Passing Down the Summer Cottage

A family’s summer cottage is a place for relaxation—a break from the stresses of work, city life, and winter’s grueling months. But this refuge can quickly turn into a source of stress itself when its owners try to pass the property along to their children. What was once a place of family union can turn into divisions between siblings, arguments over money, and a storm of emotions.

A number of baby boomers who grew up spending summers at the family cottage now face the responsibility of inheriting the property from their ageing parents. And the burden of making the transaction as smooth as possible often falls on the parents themselves. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal addresses the issue by presenting a number of possible solutions to make the transfer of property as easy as possible.

  1. Establish early on how the property is being funded in the long term.
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