Change of Ownership (Title)

Mr. & Mrs. Mouse

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 24, 2003
I don't know how to put this in words.....but My Wife and I purchased (3) different DVC Contracts. We are both on the Title. She recently and suddenly passed away. I would like to change the ownership from myself and my wife to myself and one or all of my adult children. Is this something that can be done easily, or does it require a legal transfer, closing, etc. ?
If anyone knows what I can or should do.....please let me know. I just want to ensure that after the many happy vacations my wife and I had at DisneyWorld, that I can pass on the pleasure of getting away to a Happy Place. There are no loans on any of the (3) and I cannot bear to part with them.....so many memories.....
Thank you for reading this and perhaps offering me a solution.
Ed
 
So very sorry for your loss.

Since DVC is a titled interest, it requires some formal paperwork to change ownership. You should first consult your estate lawyer as that individual can advise you on what happens on that end and to set up what you want. Any of the timeshare title companies could be paid to process the paperwork to save you the hassle on that. DVC will need to waive their first refusal rights on the transfer, but my understanding is that is not a problem. You may want to contact member accounting to inquire about that process.
 
I don't know how to put this in words.....but My Wife and I purchased (3) different DVC Contracts. We are both on the Title. She recently and suddenly passed away. I would like to change the ownership from myself and my wife to myself and one or all of my adult children. Is this something that can be done easily, or does it require a legal transfer, closing, etc. ?
If anyone knows what I can or should do.....please let me know. I just want to ensure that after the many happy vacations my wife and I had at DisneyWorld, that I can pass on the pleasure of getting away to a Happy Place. There are no loans on any of the (3) and I cannot bear to part with them.....so many memories.....
Thank you for reading this and perhaps offering me a solution.
Ed
I generally agree with the above. First, I'd likely wait for 6-12 months before doing anything. Consult the estate lawyer then once that's done you should be able to change the name yourself if you want, cost about $100 for all 3.
 


Depending on how it was titled, you may have to go through probate in Florida. Definitely talk to you attorney.
 
Thank you all for you kind words and for your advice. Of course, th
is is not the most important thing that I have to address, but it
was very important to us both and we always believed that we would some day transfer our ownership to our children/grandchildren.
Although we have never met, we really appreciate the feeling of community that we often felt when reading the disboards and the
response I received just reinforced that feeling.
Ed
 
I am so sorry for your loss.

Normally a spouse's will who is first to die would leave everything to the surviving spouse (as opposed to the children), so I am going on that assumption.

There may be a gift tax implication for adding the children to the deeds. It is unlikely to generate any tax due, however, but you may have to report it on the Gift Tax form. If the value of the gift is less than $14,000 per person, there is no paperwork required at all. If the value of the gift is more than $14,000 in one calendar year, you would have to report it, but there would be no tax due unless total lifetime gifts exceed $5.49 million. By value of the gift, I mean the resale value times the share you would be giving them, (i.e. 50%, 33%, etc.). A CPA may find reasons to diminish this value - it has less value now because you cannot sell it without unanimous consent of the other owners, so it is relatively illiquid.

If your kids get along with each other, it might make sense to add them all to each contract, so that each contract remains titled the same. That way you can manage your points from one account.
If you prefer to give a contract to each one, it might be easier to do it through your will or through your trust - so you could continue to manage the accounts.

I agree with others that you can take your time on this. No rush to decide anything.

I am not a CPA or a lawyer, so double check all this with your advisors.
 


I just wanted to add that the one downside of waiting to change title would be if something happened to you, Ed (God forbid). I have instructed the personal representative for me and my DH to immediately add another name to the titles on our contracts (or sell the contracts) when one of us dies, to avoid going through Florida probate when the other one passes.
I also want to say that I understand wanting to hold on to your points because of memories. My DH can no longer travel so we have downsized our points but I just cannot imagine selling all of them. I will go to my grave with my cold fingers hanging onto our last 3 contracts.
 
Ed, I am so sorry for your loss. I have no other advice to add but wanted to say that you are in my thoughts....
 
