Estate Planning Considerations for a Vacation Home

It is important to remember to include the vacation home in estate planning. If treatment of a vacation home is left unspecified it can result in children becoming tenants-in-common, which can result in sibling strife. Here are four considerations for making sure the intended outcome is reached for a family vacation home:

1. Decide what the end goal for the vacation home is, whether that is for the property to be sold or kept in the family.
2. Find out the desires of each child regarding the property and don’t assume that all children will want an ownership share.
3. Give some thought to whether using a trust would be beneficial.
4. Always have a plan for selling the property, even if just as a backup plan for unexpected events.

See Tracy Craig, Estate Planning: What to do With Client Vacation Homes?, Financial Planning, Sept. 16, 2014.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.