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death and timeshares

I suggest that Lisam873 (Lisa) seek the advice of a board certified probate attorney (familiary with Mexico law) concerning the question she has posed concerning who is responsible for the timeshare fees following the death of the owners, that is, her inlaws. Jayjay continually provides incorrect legal advice on this site but the most egregious is her legal advice concerning estates, heirs, and maintenance fees. Most estates (over sixty percent varying from state to state) are not probated. There must be a probate for the Timeshare to even file a claim for maintenance fees and the claim must be filed within the brief period of time for filing claims. The creditor (timeshare) can force the opening of a probate but most are unaware of the death and additionally most would not incur the expenses related to opening a probate. I, at one time, was involved in the recovery of estate credit card debts for three of the largest banks in the nation and over a ten year period we never forced the opening of a probate. The expense/recovery ratio never justified the expense. The probability of a Timeshare being aware of the death of an out of state owner and filing a timely claim is very remote. Certainly the heirs who inherit the timeshare must pay the fees if they expect to continue to use the timeshare but the statement that the estate "will be responsible for any debts related to the timeshare including yearly maintenance fees until the week is sold or changes ownership" is patently false. There is an interesting article in the latest issue of "TimeSharingToday" written by an attorney . He is primarily promoting "club" ownership (e.g. Worldmark) over deeded ownership for several reasons including the difficulty involved when the owner of a deeded timeshare dies. He correctly points out that an ancillary probate must be opened in the state where the property is located - assuming the decedent resides elsewhere - and that this must be done to obtain a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" from the executor or administrator. Otherwise a foreclosure is necessary but in either event the Timeshare is out thousands of dollars.