Every time I watch an English movie or see a program set in England I can’t help but notice beautiful English country estates. As an attorney I look at the lavish estates and think about the right to partition and how our real estate laws are based on 600 year old laws. What does this have to do with your family cottage? Plenty. Our current real estate laws put your family cottage at risk. Why? Simply because real estate law does not promote keeping the family cottage in the family for multiple generations. It involves how the cottage is owned. Direct ownership and indirect ownership is what makes the difference. Cottage Succession Planning provides a solution to someone being able to invoke a Right to Partition. Read more about family cottage risks on our website at http://www.cottage-law.com/cottage-risks.html

Dan A. Penning

Succession Planning for Vacation Property
Steps for Cottage Sharing
With summer here, many families will be enjoying their family cottages during the span of summer’s endless sunshine defining the lazy days of summer at the family cottage.

This is how summers have always been. You enjoy the laughter of denials and finger-pointing about who created the latest mysterious heap of sandy wet towels on the cottage porch floor. The children stand shivering from their latest dip in the lake and you silently wager bets against how long it will take for the lake water drops hanging from ends of clumped wet bangs to land on the table.

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Most people would think “economic value” is the most important factor to protect the family cottage. Common “emotional value” has proven time and time again as the most important motivation behind developing a cottage succession plan to protect the family cottage.

Yes, it’s true when they say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and it’s especially true when thinking of the family cottage. Whether the family cottage is a family retreat in some stunning mountain region, or a luxurious custom built retirement home on one of the Great Lakes touching Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, New York, Ohio, Indiana or even Canada, or a small rustic cabin on a pristine lake or stream, it’s not “economic value” that is the most important factor to protect the family cottage, it’s the “emotional value.”

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They say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” That’s especially true when applied to the family cottage. Whether the family cottage is a small rustic cabin on a pristine lake or stream, a luxurious retirement home on one of the Great Lakes or ocean shore, or a family retreat in some stunning mountain region, it’s not “economic value” that is the most important factor in keeping the family cottage, it’s the “emotional value.”

Some would argue that a place is just a place but the people make it special. When it comes to the family cottage, it can be argued “the place” is special, sometimes almost magical, and can transform those who spend time in that place from stressed out, overworked adults back to their carefree days as a child; skipping rocks on the water, swimming off the dock, nursing a sunburn and eating s’mores by the campfire. For most, the family cottage creates a place for memories and traditions to be formed and a safe haven to retreat to for rest, reflection and reminiscing later in life. The family cottage is a constant in an ever-changing world. It’s where experiences can be shared and passed on to the next generation in their purest form.

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While the changes are mainly technical in nature, some are substantive and worth noting. Changes to the Michigan Limited Liability Company Act (“LLCA”) took effect on December 16, 2010.

The LLCA now: Read the rest of this entry »

Why should your cottage be in jeopardy and need saving? Cottage-Law.com expert Dan A. Penning has invaluable strategies to pro-actively plan how to protect your cottage first and secure its future. Why risk an emergency rescue plan when you can plan to avoid the crisis with a cottage succession plan?

The Right Legal Entity for Your Cottage

Circumstances need to be evaluated for each family and cottage property. There are a few special cases where keeping your cottage under direct real estate ownership is the simple solution to a complex situation. Two cottage planning solutions which should be examined, and discussed with your cottage law attorney, are Life Estates and the Ownership Agreement.

Dan Penning examines each aspect of your estate and cottage property including strategies to employ to avoid uncapping cottage property taxes. The advantage you gain using a cottage law expert is knowing you will have created a flexible legal entity to fulfill your hopes and dreams of protecting, preserving and saving your family cottage for use by all future generations.

How We Hold Title to Real Estate Ownership

There are two ways to hold title to real estate:

• directly, or
• indirectly

Direct Ownership
Real Estate Law governs the rights and duties of “direct owners”. The granting of these rights and how real estate laws impose duties on direct owners often surprise cottage owners. It’s real estate law surprises which put the family cottage at risk. Real estate laws of direct ownership do not promote keeping the cottage in the family for multiple generations, and the threat of partition and turmoil always exist.

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First Steps Cottage Succession Planning

First, ask your child, or children, if they want a share of the cottage. They may not want a share of the family cottage and there could be a variety of reasons. Each should be explored for passing on to them an alternative value of their share of the family cottage.

The best way to protect your family cottage is to move it away from the hazards of “direct ownership” being governed by real estate laws. We recommend moving the family cottage from direct ownership to “indirect ownership” and for a Limited Liability Company which is governed by Entity Laws rather than Real Estate Laws.

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Every kid should roast a marshmallow by a fire next to the lake, paddle a canoe, catch a fish, dive off a raft, skip stones and and eat an ice cream cone or a freshly made donut from a local food shack which opens every summer for cottage visitors.

Your Cottage Property Could be At Risk
Each summer is a chance to create family memories of good times all over again. You’ve spent a lifetime of summers at the family cottage. Your family memories live there and it’s the only place where laughter replaces ringing phones, the sun is your only clock, and keeping sand out of your shoes and picnic basket is the challenge of the day.

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