Liz Weston

Q&A: What if my heirs don’t want my timeshare?

September 30, 2025 By Liz Weston Leave a Comment

Dear Liz: You recently answered a question about the consequences of giving up a timeshare. What are the possible consequences if a timeshare is held until the owner’s death? What is the effect if it is included in a will or trust? If none of the potential heirs want it, what is the effect of not mentioning it in the will or trust? Can the company sue the prospective inheritors even if it were to go into default? What I’m struggling to get at is what are the best options for handling it, depending on the desire of the prospective inheritors?

Answer: Timeshares typically have “in perpetuity” clauses that require owners to pay maintenance fees for life, and the requirement passes to anyone who inherits the timeshare.

Fortunately, no one is forced to accept such an inheritance. Potential heirs can “disclaim” or refuse to accept the timeshare after your death.

How your heirs go about this depends on the type of timeshare. If the timeshare includes a real estate deed, or if it’s specifically mentioned in your will or trust, then your heirs may need to file a written disclaimer with the probate court. If the timeshare was sold as a “right to use” contract, which is more common these days, the heirs can have the executor contact the resort to tell them the owner has died, so the resort can start the process of taking the timeshare back.

This all assumes that you haven’t already added the heirs’ names to the timeshare deed, if one exists. Sometimes, timeshare salespeople promote this option as a “convenience,” which it is — to the timeshare company, because it can hold the heirs responsible for the fees, whether they want the timeshare or not. To fix this, you can ask the resort developer to remove the additional names from the deed. If the developer balks, consider contacting an attorney.

Q&A: How do I claim fire-damage losses on my taxes?

September 30, 2025 By Liz Weston Leave a Comment

Dear Liz: My home in Pacific Palisades is still standing after January’s fire, but was damaged by smoke and ash. The remediators deemed hundreds of personal property items unsalvageable. Our insurance company is paying us a highly depreciated amount for these items, with the full amount to be received upon the actual purchase of each replacement.

Since we won’t replace every item, we’ll end up with a sizable loss, which I understand can be claimed on our 2024 or 2025 tax return. I’m concerned that we won’t know the total amount of loss by the end of 2025. Could you please discuss how to handle this?

Answer: Casualty losses are deductible in the year you sustained the loss. That’s typically the year the loss occurred, although you may be able to deduct the loss in the previous tax year when it’s part of a federally declared disaster, such as the January 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles, says Mark Luscombe, principal analyst for Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting.

However, you aren’t considered to have sustained a loss if there remains a reasonable prospect of recovery through a claim for reimbursement, Luscombe says. You can’t take the deduction until the tax year in which you can determine with reasonable certainty whether or not you will receive such reimbursement.

If you won’t know the amount of the loss by the end of 2025 due to this uncertainty, you can wait to deduct the loss until the year in which the amount of reimbursement is known, Luscombe says.

For personal use property, the deductible loss is the lesser of the adjusted basis of the property (typically its cost) or the decrease in the fair market value of the property as a result of the casualty (which may be determined by an appraisal or the cost of repairing the property), Luscombe says.

Q&A: How do I get out of my timeshare?

September 22, 2025 By Liz Weston Leave a Comment

Dear Liz: We want to get rid of our timeshare after having it for more than 20 years.

We gave the exit company $5,000 to help us, but all they did was tell us what to do, and it was going to cost more money. Renting it would probably be a nightmare, and we don’t want to leave it to our kids, as they couldn’t afford the maintenance fees.

We are 76 now, and having to come up with those fees every year is hard. Would it be wise to just stop paying the fees and let them take it back by default? We paid off the timeshare years ago. Can they hurt our credit rating?

Answer: Probably, but that may be the best of bad options.

You’ve already discovered that there are plenty of scamsters and unethical companies willing to take advantage of people desperate to get out of their timeshares.

The information you got for $5,000 was probably available for free on sites such as the consumer advocacy site Timeshare Users Group and RedWeek, an online marketplace for timeshares.

If renting isn’t an option, consider selling your timeshare. Both TUG and RedWeek allow owners to advertise their timeshares for sale or rent. Just don’t expect to get back more than a few cents on the dollar of what you paid, if that. In fact, some sellers offer to pay the maintenance fees for a year or two as an incentive to get rid of low-value timeshares.

