Confusion over DVC ownership after owner's passing- can anyone help?

[preemiemama]

I have a very dear family friend (also a Disney fanatic) who recently died. She was a single female, but her sister is believed to be her beneficiary for her estate. The sister lived next door to her and had joint ownership of the house since it was originally their mother's house- and apparently the mother willed it to both daughters. She does have other siblings, though- so I suppose that property, as well as any other of the estate's holdings, could be debated?

Anyway- the sister is trying to weed through the home and find paperwork related to the DVC property and/or a will. She has hired a lawyer to investigate her rights as well. At the moment she has not been able to locate the DVC deed, but is somehow under the impression that the points will revert back to Disney? The woman lived in NY and was one of the original DVC owners at Old Key West, in case that is pertinent. I know the state of residence can matter- not sure if the original contracts had different language for survivors/ beneficiaries than more recent ones?

Any help you can give me to pass along to the sister would be appreciated. The woman had a significant amount of points, so her sister would like to keep or sell (some of?) them. Certainly losing them in a return to Disney is not an option she wants to have occur. Thank you in advance for any assistance or advice!

 

[supersnoop]

Start here if it's a Florida property: http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagleweb/docSearch.jsp

The tenancy could determine how the deed passes. It should be part of the estate, but may need to go through probate in Florida. Also, if the person receiving the deed doesn't want it (which is common with timeshares, but not so much with DVC), it could revert to Disney. But if there's any value, the estate could either pass title to the beneficiary or sell it and distribute the proceeds.

 

[disneynutz]

I caution you, let the lawyer do their job and keep out of it. You may find yourself being brought into court should things go south with the estate.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Upon death DVC does not automatically revert to Disney. It is a deeded real estate interest that can be passed on. If it is paid for and dues get paid Disney will have no need or interest in taking it back.

 

[preemiemama]

Start here if it's a Florida property: http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagleweb/docSearch.jsp

The tenancy could determine how the deed passes. It should be part of the estate, but may need to go through probate in Florida. Also, if the person receiving the deed doesn't want it (which is common with timeshares, but not so much with DVC), it could revert to Disney. But if there's any value, the estate could either pass title to the beneficiary or sell it and distribute the proceeds.

Well the DVC property is in Florida, but the woman who owned it was a NY State resident- as is her sister. I believe she may want part of it, but there are more points than she would personally use.

I caution you, let the lawyer do their job and keep out of it. You may find yourself being brought into court should things go south with the estate.

Bill

I intend to- I just wanted to reassure her that it was not going to just revert back to Disney. Who in the family owns it/wants to lay claim to it, etc... is not anything I want to be involved in.

Upon death DVC does not automatically revert to Disney. It is a deeded real estate interest that can be passed on. If it is paid for and dues get paid Disney will have no need or interest in taking it back.

Thank you all for the responses. At least it gives me some reassurance to pass on to her that Disney is not going to just reclaim it! Anyone know how to get a copy of the deed in the event the original cannot be found?

 

[preemiemama]

Start here if it's a Florida property: http://or.occompt.com/recorder/eagleweb/docSearch.jsp

The tenancy could determine how the deed passes. It should be part of the estate, but may need to go through probate in Florida. Also, if the person receiving the deed doesn't want it (which is common with timeshares, but not so much with DVC), it could revert to Disney. But if there's any value, the estate could either pass title to the beneficiary or sell it and distribute the proceeds.

Thank you for this link- I was able to find the deeds right away!

 

[jerseygal]

DVC is deeded real property. It should pass to the beneficiaries of the estate as such in terms of real property or real property interests.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Well the DVC property is in Florida, but the woman who owned it was a NY State resident- as is her sister. I believe she may want part of it, but there are more points than she would personally use.

If it is a single contract, which most of the early ones were even if they were quite large, then it is impossible to break it up and only keep a part. Whomever inherits it would have it all or would have to sell all of it. The points are quite easy to rent though if they decided to keep it but only were able to use some of the points themselves. If it is multiple contracts (and multiple deeds) then some could be sold and others kept.

 

[preemiemama]

If it is a single contract, which most of the early ones were even if they were quite large, then it is impossible to break it up and only keep a part. Whomever inherits it would have it all or would have to sell all of it. The points are quite easy to rent though if they decided to keep it but only were able to use some of the points themselves. If it is multiple contracts (and multiple deeds) then some could be sold and others kept.

That is good to know as well. I am seeing a larger initial one, but it appears that about half of the points are from subsequent purchases. That may work out as she could keep the original and see off the subsequent purchases. Thank you!

 

[sndral]

Do mention to the sister and suggest she tell the lawyer that maintenance fees are due in January.

 

[LisaS]

Do mention to the sister and suggest she tell the lawyer that maintenance fees are due in January.

