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Re: Timeshares is good investment or not. (by Carvan A.):

Jayjay says "the estate is responsible for all liens and maintenance fees until the estate can sell the property. An estate includes 'heirs', I would assume."

Jayjay's assumption is wrong. An estate is a separate entity from an heir just as a corporation is a separate entity from the stockholder.

The estate is liable for the debts of the decedent at the date of death including timeshare maintenance fees. I have some experience in collecting estate debts and I know that all states have statutes that govern the probate of estates. Typically the executor or administrator files a notice in the legal section of a newspaper where the decedent died notifying creditors of their right to file a claim. There is a time period that will vary from state to state but typically is a relative short time frame during which the claimant (creditor) must file a claim. If the creditor misses that deadline he/she is out of luck for collecting that debt. Most timeshare resorts do not have probate recovery departments but if they do and do timely file their claim they must hope that it is paid. A timeshare mf is an unsecured debt and will be at the bottom of the priority list for the payment of debts. Many executors and administrators will ignore unsecured claimaints - I know from experience - and this requires the creditor to file a suit to reduce (convert) the claim to a judgment. This is time consuming and is usually not done by a timeshare resort. They will just foreclose on the property.

The heir who receives the timeshare as a bequest in the will and elects to accept the property is of course liable for future MFs.