DVC and Divorce

[Pirate Storm]

Haven't been on for awhile and going through a difficult time as you can tell from the thread. Has anyone any advice on how to handle this? Most outsiders say to sell but I'm concerned that doing so would be even more traumatic for our 3 kids. Then again, splitting years and vacations will never be the same as all those trips together as a family. Not sure what to do. If we kept DVC and sit time would disney let us pay our maintenance fees from two separate accounts? Any advice/info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Mrs Bus Driver]

Since I don't know your whole situation I really shouldn't give advice but having been through a tough divorce I feel for you. My first thought when I read your post was let the lawyers work it out but that's if you have any. Lawyers can be a godsend if you can't talk to each other and under the circumstances it would be best to have all agreements in writing. Even if you can't afford a Lawyer just paying one for advice and checking your paperwork before the judge gives you a divorce decree would be a good idea.
Second I know you want to keep things as much the same as possible for yourself as much as the kids. The kids already know things have changed what they need from you is your honesty and support.
One more question can you get your own DVC? Sell the one you have split the proceeds and buy your own, then when the dust settles take the kids and yourself on a vacation. You'll need it and so will they. So sorry for you and good luck.

[1DisneyNut]

The DVC Timeshare will be considered a real estate property/asset so it will need to be addressed in the divorce. One of you will end up in sole possession or sell it. If the two of you can't agree upon who will have it during the division of property, you might be best off just selling it and then buying yourself a new one if possible. The best advice I can give you would be to be sure to address it in the divorce. You don't want to slide it under the table even if you both agree right now that you would share it, because it would just be a source for a possible huge dissagreement in the future. A possible disagreement would be if one of you got in a financial bind for whatever reason a few years down the road and wanted to sell but the other one did not. Then there is the whole, banking and borrowing points that could turn into a huge mess.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

I have zero first-hand experience with divorce or DVC, so take my advice with that in mind.

Ownership in DVC in just another asset that you and your husband accumulated during your marriage, and it should be treated as just another asset that needs a final disposition. Over the years I have seen friends try to hang on to shared assets with an ex and it almost never works, and even drove one into bankruptcy. Even if your divorce is not ugly, there will always be times of acrimony between you (birthdays, weddings, graduations, etc..) and DVC should not be one of those flash points when it is entirely avoidable by settling things up now.

I think you should either 1) both sell your current DVC contract, split the money, then if you or your ex want back into DVC, you buy a new contract, or 2) One spouse buy the other spouse's part and transfer full ownership to only one spouse. Option 2 only makes since for you if you can fully afford the current DVC contract for both any mortgage it entails as well as annual dues. If the contract is too pricey to assume all on your own, you should sell out now and buy back in at a more affordable resort or points level.

Just imagine if you jointly own the DVC contract, and you and the kids have a vacation booked using points, but your ex fails to pay his/her half of the dues and your reservation is put on hold until one of you pays the dues off. Or if the day comes when Disney isn't something your kids want to do, and then you have to coordinate and agree with your ex-spouse about the terms selling your DVC contract years after your divorce is final. It is just a recipe for disaster when former spouses try to retain ownership of an asset which will NEVER be paid off and will require cooperation between former spouses from now on.

[ginny57]

I went thru a divorce and we had to decide how to deal with our little seashore travel trailer. We set a value and, when assets were divided, that was on his side of the sheet. Laws vary from state to state - but may be worth checking to see if one name can be removed from the agreement in the case of a property settlement.

[dnickels]

Your state laws will almost certainly require one or the other of you to get it as your share of the assets.

Even if your state laws did allow for joint ownership after a divorce I can't think of any reason that owning a timeshare with an ex would be a good idea for the reasons already mentioned.

In 20 years the kids aren't going to judge their parents divorce by whether you kept your DVC membership so they could keep going to Disney every year. They're going to remember if one parent talked poorly about the other parent or if their parents were able to behave like adults.

You have to treat it like any other asset. I know we all love Disney but for your purposes you need to treat it like any generic timeshare and throw it in the pile of assets to split up.

[doodleboy]

If you decide that one person or the other is going to take sole ownership of the DVC membership, which sounds like the best idea if you plan to keep it, would you have to buy your ex out or could you just remove one name from the deed? If so, does Disney get the first right of refusal as in a regular sale?

[VWL Mom]

If you decide that one person or the other is going to take sole ownership of the DVC membership, which sounds like the best idea if you plan to keep it, would you have to buy your ex out or could you just remove one name from the deed? If so, does Disney get the first right of refusal as in a regular sale?

You can change the deed at a cost ($500?) through DVC at any time. You do not go through ROFR.

Sorry you're going through this Pirate Storm.

[1DisneyNut]

If you decide that one person or the other is going to take sole ownership of the DVC membership, which sounds like the best idea if you plan to keep it, would you have to buy your ex out or could you just remove one name from the deed? If so, does Disney get the first right of refusal as in a regular sale?

For transferring the ownership, it would depend on whether it is paid for or if it is still financed. If paid for, all it would take is a new deed. If it was financed, I would not try the "remove one name" approach. I would either pay it off if I had the money or refinance soley in the new single owner's name. The problem with "removing one name" when it is financed is if the one that took sole ownership ever had financial problems arise and quit paying or filed bankruptcy, you can bet they will come after the other one even though the name was "removed." You would then find it on your credit report and end up fighting over it.

I know people who divorced and similar issues came up years down the road when one got in financial trouble. A friend of mine ended up paying an ex-wife's credit card off 8 years after their divorce because he was once on the account but his name was "removed" in the divorce. She had ran it up to something like $12,000 and he ended up paying every penny to keep it from ruining his credit. So if you have any joint credit cards or are listed as users on each other's credit cards, close the account and open a new one.

[brivers222]

when i got divorced in 2008 I was told by my divorce lawyer that it would be wise to sell... so I did.

However my new wife and I are looking to repurchase DVC in 2015!