Putting Timeshares into a Trust

[NboroGirl]

Have any TUGgers placed their timeshares into a trust? We did this a little while ago and I've noticed some odd(?) stuff.

I was recently informed that I had to fill out an External Transfer From for each of my 3 enrolled weeks (I have a full week and 2 EOY weeks) in order to change the names on the deeds from mine and my husband's, to the name of the trust, which we did. We mailed in the documents, along with our $25 fee for each week. Our enrolled weeks combined are worth 6500 club points at Executive Level.

Yesterday I received an email from Marriott informing me that I needed to accept the terms and conditions in order to confirm the enrollment of my weeks. This was something I hadn't considered - having to re-enroll my weeks. According to the email, there is no charge for this enrollment, it shows up as $0.00 (I assume because the weeks were already enrolled and our club dues have been paid already for 2017). However, they are showing me twice the number of points for my EOY weeks as before (as tho they were full weeks), so now my total points value for my 3 weeks is listed as 9275 points (still Executive Level).

After I clicked on the link in the email to approve my enrollment, I've been reading the terms and there's nothing new or strange. As you know, Marriott upped the number of points to be Executive Level from 6500 to 7000, but we were grandfathered-in and maintained our Executive Level status after they made this change. However, now it looks like they are evaluating our weeks at 9275 points. Is this a mistake? Or do you think Marriott is increasing our points value, unlikely as that may seem, so that we would maintain Executive Level? Before I call Marriott I thought I'd throw this out there to TUG and see if anyone experienced anything similar.

 

[jimf41]

Although I have not put my weeks in a trust I've run across the same anomaly where MVCI seemed to be counting my EOY weeks at full point value. If you convert one of those EOY weeks to DC points you will get the full amount, but you'll only be able to do that EOY. It's a little confusing because of the way they bill the MFs, dividing the total bill in half and billing you EY. I believe that for status puposes the full amount of points is counted.

 

[NboroGirl]

Although I have not put my weeks in a trust I've run across the same anomaly where MVCI seemed to be counting my EOY weeks at full point value. If you convert one of those EOY weeks to DC points you will get the full amount, but you'll only be able to do that EOY. It's a little confusing because of the way they bill the MFs, dividing the total bill in half and billing you EY. I believe that for status puposes the full amount of points is counted.

I guess that makes sense. But shouldn't it (the email I received) still show that the total point value of my weeks is 6500 points, not 9275? And if they are only worth 6500, I wonder if my status level will be downgraded to Select, which would kind of suck.

 

[dioxide45]

I guess that makes sense. But shouldn't it (the email I received) still show that the total point value of my weeks is 6500 points, not 9275? And if they are only worth 6500, I wonder if my status level will be downgraded to Select, which would kind of suck.

Shouldn't you still grandfather in at Executive though? If not, I would be on the horn to Marriott asking why. Moving your ownership in to a trust should not impact this status.

 

[ljmiii]

MVCI seemed to be counting my EOY weeks at full point value. If you convert one of those EOY weeks to DC points you will get the full amount, but you'll only be able to do that EOY. It's a little confusing because of the way they bill the MFs, dividing the total bill in half and billing you EY. I believe that for status puposes the full amount of points is counted.

From our what it's worth department I note that MVCI counts my EOY weeks 'correctly' - that is to say for 1/2 the value of normal weeks. But I have two identical EOY weeks so that may have made the math easier for them...;-)

But to follow up on dioxide45's post, I think you should call MVCI and verify that your Executive Tier status will be maintained.

 

[NboroGirl]

From our what it's worth department I note that MVCI counts my EOY weeks 'correctly' - that is to say for 1/2 the value of normal weeks. But I have two identical EOY weeks so that may have made the math easier for them...;-)

But to follow up on dioxide45's post, I think you should call MVCI and verify that your Executive Tier status will be maintained.

My two EOY weeks are also "identical"...both are 2BR Platinum weeks at MGV. A 2BR week is worth 2775 points, so one EOY was worth half that. The 3BR week (which is not EOY) is worth 3725 points. 2775 + 3725 = 6500. But in the email they showed each EOY was worth 2775 points and showed the total point value at 9275.

I can no longer log into my owner account. When I tried, a message popped up saying I didn't have any owned weeks associated with that account, so I can't check my status on-line unfortunately. It can "take up to 30 days for the property to be placed into your online account" (meaning the re-deeded weeks), so I guess I will either have to wait until my account has the weeks placed back in them or call MVCI to see if my status is still Executive.

THANKS!

 

[dioxide45]

You may need to setup a new online profile for your weeks in the trust. Perhaps others with weeks in a trust can weigh in.

