the LLC continues to own the property, but the members (owners) of the LLC have changed.

Anyone who owns multiple timeshares in different states should seriously consider a trust to avoid multiple ancillary probates.

Under the typical family revocable trust, my understanding is that the original trust, by its own terms, typically terminates X years after the death of the surviving spouse, or upon such other times set forth in the trust (e.g., prior death of all beneficiaries or issues of grantors). Upon such time, the property is then typically distributed to the named beneficiaries which can be individuals, trusts or other entities. I do not believe IRS regulations permit perpetual trusts.

 

[vacationtime1]

Under common law, a trust may continue for 21 years beyond the death of everyone who was mentioned in the trust document (somewhat modified in many states). So the trust could theoretically hold the property for 21 years past the deaths of the original trustors' kids -- who were named as successor trustees in the original document. In other words, this is not an issue. This is an issue of trust law, not tax law.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

I have a nephew who has expressed an interest in being gifted one of my Marriott timeshares that is subject to ROFR. He has the same last name as I do.

Could someone who has gifted their Marriott timeshare to a blood relative son or daughter explain what Marriott did to confirm that the relative was a blood relative? Or do they take the word of the owner doing the gifting? Just curious....

 

[Dean]

The transfer form specifically asks for the relationship were applicable so you would have to lie in order to get us through and retain the benefits.

 

[rickxylon]

Rick, how do you add your children as an additional owner? Do I need to contact MVC, or can you do it on line (I did look on line and did not see anything there)?

Contact Owner Modification at owner.modifications@vacationclub.com

They will send you the forms and instructions. You send your original title for the week you own. In the form you show current owner(s) on then the new owner(s). We kept ourselves and added the new owner(s) so there are now a new set of owners. They then issue a new title with the new set of owners. We kept ourselves as primary so all communication goes thru us. They are very busy so this takes several months to complete.

 

[wyannuzzi]

Thank you Rick and Dean for your responses, much appreciated.