Estate planning for family cottages and cabins
It's never too early to take steps to preserve a beloved family property for generations to come. Shared ownership of vacation property--especially when the co-owners are family members--can be fraught with problems. The idyllic dream of a cottage getaway can be shattered when co-owners' emotions, financial concerns, and opinions on how the property should be used come into play.
Fortunately, a solid plan that dictates how the property will be owned and managed can prevent squabbles over the family cottage. This book lays out a roadmap for creating and implementing this plan. It also explains how to identify properties that qualify as heirlooms worthy of a succession plan, and provides time-tested guidance on how to:
- keep the peace among heirs
- prevent a family member from forcing a sale of the property
- keep your vacation home out of the hands of in-laws and creditors, and
- smoothly transition ownership of the property from one generation to the next.
The seventh edition expands on buy-out options for heirs, how to transfer the property to later branches of the family, and when it might be appropriate to form a nonprofit association to hold the property.
Table of Contents:
Part I: Cottages at Risk
1. Trouble in Paradise
2. Avoid the Worst: A Partition Parable
3. Plan for the Best: Cottage Succession Goals
4. How a Plan Helps Save the Family Cottage
5. No Plan? Then 600-Year-Old Law Controls the Cottage
6. Other Animals in the Property Law Zoo
7. Short-Term Solutions
Part III: Cottage Plans in Action
8. Choose the Right Legal Entity for Your Cottage
9. Welcome to the Club
10. When and How to Organize the Cottage LLC
11. The Cottage Safety Valve
12. Cottage Democracy
13. Scheduling and Use
14. Renting the Cottage
Part IV: Creating a Cottage Legacy
15. Minimizing the Federal Tax Bite
16. The Ultimate Gift: A Cottage Endowment
G. Glossary
B. Bibliography
A. Appendix: Table of Contents for Cottage
Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement
Index
"Practical advice." The Grand Rapids Press
"Nolo is always there in a jam as the nation's premier publisher of do-it-yourself legal books." Newsweek
Ann O'Connell is a legal editor at Nolo specializing in landlord-tenant and real estate law. Before joining Nolo as an editor, Ann was a freelance writer for Nolo and other publications and law firms. She has passed the bar exams in California, Nevada, and Colorado, where she is both an active attorney and a real estate broker. Ann practiced civil litigation in California and Colorado, and had her own firm in Colorado. At her firm, she focused on real estate, landlord-tenant, and small business cases. Ann earned her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from UC Berkeley Law.
Timothy B. Borchers is a practicing attorney and trustee with offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. His practice at his law firm, Borchers Cusano Trust Law, P.C., consists primarily of trusts and estate planning, probate, tax, and elder law, as well as fiduciary services as a trustee, personal representative, and attorney-in-fact. He originated and authored the Heirloom Ownership Trust(TM) and the HOT Property Toolkit(TM), the Inheritance Trust(TM), and the Family Health Trust(TM). Mr. Borchers is admitted to the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Bars and is a graduate of Boston College Law School (J.D.), Cannon Trust School, and Bowdoin College, A.B., summa cum laude. He holds these certifications: Estate Planning Law Specialist, the Estate Planning Law Specialist Board, accredited by the American Bar Association; Accredited Estate Planner, the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils; Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor, the American Bankers Association. Ranked AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and Massachusetts Super Lawyer(R).