The reality is that most timeshares will be hard to sell. If you’re contacted by anyone promising to connect you with a buyer for a fee, that’s another scam. Carefully read the information on Timeshare Users Group about selling timeshares before you begin.

You can also try contacting the developer to see if it will take your timeshare back. Few developers have formal programs that allow owners to give up their shares, but some will do so on a case-by-case basis. If age or illness prevents you from using the timeshare, be sure to mention that.

As a last resort, you can stop paying the fees and be subject to foreclosure. Your scores may indeed plummet if the developer turns you over to a collection company, and you could be subject to a lawsuit, although timeshare expert Brian Rogers of Timeshare Users Group says few developers want to sue older people who can no longer use their timeshares.

Stay vigilant throughout this process. Criminals maintain databases of people who have fallen for scams so they can be targeted again and again.

Q&A: Relative’s oversharing puts family at risk

September 15, 2025 By Liz Weston Leave a Comment

Dear Liz: Your recent column on identity theft touched a nerve. My husband and I are very cautious about online security and don’t post details on social media that could be used in identity theft. But his mother constantly overshares, has no privacy filters on her accounts and ignores our requests to avoid posting our children’s names or our birthdays. Last week she posted “Happy 7th birthday to my beautiful granddaughter Bailey!” So now the world knows our daughter’s name and exact birth date. How can we get her to stop?

Answer: Older generations sometimes poke fun at younger generations for documenting every detail of their lives on social media. But many older folks ignore a basic rule of internet etiquette, which is that you shouldn’t post about others without their consent. Children, especially, need to be protected from exploitation by identity thieves, cyber bullies, sexual predators and data-mining tech companies. Your mother-in-law clearly doesn’t understand the hazard she’s creating, but her desire for attention does not outweigh your need for privacy or your right to protect yourselves and your children.

Now, first things first. Your mother-in-law may not understand how privacy settings work, so your husband could offer to help her set those up. That alone can help limit the damage she can inflict.

Next, consider having a face-to-face conversation with her where you and your husband calmly explain your concerns and repeat your request that she refrain from posting your private information. (Your husband may need to solo on this one if your relationship with her is contentious.) Focusing on her past mistakes could make her defensive, so consider framing this with “we” statements such as “We’ve made the decision to keep private details off the Internet to protect our children from predators and reduce our vulnerability to identity theft.”

Clearly explain the consequences if she ignores the request. You and her husband will need to discuss this beforehand, obviously, but the repercussions should be significant enough to communicate how important this is. With some grandparents, the idea of you no longer sending photos and details of the grandkids’ lives may be enough. With others, you may need to limit all contact.

Q&A: Coping when dementia causes reckless spending

September 15, 2025 By Liz Weston 2 Comments

Dear Liz: Our son-in-law has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s disease and sometimes makes reckless purchases. Our daughter has appealed to their bank to close their account or cancel his credit and debit cards. They refuse because the accounts are in his name. What can she do?

Answer: What your daughter can do may depend on how advanced his Alzheimer’s is, says Carolyn McClanahan, a physician and fee-only financial planner in Jacksonville, Fla.

If your son-in-law has enough capacity to understand the situation, McClanahan suggests the couple go to his doctor and have the doctor explain why it is important for the wife to manage the finances going forward. If your son-in-law agrees, a power of attorney document can be created giving your daughter the legal power to manage their finances.

They should visit an elder law attorney to help her with the situation, McClanahan says. If the bank balks at accepting the power of attorney, as banks sometimes do, she can have the attorney send it a strongly-worded letter to force them to honor the document, McClanahan says. Having this kind of backup is an important reason why people should use an attorney to draft these documents, rather than using a form or software, she notes.

Even if your son-in-law lacks capacity, as a joint account holder your daughter should be able to withdraw all the money in the bank account to protect it. She also can cut up the credit and debit cards.

If all else fails, she can go to court to be appointed his conservator, but that option is an expensive and intrusive one, McClanahan warns. Involving an elder law attorney as early as possible may help her avoid court intervention.

It bears repeating that every adult, no matter their age, should have powers of attorney that appoint someone else to make financial and health care decisions for them in case of incapacity. Trying to get these documents in place after a tragedy strikes can be difficult, if not impossible. Get them drafted now, while there is still time to avoid unnecessary hassle, stress and expense.