It can be difficult to determine what happens to the family vacation home or second property after you pass away. You might assume that all of your children are on the same page about this and that it will easily and successfully transfer to the next generation with no drama or conflict.
But what happens if you are wrong about that? This could put your loved ones in the difficult situation of working with one another and disagreeing over the outcome. Many people often assume that the cost of maintaining a family vacation home will be split among the oldest generation, which sounds straight forward and simple but this is rarely predictable in reality.
One or more siblings may be unwilling or unable to contribute their share of the cost or may get mad that other members of the family are able to use the vacation home more frequently than they can. This can lead to unnecessary conflict and is a big reason why you might want to have conversations about the vacation home well in advance of making any specific plans for it. Talking to your adult children and getting an idea of their interest in maintaining this home is important. If only one child is interested or has the means to maintain it on a regular basis, you can make your estate planning approach much easier.
You can employ planning techniques to allow someone to sell the property if none of the children want to take it on. You might use other assets to pass to your adult children who do not want the vacation home so that you can leave your vacation home to the one who does care the most about it. For more information about what this process looks like, schedule a consultation with an estate planning lawyer.
Whether your vacation home is in California or elsewhere, it belongs as part of your estate plan. Get started today by working with lawyers.
