DVC Membership 2 families Together

[donkortajr]

We were talking with the family we are going to WDW with this fall. Both famalies have considered DVC in the past. The topic came up of pooling resources for a joint membership to continue joint trips in the future in the larger accomodations. Does this sound right, or would each family have their own DVC membership and possible pool points to get larger accomodations?

-dk

 

[DVCLiz]

We were talking with the family we are going to WDW with this fall. Both famalies have considered DVC in the past. The topic came up of pooling resources for a joint membership to continue joint trips in the future in the larger accomodations. Does this sound right, or would each family have their own DVC membership and possible pool points to get larger accomodations?

-dk

I suppose you could own jointly and have the names of all adults listed as owners on the original contract, but I sure wouldn't want to actually own with another family. Too many possible scenarios of something going wrong for my tastes - mistakes with banking deadlines, last minute changes of plans, not to mention possible changes to your friendship or divorce at some time in the future.

But, I don't see anything wrong with two families each owning a contract and deciding to reserve certain nights in a larger accomodation for the benefit of both. One family could make a reservation for the first 3 nights and the other family could reserve the last 3 nights, for instance.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think you would be much better served to have each family acquire their own minimum contract (160) and then pool those for larger accommodations when you travel together. Then there is no worry about who is using what, and what happens should one family have some financial or marital strife that would put the whole contract in jeopardy.

 

[inloveindisney]

I agree. You can be the most close family in the world, but something like this has the tendency to turn things around. Just think smart with this. It would not be a good thing if Disney came between you. If you each got a separate ownership, you could still vacation together and just use both of your points together. Good Luck!

 

[Lynne M]

Would you be willing to buy a house with this family? Essentially, that's what you'd be doing - buying DVC is a real estate purchase, and as an asset it would come into play in any divorce or bankruptcy proceedings.

Are you all sure that you'll want to go to WDW together for the next 30-40 years? What if one family gets tired of Disney (perish the thought), or if the friendship cools? Or if one family has a financial reversal and needs to sell?

I think it's a much better idea for each family to buy their own contract. You can each reserve some of the nights for the trip, and then link the reservations together.

 

[johde]

I agree with most everyone else here. Sharing a DVC contract is legal but could lead to headaches in the cases of death, divorce, bankruptcy, etc. Another option would be for each to buy your own small resale of say 80 points. That way you could transfer points for large trips but not have your own point for other times.

 

[Grandbuddy]

The DW and I will own all the points, and each of them will get a separate contract in the estate.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You could form a corp or a LLC but that's expensive. Companies can purchase interests in DVC. I already checked for my own benefit.

Having said that, I agree with everyone above. Buy seperately and get the same UY and home resort (since you desire to pool points).

One suggestion I would make a little different from what's been suggested above is that one family TRANSFER points to the other and that family make ONE reservation as opposed to two seperate ones.

Of course, you'll have to work out the math on the appropriate number of points for the family that was transferred into (res makers) to transfer back to make everything even but it's business and it's just a math problem. In the end, everybody still owns what they own and all parties are treated equal and evenly if it is done this way.

If you ever part ways, everybody has what was already theirs and neither family's any worse for the wear; at least from the perspective of DVC ownership.

Banking and borrowing will be tricky too, if ever needed but it too, is just doing the math and getting it all distributed evenly and fairly.

 

[DisFamily2006]

My first ever "DVC" conversation way back when was with a family who owned jointly with another family. Apparently, the "dads" of the family were brothers and the two families traveled together all the time on vacations. They bought together. Knowing what I know now my first reaction is that they should have each bought a contract with the same home resort and use year, that way they could transfer between the two, or split ways if ever the need arose. Looking back though, they bought the minimum 160 (combined) so there was no way to do it in two separate contracts/purchases.

 

[tjkraz]

Looking back though, they bought the minimum 160 (combined) so there was no way to do it in two separate contracts/purchases.

You could pull it off, but it would be a little more time-consuming and cost a bit more up front.

One family could purchase a small contract via resale...say 80 points. After they become members, they could then purchase an add-on contract of another 80 points. Then they could "sell" one of the two contracts to the second family.

It would take a few months to pull all of that off, and could end up costing several hundred dollars extra. Still that seems like money well spent when considering what can happen with joint ownership.

 

[SWB]

I would not advise that type of ownership/situation.

If it were me, I'd figure up how many total points you would need to take an ideal joint family trip in the accommodations you need for ever how many times per year/every other year you would want. Then each family together look for a resale contract for about half of the points with the same use year. The points could be transfered to the other family to cover the planned trip as needed. I know this would be more difficult to accomplish with two contracts, but the averted difficulties could be a lot more.

 

[bub]

We own DVC with 4 families - my parents and two siblings are the other owners. Four of us are on the deed. We all get full membership benefits and most mailings. We bought 220 points 12 years ago - 55 points per year per family. This is enough to get a studio S - F most of the year, or more if traveling every other year or pooling points. I'm sure this sounds like almost no points to most on these boards, but we have all had great vacations, including once sharing a grand villa. The cost for each of us to buy a full membership would have been prohibitive for us. We don't all go together every year - in fact, we usually go separately, due to work and school schedules.

A few years ago, my brother and I each bought a small (55 point) add-on. I did this so we could stay in 1 bedroom units, as our kids are getting older and the space makes for a better vacation. Whereas we used to go every year for 5 nights (and usually added a few cash nights) we now go every other year and include one or two weekend nights on points. The flexibility of DVC works for us.

I think this works for us because we are all related and most of the time we all get along. Keeping track of point usage and banking deadlines has mostly fallen to me, but I use e-mail to keep everyone on track. The math involved occasionally makes me pull out my hair, but it all works out in the end. I would not advise this plan for people who are not related or who do not communicate well with one another.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We own DVC with 4 families - my parents and two siblings are the other owners. Four of us are on the deed. We all get full membership benefits and most mailings. We bought 220 points 12 years ago - 55 points per year per family. This is enough to get a studio S - F most of the year, or more if traveling every other year or pooling points. I'm sure this sounds like almost no points to most on these boards, but we have all had great vacations, including once sharing a grand villa. The cost for each of us to buy a full membership would have been prohibitive for us. We don't all go together every year - in fact, we usually go separately, due to work and school schedules.

A few years ago, my brother and I each bought a small (55 point) add-on. I did this so we could stay in 1 bedroom units, as our kids are getting older and the space makes for a better vacation. Whereas we used to go every year for 5 nights (and usually added a few cash nights) we now go every other year and include one or two weekend nights on points. The flexibility of DVC works for us.

I think this works for us because we are all related and most of the time we all get along. Keeping track of point usage and banking deadlines has mostly fallen to me, but I use e-mail to keep everyone on track. The math involved occasionally makes me pull out my hair, but it all works out in the end. I would not advise this plan for people who are not related or who do not communicate well with one another.

I'm so glad to read of another shared owner success story! We don't own DVC together, but the house in Cape May. It has been a blessing sharing the house with the expenses and uses with DSis! It's lasted 10 years so far, and we do have a legal agreement about what happens if one of us dies or wishes to sell.

Bobbi