I am sorry for your loss. I wanted to provide a little advice on taking your wife's name off of the ownership. Depending on how your ownership interest was titled on your deed, you may have a "right of survivorship" interest, meaning that your wife's name can be taken off of the deed without having to go through probate in FL. That is how my DH and I own our DVC. Our deeds say "SSRFred and Mrs. SSRFred, husband and wife." The terms "husband and wife" on a Deed gives a right of survivorship to the surviving spouse. I hope this helps.
 
Thank you all for your kindness. It is still very overwhelming......
Just a little more background...We did title everything in our life "rights of survivorship" or similar language, with the understanding
of the real possibility one of us would be a surviving spouse. Never thought it would happen...
I am taking Dean's advice and not rushing into it yet. I have a plan, thanks to you all, and will add my children to the title, eventually. I did
run into some problems with a bank, and a vehicle my wife leased, but nothing that I can't work out. There is no manual for life events such
as this, and even if there was, everyone's situation is different.
I'm glad I have this community to reach out to. Thank you all,
Ed
 
Thanks for reporting back Ed. I haven't gone through this myself but deal with families with chronic conditions and losses routinely. I can only imagine what you're going through. If you could report back periodically how this is going in regards to DVC, that might help others along the way. It is very variable and individual because of estate rules with multiple states and as you say, every situation is different but I think there are opportunities to help others. There have been some issues and follow up over the past few years, but it's not been enough that I feel comfortable with the nuts and bolts of the estate process.

Starting to think about what is best in your situation from a DVC standpoint, it comes down to the home resorts and contract size for DVC and the personal/financial stability on the kids side plus how you/they would likely use it (or not) going forward. You'll have to decide whether to change them all the same and keep them together under one master contract or not (assuming they are now). IF they're not together, I'd definitely consider having different people on different contracts. I'd go ahead and add anyone you think would be responsible enough now as an associate and consider given them online access. Assuming you decide to add someone, you can do it yourself fairly easily for around $100 or get an online closing company for $400 or less to do it all, LT transfers is the cheapest I know just to get it changed. But there's always the FL probate issue so you'll have to figure out how to get to where you can change the deeds. You don't necessarily have to change the deeds unless you want to add people though.
 
My deepest sympathy to you for your loss. My parents bought 6 OKW DVC contracts in the 90's direct from Disney over the years and they were titled as husband and wife which creates a tenancy by the entirety under FL law, which means they automatically pass to the survivor...just like in your case which sounds like a joint tenant with rights of survivorship. This does avoid probate, of course. I helped my Mom contact DVC member administration after my father passed away and they asked for a copy of the death certificate to update their records. They were very kind and helpful. We also filed one with the Orange County Comptroller to make clear what is happening with the chain of title. It is not necessary to send one with the actual cause of death. Later, I helped my Mom change all her DVC contracts to include her with her 3 adult daughters, all as joint tenants with rights of survivorship. Again, we went through the process by initially contacting member administration for forms and information. We had to go through ROFR, but Disney automatically "waives" in case of family transferring to family as a gratutitous transfer. I prepared new deeds using the same language as the old deeds and filed the necessary deeds and recording fees to the Orange County Comptroller. I also called their clerk and spoke to someone to make sure I was doing it right and had the correct amount of fees. The process did take awhile, but was not too complicated. I am an attorney, but not a real estate attorney. There are threads on this board on how to do it yourself, but if you are feeling understandably overwhelmed, you might be more comfortable just using the attorney you already have. Having all the contracts titled the same with my 2 sisters and Mom allowed her to keep the same membership number and all of the contracts can still be used seamlessly with only one membership. After the changes, DVC mailed my sisters and me blue membership cards and Mom was able to keep the one she had (until DVC eventually mailed out new ones with the expiration dates on them to all of us). It is much easier to administer and keep track of the contracts with just one membership. Fortunately, all of us are very financially responsible which is, as pointed out, something to consider when you add anyone to your contracts. Good luck.
 
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Thank you Lawgator.......it sounds like if I take my time, I can get this done with the help of DVC member Administration. I did not consider the Orange
County Comptroller, so thanks for mentioning that. I might try to find time to travel to Orlando to take care of some of this in person. I do have very
responsible adult children, and I know it was her wishes that they get the DVC when the time came.....
I want to thank you all for your kindness...the most difficult time I am having is removing her name from what she loved.
Ed
 

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