 

[BocaBoy]

We have two EOY weeks in our ownership portfolio. When I see a list of our weeks, sometimes it shows the every year total value, but for status it always does it correctly, namely half of the annual amount for each EOY week.

 

[kds4]

Have any TUGgers placed their timeshares into a trust? We did this a little while ago and I've noticed some odd(?) stuff.

I was recently informed that I had to fill out an External Transfer From for each of my 3 enrolled weeks (I have a full week and 2 EOY weeks) in order to change the names on the deeds from mine and my husband's, to the name of the trust, which we did. We mailed in the documents, along with our $25 fee for each week. Our enrolled weeks combined are worth 6500 club points at Executive Level.

Yesterday I received an email from Marriott informing me that I needed to accept the terms and conditions in order to confirm the enrollment of my weeks. This was something I hadn't considered - having to re-enroll my weeks. According to the email, there is no charge for this enrollment, it shows up as $0.00 (I assume because the weeks were already enrolled and our club dues have been paid already for 2017). However, they are showing me twice the number of points for my EOY weeks as before (as tho they were full weeks), so now my total points value for my 3 weeks is listed as 9275 points (still Executive Level).

After I clicked on the link in the email to approve my enrollment, I've been reading the terms and there's nothing new or strange. As you know, Marriott upped the number of points to be Executive Level from 6500 to 7000, but we were grandfathered-in and maintained our Executive Level status after they made this change. However, now it looks like they are evaluating our weeks at 9275 points. Is this a mistake? Or do you think Marriott is increasing our points value, unlikely as that may seem, so that we would maintain Executive Level? Before I call Marriott I thought I'd throw this out there to TUG and see if anyone experienced anything similar.

Hi. Without prying, I assume you set-up your trust through an attorney in MA? If you are willing, would you share what your cost was to create your trust? We are pricing doing the same with our weeks where we are and are curious what others are paying to do this (recognizing billable hourly rates vary, but the hours involved to draft the trust should be more consistent). Thanks.

 

[icydog]

Hi. Without prying, I assume you set-up your trust through an attorney in MA? If you are willing, would you share what your cost was to create your trust? We are pricing doing the same with our weeks where we are and are curious what others are paying to do this (recognizing billable hourly rates vary, but the hours involved to draft the trust should be more consistent). Thanks.

I can't answer your question, sorry. I do know that setting up our IRA trust in NJ was very expensive

But I have a question. One of the things giving me solace is if I die tomorrow my kids would NOT have to accept my weeks and therefore, they would NOT be on the hook for my outrageous maintenance fees.

If I put the weeks in a trust they would be guaranteed to be passed to my kids even though they probably wouldn't want them.

 

[kds4]

I can't answer your question, sorry. I do know that setting up our IRA trust in NJ was very expensive

But I have a question. One of the things giving me solace is if I die tomorrow my kids would NOT have to accept my weeks and therefore, they would NOT be on the hook for my outrageous maintenance fees.

If I put the weeks in a trust they would be guaranteed to be passed to my kids even though they probably wouldn't want them.

Agreed. The reason behind placing our weeks and points into a trust for our children is to give them our ownership level. By keeping the portfolio intact, our children inherit not just the weeks/points but also our membership level and the associated benefits that come with it. Without the trust, our kids ownership level will be determined by only the 'half' of our portfolio that they inherit (assuming they want it). If one or both do not, they will still be free to work out transferring their respective interest in the trust to the other or disposing of the trust's assets via sale, give back, or foreclosure. We will likely fund the trust with enough money that at least a couple of years of MFs will be paid for to give them time to decide for themselves what they want to do.

 

[icydog]

Agreed. The reason behind placing our weeks and points into a trust for our children is to give them our ownership level. By keeping the portfolio intact, our children inherit not just the weeks/points but also our membership level and the associated benefits that come with it. Without the trust, our kids ownership level will be determined by only the 'half' of our portfolio that they inherit (assuming they want it). If one or both do not, they will still be free to work out transferring their respective interest in the trust to the other or disposing of the trust's assets via sale, give back, or foreclosure. We will likely fund the trust with enough money that at least a couple of years of MFs will be paid for to give them time to decide for themselves what they want to do.

I see where you are with this. I never thought of it that way. Is this a separate Marriott Timeshare trust you've set up? Nothing else is in there? If there were additional items in this trust, like IRAs and bank accounts, I could see the trust becoming a nightmare to manage. If it's just for this purpose alone, to transfer ownership in whole to your children, then I can seeing it working.

 

[VacationForever]

Icydog, setting up a trust starts with a Trust document. That is the expensive part. It cost us $5K first round, $3.5K second round (redid the whole thing because the first Trust Attorney was a fraud and messed up the whole thing), $3K (amendment to the 2nd trust). Putting IRA or timeshare into a trust is actually free.

