You can do a will that gives the
DVC property to your niece or someone else, but, contrary to what is stated above, that would not avoid probate of the property in Florida. If someone dies and that person is the sole owner of real porperty in Florida on a deed, the property will be subject to probate in Florida regardless of anything you put in a will. The only issue is whether the property would go through a less expensive and quicker expedited probate proceeding, which applies if the total owned property in Florida of the deceased has a fair market value of $75,000 or less, or full probate if that value is greater than $75,000. Naming someone in a will mainly avoids the extra cost and problems that would occur for the probate proceeding because of the absence of a will.
To avoid probate you would need to do one of two things.
1. Add another person to the deed, and thus to the membership, and have the deed state that it is joint tenancy with right of survivorship, which would result in avoiding probate upon the death of any one person on the deed as long as there remains a named surviving owner on the deed. You add someone to a deed by actually transfering your ownership from you to both you and the additional person via a new deed. The risks involved with that kind of transfer is that both you and your neice would have the same powers and obligations to pay dues as owners and members, so both need to be able to agree on the use and payment for the timeshare. Also, If your neice would someday have serious financial problems, you could face a possible forced sale of the property to cover debts.
2. Set up a revocable living trust, which would actually be created In relation to most or all your property. The trust would have you as the beneficiary and controlling trustee until you die, and the trust would have provisions transferring the property to an heir following your death. Once the trust is set up, you would transfer DVC ownership to the trust via deed, although you retain all membership and ownership powers and duties over the property. The property would then escape probate because the legal owner of the property, the trust, lives on after you die, and any transfer of property done by the trust to your heir according the trust provisions after you die is not subject to probate because the transfer does not involve the death of the legal owner (the trust). When creating a trust, a will is also created to cover distribution of any possible assets you may have which are not transferred to the trust.
If you are considering a trust, you should assume a lawyer is necessary. If you are considering just a transfer via deed , a lawyer is recommended, but DVC has information that you can get to aid in the process and there are organizations, such as title/closing companies, that can provide assistance for a fee if you want to attempt to avoid lawyer costs.
