Saving the Family Cottage: Creative Ways to Preserve Your Cottage, Cabin, Camp, or Vacation Home for Future Generations

Estate planning for family cottages and cabins

It's never too early to take steps to preserve a beloved family property for generations to come. Shared ownership of vacation property--especially when the co-owners are family members--can be fraught with problems. The idyllic dream of a cottage getaway can be shattered when co-owners' emotions, financial concerns, and opinions on how the property should be used come into play.

Fortunately, a solid plan that dictates how the property will be owned and managed can prevent squabbles over the family cottage. This book lays out a roadmap for creating and implementing this plan. It also explains how to identify properties that qualify as heirlooms worthy of a succession plan, and provides time-tested guidance on how to:

• keep the peace among heirs


• prevent a family member from forcing a sale of the property


• keep your vacation home out of the hands of in-laws and creditors, and


• smoothly transition ownership of the property from one generation to the next.

The seventh edition expands on buy-out options for heirs, how to transfer the property to later branches of the family, and when it might be appropriate to form a nonprofit association to hold the property.

Author: Ann O'Connell,Timothy B. Borchers
Publisher: NOLO
Published: 03/25/2025
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 8.82h x 5.98w x 0.71d
ISBN: 9781413332407

About the Author
Borchers, Timothy B.: -

Timothy B. Borchers is a practicing attorney and trustee with offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. His practice at his law firm, Borchers Cusano Trust Law, P.C., consists primarily of trusts and estate planning, probate, tax, and elder law, as well as fiduciary services as a trustee, personal representative, and attorney-in-fact. He originated and authored the Heirloom Ownership Trust(TM) and the HOT Property Toolkit(TM), the Inheritance Trust(TM), and the Family Health Trust(TM). Mr. Borchers is admitted to the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Bars and is a graduate of Boston College Law School (J.D.), Cannon Trust School, and Bowdoin College, A.B., summa cum laude. He holds these certifications: Estate Planning Law Specialist, the Estate Planning Law Specialist Board, accredited by the American Bar Association; Accredited Estate Planner, the National Association of Estate Planners and Councils; Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor, the American Bankers Association. Ranked AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell and Massachusetts Super Lawyer(R).

O'Connell, Ann: - Ann O'Connell is a legal editor at Nolo specializing in landlord-tenant and real estate law. Before joining Nolo as an editor, Ann was a freelance writer for Nolo and other publications and law firms. She has passed the bar exams in California, Nevada, and Colorado, where she is both an active attorney and a real estate broker. Ann practiced civil litigation in California and Colorado, and had her own firm in Colorado. At her firm, she focused on real estate, landlord-tenant, and small business cases. Ann earned her B.A. from Boston College and her J.D. from UC Berkeley Law.