Selling timeshare after death of owner

How does one unload a timeshare (2 weeks actually) when the last of the owners dies?

My mother-in-law just passed, about 10 years after my father-in-law. She owned two weeks of timeshare in Ft Myers, Florida. Her oldest son is the estate executor.

No one in the family wants to take over the weeks. We'd most like to simply walk away from them. Can we just tell the resort "The owners have died so the weeks are yours again"? We are Canadian (don't know if that makes any difference in divesting them, but mention it just in case). My wife and I own Florida timeshares ourselves and don't want any more (at least until we retire in 15 to 20 years).

I'd expect that none of the children could sell them unless they somehow took ownership first. Is there a way to get rid of them without doing that (and going through probate)? We're interested in the cheapest way to legally rid ourselves of these timeshares now that the last owner has passed away.

Thanks.

leonardb36 wrote:

Is there a way to get rid of them without doing that (and going through probate)? We're interested in the cheapest way to legally rid ourselves of these timeshares now that the last owner has passed away.

Thanks.

Whoever has the authority to sell it, I recommend listing it on reputable resale sites such as RedWeek or My Resort Network for $1 or even free.

If you really want to sell it quickly, offer to also pay the closing costs (about $300).

Also, be patient. Many timeshares can take months or even years to sell. If you don't receive any immediate responsed to the ad, don't panic.

And, above all, never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, or market your timeshare.

leonardb36 wrote:

How does one unload a timeshare (2 weeks actually) when the last of the owners dies?

My mother-in-law just passed, about 10 years after my father-in-law. She owned two weeks of timeshare in Ft Myers, Florida. Her oldest son is the estate executor.

No one in the family wants to take over the weeks. We'd most like to simply walk away from them. Can we just tell the resort "The owners have died so the weeks are yours again"? We are Canadian (don't know if that makes any difference in divesting them, but mention it just in case). My wife and I own Florida timeshares ourselves and don't want any more (at least until we retire in 15 to 20 years).

I'd expect that none of the children could sell them unless they somehow took ownership first. Is there a way to get rid of them without doing that (and going through probate)? We're interested in the cheapest way to legally rid ourselves of these timeshares now that the last owner has passed away. Thanks.

You could see if the resort will take the weeks back since the owners have passed away, but they may not (they don't have to). In that case the estate is responsible for any and all fees related to the timeshare until the weeks have been transferred out of your in-law's names.

Depending on what weeks she owned in Ft. Myers, the quality of the resort and the fact that southwest FL is in high demand with a low supply of timeshare resorts, especially during the snowbird months, it may not be too hard for you to sell them yourself, but whatever you do, as lance said above do not pay an upfront fee in the hundreds/thousands of dollars to list it with a resale company (they are all scams).

I see very few resales in the Ft. Myers Beach area .... I would price the weeks low if you merely want out.

There was a letter to the editor in TimeSharing Today (March/April, 2011) which said that the owners of a timeshare who no longer wanted the week sent the quit claim deed back to the resort, the resort accepted the deed, and there was no cost to the owners for the return of the timeshare. You might try calling your resort to see if they would accept your deed at no cost.

susanf248 wrote:

You might try calling your resort to see if they would accept your deed at no cost.

Good advice --- almost. A REQUEST for the resort HOA to "accept deed in lieu of foreclosure" should be made ONLY IN WRITING, prepared by the executor of the estate and addressed and sent directly to the HOA of the facility, via the resort. DON'T call the resort on the phone and rely on the uninformed, irrelevant verbal input of a desk clerk there, who has absolutely no legal authority or standing (and likely no actual knowledge either) on the matter. Also, DON'T just unilaterally send a quit claim without prior HOA written agreement to accept same; this would just aggravate and annoy a HOA which might otherwise have been receptive. Remember, there must ALWAYS be overt "acceptance" for any deed to be legally valid. NO ONE can just "quit claim" a deed to an unknowing, unsuspecting recipient --- such a deed has no legal validity whatsoever and is very easily voided.

A preceding post / advice suggested that OP might attempt to sell that which OP doesn't actually own in the first place. That was / is supremely BAD advice (and further, it would not even be lawful for the OP to do so, since the OP clearly indicated that he is NOT the executor of the estate at issue).

Most resorts will NOT accept deedbacks under normal circumstances, but the situation described by the OP is a noteworthy exception. When a last owner of record dies, there is literally NO ONE directly responsible to pay future maintenance fees. A smart HOA knows this, and also knows that it is much less expensive and time consuming in such an instance for them to just simply accept a "deed in lieu of foreclosure", rather than incur the requisite attorney costs to later foreclose (it's a minimum $1,000 and usually closer to $1,500 "out of pocket" for an HOA to foreclose).

The HOA might still request (as is entirely reasonable) the estate to pay some minimal closing costs (after all, new deed preparation and subsequent recording thereof is not free), but in spite of that minimal cost a "deed in lieu of foreclosure" is almost certainly your most expedient way "out". Good luck.

My deceased mother's deeded timeshare (in Florida) is now listed (with Wyndham Vacation Resorts) under my name as executor of her estate. Wyndham has turned down 2 requests from the estate to take back the deed. Is a FL probate necessary for me to sell/give away this property? One FL attorney quoted $1600 ... and no potential buyers want to add that to the closing and transfer costs. We want to close the estate ASAP.

If you have not signed any peperwork taking possession of the timeshare you are under no obligation to take ownership of it. Just let it go into default. Nobody can force you to take it over. If they threaten you just ignore them. They will have to spend thousands of dollars and they still can't force you to take the responsibility of the timeshare.

Thanks. In the end that is what the executor opted to do (just let it go into default). I believe he actually spoke to someone at the resort who also said that was the way to go. Over a year later now and we have heard nothing more from them.

Since you're Canadian just walking away and letting it go into default is a good way of dealing with it. I'm also Canadian and defaults in the US won't appear on any Canadian credit reports anyway unless the resort actually registers the debt in Canada (costs them $$ they won't want to spend). Good luck

hya where i get the quit deed form from please my dad have just passed away and my mam dont want it thanks

victoiaa wrote:

hya where i get the quit deed form from please my dad have just passed away and my mam dont want it thanks

Google is your best friend ..... just google 'quit claim deed form'.