Attorney Thomas B. Burton discusses estate planning techniques for leaving the family cabin or cottage to your children or heirs in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Attorney Burton discusses some common strategies and pitfalls to be aware of when considering ways to pass on your family cabin to the next generation.
Transcript of Video: What is the Best Way To Leave the Family Cabin to the Next Generation?
Today's question has to do with the
family cabin or the cottage what if you
have a cabin or cottage and you want to
leave it to your children well you think
why can't I just leave it in
the Will to my three children and then
they'll take care of it well that's the
simplest method it could be full of
problems oftentimes while you own the
cabin you take care of the expenses and
the maintenance if you leave it through
your Will to your three children each
will own an undivided one-third
interest in the cabin depending how you
set it up what happens when one of them
does not want to pay the taxes how can
the others get the money from the one or
two who cannot or will not pay in
addition when the roof goes bad who pays
for it there's limited mechanisms for
enforcing in the worst case scenario if
one year children has creditor problems
and they're a one-third owner of the cabin
the cabin could be attached by their
creditors in regards to their ownership
interest finally if all three are owners
and one wanted out the judge could order
a petition sale meaning the property be
sold so that the one child could be
bought out these are worst-case
scenarios but believe me they happen
every day if you have a cottage or cabin
I strongly urge you
to consider a revocable living trust or
LLC or other vehicle to protect it if
your goal is for the next generation to
use and enjoy that cabin.
This is a great question thank you for
asking and please like comment and share
this post and keep the questions coming.
If you would like to be notified about future video blogs posts, or to submit a question for a future post please visit this page on my website.
© 2018 Law Office of Thomas B. Burton. All Rights Reserved.
Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.
For questions about this topic, or to suggest a topic for a future blog post, please contact my office.