There are a variety of planning tactics that can help people make regular vacations more affordable for their families. Some people actually purchase cabins or stand-alone homes in other states. They can then travel at their own leisure to those locations for relaxation and recreation.
Other times, people hoping to enjoy regular vacations in specific areas may not be able to afford to purchase property outright. Even if they can, they may not be able to travel frequently enough to maintain the property adequately. Timeshares can be a compromise between property ownership and reliance on resorts and hotel infrastructure when traveling.
People who buy into timeshares commit to annual fees and get to use the property in accordance with a specific schedule each year. If divorcing spouses invested in a timeshare during the marriage, they may have questions about how to address their timeshare holdings. There are a few different options available when a couple’s marital estate includes a timeshare.
Spouses can share the timeshare
In some cases, such as when there are minor children in the family, the spouses might agree to continue joint ownership of the timeshare. If a divorce is amicable, they might travel together with their children to make use of their scheduled timeshare vacations each year.
Other times, the parents can alternate years. They could also arrange to split their time at the timeshare. Such arrangements may require that the spouses also split the maintenance costs associated with the timeshare. Other times, one spouse might cover those expenses as part of the divorce settlement.
Letting one spouse retain the timeshare
Perhaps one spouse fishes, while the other doesn’t feel particularly passionate about the location where they secured the timeshare. It might be possible to arrange for one spouse to retain the timeshare as part of a broader property division settlement. Spouses may need to negotiate an agreement about what the timeshare is theoretically worth and then factor that into the allocation of other marital assets and marital debts.
Selling the timeshare
For some couples, the simplest solution for addressing a timeshare is to liquidate the property. It might be too much of a challenge for either spouse to afford the property on their own. The pre-existing memories at the property could also make it less appealing to use as a vacation destination after the divorce.
Given that timeshares represent both financial obligation and value, they can be a challenge to properly address during divorce negotiations. Identifying assets that could derail attempts to negotiate an uncontested divorce can help spouses push for the best possible outcome when it comes to property division and other divorce issues.