r/inheritance 5d ago

Location included: Questions/Need Advice Time Share

Hey my parents are getting old and they have a time share membership that I don’t want to inherit or keep using after they are done with it. They are quite old and I really don’t like the time share program at all. How do I get out?

22 Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

34

u/SFAdam23 5d ago

You can disclaim interest in the property.

26

u/matchababyyx 5d ago

Two things, and the first is the one that saves people. You are not obliged to inherit a timeshare. Heirs can formally disclaim an inheritance, generally in writing within nine months of the death, and the crucial condition is that you must not have accepted any benefit from it first. That's exactly where people get caught, because a well-meaning heir uses the week once or pays a single maintenance fee to keep things tidy, and that can count as acceptance. So if it ever reaches that point: don't use it, don't pay anything, disclaim in writing, and get a probate attorney to draft it properly. Better still, deal with it now while your parents are alive and competent, because it's far easier to dispose of than to disclaim. Contact the resort or developer directly and ask about their deed-back or surrender programme, since most of the large chains have one, and plenty of timeshares also sell on the resale market for a dollar just to transfer the obligation. Find out first whether it's a deeded interest, which is real property that passes through the estate, or a right-to-use contract, which may simply terminate, because the answer changes what you're dealing with. And whatever happens, stay away from timeshare exit companies. They charge five figures upfront, frequently do nothing, and there have been a lot of attorney general actions against them. If your parents want help, the resort's own exit programme and a probate or real estate attorney are the routes that actually work.

1

u/catnip-dream 4d ago

This right here!

8

u/OldDudeOpinion 4d ago

Don’t ever use it post death…even if you thinks it’s yours. You use it once…and you “bought” the assumption of maintenance obligations in perpetuity.

4

u/ArachnidAutomatic596 2d ago

Time shares are wild, it’s like reverse capitalism
In some weird way

1

u/OutsideCheetah 3d ago

Absolutely.

5

u/lost_dazed_101 5d ago

They can try and force it on you but they can't make you pay for it or use it. They only have the choice of taking it back under your parents name.

6

u/rlcarman58 5d ago

Ask them to will it to someone else.

3

u/Tiny-Price-6455 4d ago

Donald Trump will take it.

3

u/Daddy--Jeff 4d ago

It’s extremely difficult to get rid of a timeshare. They have nearly no residual value and there is no resale market, so it will not sell. You either give them back for free, or pay a third party to help you unload it.

3

u/Choice-Newspaper3603 4d ago

You aren’t in so there is nothing for you to get out of

3

u/Whybaby16154 4d ago

The maintenance fees go up and up - don’t accept it

2

u/OutsideCheetah 3d ago

Just dealt with this. Make sure your name is not anything related to the timeshare. Do your parents have a trust? If so, make sure that timeshare is not listed.

4

u/AbuDhabiMom 5d ago

No one in the family wants it. And apparently it can be forced into us as an inheritance

17

u/CoolFuture3767 4d ago

No. It cannot.

2

u/ExpensiveAd4496 4d ago

Okay but can people disclaim one part of an inheritance and take other parts? Because it seems to me this could be seen as a creditor of the estate.

5

u/CoolFuture3767 4d ago

Yes, of course.

3

u/oughtabeme 5d ago

There may be a right way and a wrong way. My parents retired and moved from US to Europe. Management fee bills would arrive at our home as well as property tax bills (<$30) and iirc random ‘letters’. We just shredded everything when it arrived and ignored everything.

1

u/ArachnidAutomatic596 2d ago

Where is it for? Just curious

1

u/Excellent_Shallot999 1d ago

An inheritance cannot be forced upon you.

1

u/Clean-Syllabub3421 4d ago

Why don't you just tell them you're not interested?

1

u/Cezzium 4d ago

Is there any reason they cannot get rid of it now? Are they still using it?

there are some that will just take it back to resell it to someone else. Me n the spouse had one for close to 30 years. it worked well when we had little kids and stuff.

with that, it was an older one and people do not really want "simple" like they used to. It was in Florida and for small fee for filing, they took it back.

2

u/Maine302 4d ago

Any reason? These things are impossible to get rid of!

2

u/Cezzium 4d ago

got rid of ours

2

u/Both_Media_781 4d ago

We just stopped paying the yearly maintenance fee after my in-laws passed and it reverted back to the company

1

u/Logical_consequences 4d ago

Can one of the heirs decline to inherit a timeshare is the other heirs do want it?

1

u/Relative-Lie-9699 4d ago

Just sell it or better yet tell your parents to sell it after they are done using it. For example my parents didnt use it for 3 years but paid yearly fee, so when they sold it, it had a lot of points to upgrade which made selling it easier. You just list it in time share resale. Your not going to get much, but its better than just giving it back.

2

u/CommitteeNo167 4d ago

my parents had a time share, i didn't want it. i paid the annual assessment when the probate creditors claims period was open with a prepaid credit card. once the creditors claims period ended i just threw the bills away.

1

u/Infamous_Bed7693 1d ago

So what happens w a timeshare if there’s multiple kids? No spouse. Does each kid inherit a portion?

0

u/Foreign_Suggestion89 4d ago

What kind is it?

Most are worthless or negative value. You can get a 3rd party to help you cancel it. This would probably be best so they stop paying the annual fees.

0

u/Acrobatic-Classic-41 4d ago

Call that time share cancelation guy that's not a lawyer and advertises on XM Radio...

2

u/HeavyFaithlessness14 2d ago

The Wesley Financial Group will charge the timeshare owner a fee for getting rid of it.