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The Beneficiary: “Pierre” is a 58-year-old nuclear power manager in Northern Ontario. He’s separated with almost grown kids and in a new relationship. Since his elder brother lives in the United States, Pierre’s the executor of the will of his nearly 90-year-old father, who’s long divorced from Pierre’s mother and has a long-term “lady friend.” With all of the above in mind, Pierre’s father is currently fine-tuning his will.
The Inheritance: In the mid-90s, Pierre’s father became the happy owner of a Florida condo – for two weeks a year. So, too, is his girlfriend, for a grand total of four timeshared weeks in the Sunshine State, where they’ve been snow-birding together for decades. “They’re both fit as fiddles, physically, but they have some memory problems starting,” Pierre says. Cleaning and maintaining the timeshare –including an annual maintenance fee of about US$1,000 – is becoming more difficult, so everyone agrees it’s time to unload.
Initially, Pierre’s father’s girlfriend was gunning hard for the timeshare, which Pierre didn’t mind one bit. “To my mind, the timeshare is a negative. I don’t think it has any value,” he says. “Value,” as always, is subjective, and since his dad’s girlfriend loves it, she was the obvious recipient, until her family intervened. “For all the same reasons as my dad, her kids don’t think she’ll be travelling much.” If and when their mom heads south, her kids (in their mid-60s, by the way) will host her – in their own timeshare.
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What he did with it: In this case, it’s more what Pierre didn’t do – happily embrace a timeshare. He’s not interested because of the condo itself (it’s older, needs major renovations and is of “Holiday Inn quality”), current American politics (no explanations necessary) and the fact that his new partner’s family already has a (far nicer) Florida property to visit. “If I ever go to Florida, it’ll be there.”
While drafting the will, Pierre and his father consulted with a lawyer, who advised they “get the timeshare off the table and just hand it over.” As the (un)lucky recipient, Pierre’s now tasked with getting out of a 30-year-old contract which “Dad can’t find, obviously.” Safe to say it has some kind of “in perpetuity” clause that implies forever – even and including heirs, whether or not they want a timeshare.
The Canadian Resort and Travel Association reports about 500,000 Canadians own timeshares, though plenty of those are currently for sale in the bustling timeshare resale market. Some 75,000 units are listed on www.sellmytimesharenow.com, including 30 at Pierre’s father’s resort listed for as high as US$20,000 and as low as US$1. Even for a buck, it’s difficult to convince buyers to sign a contract with no ending in sight. As such, Pierre’s perfectly happy to give the timeshare away or back.
What he learned: When Pierre contacted the condo association, he was given two options. The first is to transfer the timeshare into another name – should he find a taker – and then have a new deed completed and submitted to the city. Pierre might hire his own lawyer or represent himself, or use the condo’s lawyer who charges US$1,300 atop a US$100 transfer fee. It’s a relative bargain compared with Pierre’s next option, the so-called “give back program,” that costs US$5,200 to break the contract and walk away.
The condo association conveniently didn’t mention a few others: Firstly, Pierre could find the original contract and have his lawyer look for loopholes. Alternatively, upon his father’s death, he can file a “disclaimer of interest” letter that formally refuses the timeshare portion of his inheritance. Pierre’s correct that “timeshares come after you in the grave” in that, technically, the condo association could sue the estate. But barring a large outstanding bill, they almost certainly won’t; for a few thousand dollars, their lawyer’s time just isn’t worth the effort.
Pierre hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll roll the dice with that option or just write the cheque to get it off his hands, as there’s value, too, in peace of mind. “I don’t like being tied down,” Pierre says, which is of course why he doesn’t want the timeshare in the first place. The rest of his inheritance is largely going to a retirement filled with travel. “In the age of Airbnb, I don’t see the point of locking yourself into one spot. I want to visit England and France, I’d like to try out Australia and Amsterdam. While I’m a young-ish old person, I want to see the world.”
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