Relinquishing Timeshare in Florida

allroundgoodguy

My mother passed away recently, and myself and two brothers are just uncovering the details of a timeshare my mum had in Florida.

Bought in c1999 for c$5,000 via a small mortgage. It was joint  with her partner who sadly died in 2003, and she took it over.

Maintenance is $800 per year.

None of the 3 of us want the timeshare. We understand there maybe "in perpetuity" but all 3 of us want to extricate ourselves out of it.

I tried via Timeshare Consumer Association, but their recommended course of action was an expensive time consuming firm of lawyers that has a very dubious record and possibly links.

The timeshare itself uses RCI, and is managed by Daily Management Resorts.

The website of the resort states you can end ownership by paying two years maintenance  fees up front. But we are wary of making contact in case it establishes our liability.

 

I'd be grateful for any advice how to procced, and what pitfalls to avoid. Thanks.

thegreenone

Sorry for your loss.

We own timeshare (UK and Spain) and this has got me thinking.   I know we can buy ourselves out of the UK one, which we will in due course, but I need to investigate the Spanish one.

Surely you will need to tell the resort that your mother has died?  If you don't, they will chase for unpaid maintenance fees and could find out Mum has died and chase the estate for the fees.  I am not sure whether they would go to court.  Or..... you could ignore and see what happens.

My thoughts:  write/email the resort to say Mum has died and, as you don't want the timeshare, what happens now?  As you are already administering her estate you need to pay all creditors.

allroundgoodguy

Thanks. I know one option is to let them chase to get money out of it, but I prefer to tie things up more neatly and don't want unintended consequences later on for us or our kids when we're refused entry to US for example. Also, racking up their legal bills to be passed on seems a bad move too. My brothers may feel differently.  But, yes,if anyone has got out of it in our circumstances and not paid a fortune would be good to know.

I should have said we have not found a will yet, so likely to go to probate, but probably under the threashold. There is no death certificate as inquest will not be until April, not due to suspicious circumstances, just not clear cut.

Thanks again.

BikingBud

allroundgoodguy said:

Thanks. I know one option is to let them chase to get money out of it, but I prefer to tie things up more neatly and don't want unintended consequences later on for us or our kids when we're refused entry to US for example. Also, racking up their legal bills to be passed on seems a bad move too. My brothers may feel differently.  But, yes,if anyone has got out of it in our circumstances and not paid a fortune would be good to know.

I should have said we have not found a will yet, so likely to go to probate, but probably under the threashold. There is no death certificate as inquest will not be until April, not due to suspicious circumstances, just not clear cut.

Thanks again.

Your circumstances are that you are trying to manage your late mother's estate efficiently, one might argue that the liability should not come to you but there appears to be an issue with Perpetuity Clause : 

Timeshare agreements usually contain a "perpetuity clause," saying that the timeshare is valid for the lifespan of the original owner. When the owner dies, the timeshare becomes part of the estate. The inheritors of the timeshare become the new owners, and they are obligated to take over the timeshare fees.

More  here

I would be digging out the agreement and seeking specialist advice.

allroundgoodguy

BikingBud said:

allroundgoodguy said:

Thanks. I know one option is to let them chase to get money out of it, but I prefer to tie things up more neatly and don't want unintended consequences later on for us or our kids when we're refused entry to US for example. Also, racking up their legal bills to be passed on seems a bad move too. My brothers may feel differently.  But, yes,if anyone has got out of it in our circumstances and not paid a fortune would be good to know.

I should have said we have not found a will yet, so likely to go to probate, but probably under the threashold. There is no death certificate as inquest will not be until April, not due to suspicious circumstances, just not clear cut.

Thanks again.

Your circumstances are that you are trying to manage your late mother's estate efficiently, one might argue that the liability should not come to you but there appears to be an issue with Perpetuity Clause : 

Timeshare agreements usually contain a "perpetuity clause," saying that the timeshare is valid for the lifespan of the original owner. When the owner dies, the timeshare becomes part of the estate. The inheritors of the timeshare become the new owners, and they are obligated to take over the timeshare fees.

More  here

I would be digging out the agreement and seeking specialist advice.

Thank very much. We are going through the agreement, but you've hit the nail on the head in that specialist advice is needed but everywhere we turn seems to be scammy and knowing who to trust is an absolute minefield.

zagubov

Sorry for your loss.
Would this be better in the Deaths Funerals and probate thread? Or the Overseas Holiday and Travel Planning thread?
You definitely need specialist advice.
You may want to ask:
Does the inheritance of foreign real estate like this work through US law or UK law?
Some steps for refusing ownership may be time-limited.
If you don't want to be an inheritor of this debt, also check whether you should avid being an executor in case they are also liable.

user1977

zagubov said:

Does the inheritance of foreign real estate like this work through US law or UK law?

Inheritance of real estate is (generally) dealt with under the local laws, so assuming there's no Will then whatever the rules are for intestate estates in Florida.

If there are ongoing liabilities then I'd expect the estate will have to cover those until they've somehow disposed of the property. And even if you try to ignore the Floridans, they can probably pursue the executors in the UK for any other assets the estate has, so better to sort it out rather than leave it as a loose end.

GDB2222

If the timeshare was your late mum’s only asset, you can ignore the estate completely. You don’t have to take any responsibility for it.

However, if mum had other assets, such as her uk home, you can’t pick and choose among parts of the estate. It’s got to be treated as a whole. The timeshare might well be a liability, but you can’t take the assets out of the estate without paying off the liabilities first. 

allroundgoodguy

GDB2222 said:

If the timeshare was your late mum’s only asset, you can ignore the estate completely. You don’t have to take any responsibility for it.

However, if mum had other assets, such as her uk home, you can’t pick and choose among parts of the estate. It’s got to be treated as a whole. The timeshare might well be a liability, but you can’t take the assets out of the estate without paying off the liabilities first. 

Thanks. I've just found out the mortgage on it is paid off, in fact in 2005, so it is only the annual fees of approx £600 that are the liability. My mum had a house that is likely to be just under probate. Obviously as they so unpopular you can't give timeshares away they are for all intents and purposes worthless. However, I've been told elsewhere that as the mortgage is paid off it is much easier than I feared. which if it turns out to be true willl make the advice I  received from the Timeshare Consumer Association and ECC very "interesting".

allroundgoodguy

Just as an update. I wrote to the original attorney who handled the completion of the mortgage to see how much he would charge to sort. I had emailed the timeshare to say none of us were intereted but and she copied me in to say it was already going through the process of foreclosure so we had to do nothing.

GDB2222

I think that, in some US states, foreclosure removes any outstanding liability. Did the lawyer confirm that?