When a family sits across from my desk in Manhattan to settle a parent’s estate, they usually bring a bankers box full of financial records. We sort through the bank statements, the life insurance policies, and the deed to the primary residence. Then, invariably, someone pulls out a glossy folder containing a contract for a timeshare in Florida or the Caribbean. They ask me how to appraise its value. I have to deliver a hard truth: in estate administration, a timeshare is rarely an asset. It is a heavy liability.
Deeded Real Estate vs. Contractual Obligation
Timeshares generally fall into two legal categories. The first is a right-to-use contract or a points-based club membership—essentially a long-term lease. The second is a deeded fractional interest in real estate. While the initial marketing materials may have sold you on the concept of a generational vacation property, the legal reality is cold. Both structures come attached to perpetual, legally binding maintenance fees.
When you die, these financial obligations do not disappear. They become a debt of your estate. Your executor has a strict fiduciary duty under EPTL Article 11 to settle your debts and protect the estate’s overall value. If the estate is forced to continue paying $2,000 or $3,000 in annual maintenance fees for a vacation property no one uses, the timeshare becomes a direct drain on the inheritance you intended to leave behind. An executor who drains estate funds by needlessly paying resort fees could even face surcharge actions from the beneficiaries.
The Threat of Ancillary Probate
If your timeshare is a deeded real estate interest located outside New York, the procedural hurdles multiply. A Surrogate’s Court only possesses jurisdiction over property located within its borders. If you live in Brooklyn but die owning a deeded week in Orlando, your executor cannot simply transfer that out-of-state deed to your children.
Instead, your family must open a secondary legal proceeding—ancillary probate—in the state where the timeshare sits. This requires retaining a second attorney in that jurisdiction, paying a second set of court filing fees, and subjecting your family to a different set of local probate rules. In many instances, the financial cost of this secondary probate proceeding far exceeds the resale market value of the timeshare itself.
When Beneficiaries Refuse the Inheritance
Parents often assume their children will gladly take over the annual family vacation spot. The reality is that the next generation rarely has any interest in assuming a lifetime of escalating maintenance assessments. Fortunately, beneficiaries are not forced to accept an unwanted gift.
Under New York law, specifically EPTL § 2-1.11, a beneficiary has the right to formally renounce a property interest. By executing a valid, written renunciation—which must be filed within nine months of the date of death—a child can legally decline the timeshare. Once filed, this renunciation is irrevocable. The law treats the beneficiary as if they had predeceased you.
A successful renunciation does not make the underlying problem disappear. If all named beneficiaries renounce the timeshare, it remains the property of the estate. The timeshare developer then becomes a creditor of the estate for any unpaid fees. The executor must attempt to negotiate a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure or arrange a surrender of the property to properly close the estate. This process can drag on for months, delaying the final distribution of your liquid assets to your heirs.
Deliberate Stewardship of Vacation Properties
Legacy requires intention. If you currently own a timeshare, leaving its fate to the default rules of your will is rarely a prudent strategy. We typically advise clients to take deliberate action while they are still alive and possess the legal capacity to restructure their holdings.
If your family genuinely uses and wants to retain the timeshare for future generations, the ownership should be formally transferred into a revocable living trust. A trust acts as a private custodian for your assets and bypasses Surrogate’s Court entirely. Because the trust—not you as an individual—owns the deed, your death does not trigger the need for ancillary probate in Florida or elsewhere. The successor trustee simply continues managing the property and paying the fees according to your written instructions.
If your children do not want the timeshare, the time to dispose of it is now. Whether that means selling it on the secondary market, negotiating an exit with the resort developer, or utilizing a specialized transfer strategy, handling this burden during your lifetime is a profound act of care for your family.
Stewardship.
Do not leave your executor guessing about how to handle an out-of-state property contract. Gather your original purchase agreements, your most recent maintenance fee invoices, and the recorded deed, and schedule a 30-minute review of your existing estate documents to determine exactly how your vacation property will impact your beneficiaries.
