conversation: User (L1ghtf1ghter): "**[Good article from ABC](http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/parents-die-broke-53529435) on handling parents' assets and debts after they pass. An excerpt:**\n\n&gt;Blogger John Schmoll's father left a financial mess when he died: a house that was worth far less than the mortgage, credit card bills in excess of $20,000_and debt collector s who insisted the son was legally obligated to pay what his father owed.\n\n&gt;Fortunately, Schmoll knew better.\n\n&gt;"I've been working in financial services for two decades," says Schmoll, an Omaha, Nebraska, resident who was a stockbroker before starting his site, Frugal Rules. "I knew that I wasn't responsible."\n\n&gt;Baby boomers are expected to transfer trillions to their heirs in coming years. But many people will inherit little more than a pile of bills.\n\n&gt;Nearly half of seniors die owning less than $10,000 in financial assets, according to a 2012 study for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Meanwhile, debt among older Americans is soaring. It used to be relatively unusual to have a mortgage or credit card debt in retirement. Now, 23 percent of those older than 75 have mortgages, a four-fold increase since 1989, and 26 percent have credit card debt, a 159 percent increase, according to the Federal Reserve's latest data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances."
  Self: "BLUF:  Time share contract written to pass 100 year liability to heirs.\nI learned long ago about how many people were stuck in timeshares and decided to avoid them like the plague.  I tried to share this with my GF, and thought I had been successful.  Then on one vacation, we were approached by a timeshare hawker.  My GF took the pitch to see the property hook, line, and sinker.  I figured experience was the only way the lesson was going to stick with her, so I went along with the pitch to see the place.\nI’ll skip all the crap that was in the rolling sales pitch during the tour and get to the relevant:  Whenever the salespeople asked if I was interested/willing to buy, I said I could not make any decision until I read the contract.  Wow.  Among the various “screw the buyer” terms was one that passed this 100 year commitment to pay the maintenance fees to the buyer’s estate, and if the estate had insufficient funds, to his/her children.  \nI’m no lawyer, but I figured passing the debt to someone else (who is not a party to the contract) is simply illegal and wouldn’t hold up in court.  But I figure the time share company probably knew that, but figured they could collect some funds from those who were presented with their parents’ contract and a demand for payment (i.e. those who didn’t know better).\nWe left without buying (obviously), and without the wonderful gift promised in the initial pitch (a scratch card that promised great prized but lo and behold, was worth only two drinks.  The sales agent deftly pocketed that at the start of the tour, and disappeared at the end.  We spent about 3 hours, which I reminded my GF was time from our vacation that we were paying for (air fare, lodgings, and car rental), were not enjoying, we could never get back.  But fortunately, my GF learned the lesson about time shares.  Don’t even waste your time with the pitch."
  amadeoamante (amadeoamante): "My mom went to one of those things once back when I was a broke college student temping at a call center selling those stupid things.  I only lasted two weeks and she was the only person I managed to talk into it.  Gotta love mothers.  xD"
  