We’re Getting Divorced; What Do We Do with the Timeshare?
Some things are easy to divide in Utah divorce, and then some things are difficult.
For example, bank accounts are easy because all you do is split the money and cash is easily divisible.
On the other hand, splitting a home is more difficult because you have to sell the home and then split the equity.
And then there are items like timeshares. Timeshares are difficult to divide in divorce for a few reasons:
- People usually owe significant amounts on them.
- Timeshares are notoriously difficult to sell.
- You have to pay those maintenance fees.
- Neither spouse wants to use the timeshare anymore.
What this means is it’s difficult to liquidate timeshares, which means people are essentially stuck with them.
And, since no one wants to vacation in the same place you vacationed with your ex for years, no one wants to keep or use the timeshare anymore.
So, given all this, what are the most common ways people deal with timeshares in divorce?
In our experience, there are four most common options:
- Someone keeps the timeshare.
It happens that during negotiation someone will give in and keep the timeshare. It’s almost always the spouse with more money because timeshares are so darn expensive. Sometimes, the person who first wanted to buy the timeshare ends up with it — think of it as a kind of punishment.
- Sell the timeshare.
This almost never happens because there really isn’t a resale market for timeshares. Almost everyone who ever buys a timeshare does so because they get sucked in to some high-pressure sales pitch. And almost everyone who buys a timeshare regrets it. This is a recipe for a very small resale market.
- Default on the timeshare.
Because money’s tight during and after divorce, many people will stop paying the timeshare fees and default on their financial obligations to the timeshare company. Not a great way to go, but it’s understandable since a timeshare is really a luxury items, and a high-priced one at that.
- Pay To Have a Company Get You out of the Timeshare Contract.
There are companies out there that will help you extract couples from timeshares. timeshareexitteam.com is the most famous of these companies, and it seems to have a good track-record doing its job. That said, these companies aren’t cheap, and couples who use these services will agree to put in marital money save money in the long term.
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