 

[BocaBoy]

Icydog, setting up a trust starts with a Trust document. That is the expensive part. It cost us $5K first round, $3.5K second round (redid the whole thing because the first Trust Attorney was a fraud and messed up the whole thing), $3K (amendment to the 2nd trust). Putting IRA or timeshare into a trust is actually free.

You should see a different attorney. A trust is usually cheap like a will. It is only expensive if it is a very complex estate planning trust with many nuances and complex tax issues. A trust limited to timeshares should never exceed $1500, and probably considerably less. My mother-in-law paid a top NJ estate attorney about $1200-$1500 total for her will and a trust for her house and a few other assets.

 

[VacationForever]

You should see a different attorney. A trust is usually cheap like a will. It is only expensive if it is a very complex estate planning trust with many nuances and complex tax issues. A trust limited to timeshares should never exceed $1500, and probably considerably less. My mother-in-law paid a top NJ estate attorney about $1200-$1500 total for her will and a trust for her house and a few other assets.

Perhaps CA is different.

 

[kds4]

I see where you are with this. I never thought of it that way. Is this a separate Marriott Timeshare trust you've set up? Nothing else is in there? If there were additional items in this trust, like IRAs and bank accounts, I could see the trust becoming a nightmare to manage. If it's just for this purpose alone, to transfer ownership in whole to your children, then I can seeing it working.

It is strictly a timeshare trust for our weeks/points and some initial cash to sustain the ongoing MFs. No other assets would go in (without getting into a discussion about whether a timeshare is actually an asset).

 

[icydog]

It is strictly a timeshare trust for our weeks/points and some initial cash to sustain the ongoing MFs. No other assets would go in (without getting into a discussion about whether a timeshare is actually an asset).

Then your plan should work seamlessly. I have two kids who could afford my timeshares and three kids who couldn't afford them in a million years. Unfortunately, the kids who want them can't afford them, and the kids who can afford them don't want them!

 

[BocaBoy]

Perhaps CA is different.

It can't be that different. A timeshare trust is a very simple document.

 

[NboroGirl]

I am the OP. My husband and I redid our wills and set up 2 trusts to shield our kids from as much estate tax as possible when we die. We also wanted to avoid having to have them probate our wills in Florida, where the timeshares are located, which would probably cost more than the timeshare weeks are worth.

The house and timeshares are in my trust, and a bunch of investments and monies are in my husband's trust. We used an attorney in MA (Worcester). Even though we did this about 2.5 years ago and all the work has been completed, we have yet to see a bill from our attorney. We even called her in November regarding another matter and reminded her that we never received a bill for our wills/trust and she said she knew and was going to send out something soon, but we still haven't gotten anything. FWIW we budgeted about $1500 for this, which is in line with what BocaBoy said, but until (if) we get a bill, I can't say for sure.

 

[VacationForever]

It can't be that different. A timeshare trust is a very simple document.

Every state has its different wordings to set up a trust. Each of ours has been super thick. Trust attorneys probably charge alot more in CA too. My 3 versions were done by 3 different trust attorneys. None is cheap. Putting timeshare in a trust is free and does not even make it into the trust document.

 

[icydog]

I wish there was a way to fund the timeshares for the kids' use but it would cause family problems, believe me. I'm sure my step-daughter, who is a real estate attorney, will immediately liquidate all my assets. I haven't spoken to her since my husband died, which in itself is screwy. But our trust divides everything by 5, for his three, and my two, children. Ironically she has more money than everyone in the family combined!

 

[BocaBoy]

Every state has its different wordings to set up a trust. Each of ours has been super thick. Trust attorneys probably charge alot more in CA too. My 3 versions were done by 3 different trust attorneys. None is cheap. Putting timeshare in a trust is free and does not even make it into the trust document.

A simple trust document should be no more than 10-15 pages maximum (double spaced), and almost all of that is boilerplate in any state.

 

[BocaBoy]

It is strictly a timeshare trust for our weeks/points and some initial cash to sustain the ongoing MFs. No other assets would go in (without getting into a discussion about whether a timeshare is actually an asset).

It is obviously an asset. It just may not be the kind of asset one wants to own. Some assets (e.g., cars) go down in value but they are still assets.

 

[kds4]

It is obviously an asset. It just may not be the kind of asset one wants to own. Some assets (e.g., cars) go down in value but they are still assets.

No disagreement here, but I know there have been TUG discussions on this topic with differing opinions (so I was only trying to avoid side-tracking this discussion on that point).

 

[Ann-Marie]

We set up a trust with our two houses, investments, IRA and cars. Had a NY attorney do it but he also consulted with a SC attorney where our other property is to make sure the wording was correct. It cost $5,000. Did not include the timeshares.