Timeshares, Vacation Homes, and Your Estate Plan

By Jenny Ling, Esq.

If you have a timeshare or a vacation home, these must be considered when crafting your estate plan. Perhaps you have planned to pass these assets on to your children, friends, or other loved ones.  But do all your beneficiaries want it or just one?  Do any want it at all? If you are leaving your timeshare to multiple beneficiaries, do you have a plan for how they will share it?

Timeshares are a popular option for vacations.  There are different kinds of timeshares – with some you buy the right to use the property during an allocated week each year, and with others you buy “points” that can be used at a variety of resorts.  Although you purchase the timeshare up front, there are often continuing costs like owner and maintenance fees.  Many timeshares are a real property asset that you own, in fact much like your house, and need to be considered in your estate plan.

Some people own a vacation home with a group of friends.  Do you have a plan for what happens to the ownership when one friend passes away? Would you suddenly be co-owning the property with someone who you did not contemplate? Would your beneficiaries want to continue to own your share in the property?

Because vacation homes and most timeshares are a real property asset, they must go through the probate process in the state where the timeshare is located. If you own a timeshare in another state, like a condo in Hawaii, your beneficiaries will likely need to go through the probate process in that state as well as Washington, adding time, expense and hassle, unless you have the proper planning in place.

If you have a timeshare or vacation home, it is essential that you make a plan for it before you die.  Dying without a plan can create difficulties for your family during an already challenging time.

At the Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC, we can help you craft a plan for your timeshare or vacation home so that there is clarity for your family and ease of transition of these properties. Contact Us to get started.

Jenny Ling is a partner at the Law Offices of Jenny Ling, PLLC.  She focuses her practices on estate planning, business succession planning, business and bankruptcy.