Real Estate Gift Must Include Willing Receiver

Added October 8, 2004 by Ilyce R. Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin

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Summary: Giving the gift of real estate or investment property requires a willing giver and a willing taker. A person cannot gift property if the person they are giving to declines the real estate gift. If the receiver accepts the gift, he or she is responsible for all taxes, fees and payments associated with the property.

Q. My husband's ex-wife quitclaimed a timeshare property to me. How can I go about finding out where it is and whether she needed my permission to do that?

A. Let's get this straight. Your current husband had a wife and she decided out of the goodness of her heart to give you title to a timeshare property she owned. And she did all this without telling you about it or even where the property was located.

While there could be some sort of mistake, it appears that your husband's ex-wife is trying to get rid of something that not only she couldn't get rid of but has costs associated with it.

If you and your husband don't know where the property is, it's going to be nearly impossible to find out what property she gave you without asking her. If you can't ask her, you may never find out until you get a letter from the management company for the timeshare property requesting money.

Of course since you did not buy the property and never acknowledged the transfer its unlikely that the timeshare property could collect anything from you. For the transfer of the timeshare property to occur as a gift you have to have a willing giver and a willing taker. If you were not a willing recipient of the gift, you can decline it.

On the other hand, if you do want the property, you will have to pay all fees and expenses from the date of the transfer along with all future fees and expenses. As for any approvals that may have been required, many timeshare properties can and are sold and resold. Frequently however, the management company handling the timeshare development may need to receive notice of the transfer and in some cases must approve the transfer.

If your husband's ex-wife signed any documents to transfer the timeshare to you and needed your signature to any document for the transfer, failed to disclose the transfer to the management company for the timeshare property or failed to abide by any other rule relating to the transfer of the timeshare property, the transfer may not be legal. Furthermore, if she forged your signature on a document to make the transfer you can report the fraud to both the timeshare management company and the authorities and begin proceedings to void the transfer to you.

Oct. 8, 2004.

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