The Second Home Should Be Given A Lot of Attention!

I think that it is important for people to know of an issue that many Estate Plans do not adequately address and that is:  what is going to happen to their vacation home, cottage, cabin or camp?

Many clients come in to the office and when I ask about it they think they will just give it to the kids.  Usually the clients tell me that their kids will know how to handle it and that they get along fine.  Maybe they do and maybe they don’t.  Let us say they get along perfectly.  What happens if one of them cannot meet the financial obligations of the cottage?  What if one of them has creditors or a bankruptcy?  What happens if one of them gets divorced?  

Now, what happens if they do not get along perfectly?  What if they disagree on how to maintain or improve the property?  What if one of them wants to cash out and the other cannot afford to buy him/her out?    What happens at the next generation?

You can see that there are plenty of issues to deal with.  There are solutions.  You need to discuss with your Estate Planning attorney or lawyer.  It may be that it should not all be handled within a Living Trust or Will.