OP, this point is very important. If the dues are not paid on these contracts, Disney can take the contracts back due to non-payment of annual fees.

If your friend decides to sell some/all of the contracts, OKW is currently selling for $70-$85 per point depending on the size of the contract (smaller contracts sell for a higher price/pt) and the number of banked, current Use Year and future points available to use. Most people opt to sell through a broker and there are several that specialize in DVC. They charge a commission of 8%-10% of the sales price depending on the broker.

 

[preemiemama]

OP, this point is very important. If the dues are not paid on these contracts, Disney can take the contracts back due to non-payment of annual fees.

If your friend decides to sell some/all of the contracts, OKW is currently selling for $70-$85 per point depending on the size of the contract (smaller contracts sell for a higher price/pt) and the number of banked, current Use Year and future points available to use. Most people opt to sell through a broker and there are several that specialize in DVC. They charge a commission of 8%-10% of the sales price depending on the broker.

Thank you- I will be sure to tell her!

 

[Dean]

Timeshares do not revert back automatically. They are part of the estate and the estate cannot be settled until they are disposed of in some way. An heir can refuse them but they stay in the estate. The executor can then sell (best for DVC) or look for another way to dispose of it. A deed back is one of those ways but not a good choice for DVC. The estate will be responsible for the fees/dues until it is done. If it's not disposed of and remains in the estate, the executor can ask a judge to simply remove it. Not usually a good choice for DVC but a good option for many timeshares that are more difficult to dispose of. I'd say either sell it or take it and rent the points. They can't sell part of the points unless it's multiple contracts together. For FL it shouldn't be difficult to find the deed online.

 

[preemiemama]

Thank you. I have found the deeds and it is multiple contracts. All this information is very helpful to my friend's sister- I appreciate it!

 

[drusba]

Get everything to the lawyer. If the deeds are only in her name with no one else named in the deed as a joint tenant, the property will become property of the estate. If there is a will, the property will follow what is in the will. If not it will follow estate law. In that situation, if there is no spouse or children of the deceased, the property will likely go to the decedant's parent(s) if living, otherwise to all the siblings and not just the sister that lived with her. If the deed has the property only in her name without any joint tenant on the deed getting it upon her death, the estate and its lawyer will need to open a second estate proceeding in Florida, thus adding extra expense. As to upcoming dues, the lawyer will need to see to it that formal notice of death and applicable proceedings is provided to Disney, upon receipt of which Disney will take no action to do anything with the property if dues are not paid in January but it will have a claim for the dues with the estate and eventually, assuming there are assets in the estate to pay them, a court will issue an order allowing such payment. If all heirs disavow any interest in receiving the property, Disney does not get it. The estate will likley attempt to sell it in that situation and Disney could become a buyer.

 

[preemiemama]

Thank you. I will pass that information along as well. Right now, I know she has a lawyer working on things- she just did not have the deed to the property. Thanks to you all I have been able to get her a copy online and give her some sound advice on how to proceed.

 

[Dean]

Thank you. I will pass that information along as well. Right now, I know she has a lawyer working on things- she just did not have the deed to the property. Thanks to you all I have been able to get her a copy online and give her some sound advice on how to proceed.

Others have reported that for FL you will have to have probate there as well. Since there are multiple deeds it could add up to do the transfers. A full service closing company will be in the range of $450 per deed. They can do it themselves for less than $50 per. LT transfers will be around $170 per but might be willing to group them. A full service company might be willing to group them as well. There are other companies that are in between. It's really not a complicated process.

 

[DVCcurious]

The laws for what happens when someone dies (with or without a will) are pretty detailed. There is a process that the assets will go through (probate which means "to prove") to determine the new owner of the assets.

There is a legal process if the decedent has a will and one if the decedent doesn't have a will. Just sit back and let the attorney do their job. The lawyer and judge know what is supposed to happen and everything will turn out exactly as it's supposed to.

People die all the time, this type of thing is very easy for our legal system to handle.

 

[Dean]

The laws for what happens when someone dies (with or without a will) are pretty detailed. There is a process that the assets will go through (probate which means "to prove") to determine the new owner of the assets.

There is a legal process if the decedent has a will and one if the decedent doesn't have a will. Just sit back and let the attorney do their job. The lawyer and judge know what is supposed to happen and everything will turn out exactly as it's supposed to.

People die all the time, this type of thing is very easy for our legal system to handle.

True but for DVC in this situation, sitting back and letting them do everything will likely be an expensive proposition. As a rule, lawyers don't know timeshares and certainly not DVC unless they are involved already. Plus they're going to have to make some decisions outside of the technicalities of the probate process like whether to keep it, sell it or a combination. My suggestions would be to get enough info to make those decisions and to know how and who to do the name change as a minimum.

 

[preemiemama]

I believe this is where she is headed. Thank you all for the help!