I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that I get a number of requests to create a Cabin Trust for a family after the cabin has passed to the next generation. Only then do the children realize that this asset of their inheritance was more of a problem than a gift.

They finally get it- that the problems associated with multiple ownership of a family cabin are unworkable for virtually every family (absent planning for it of course!). When one or more of the owners visits my office to discuss what a Cabin Trust can do for their family, they often look exhausted.

I can tell by looking at them they have been through the ringer. They often say, “I wish Mom and Dad had sold the cabin instead”. Their stories are sadly all the same.

One child wants to be bought out and the others can’t or won’t buy them out. Or one child uses the cabin more than the others but fails to pay their share of the expenses. Or one child is sick and tired of doing all of the work for his siblings to enjoy.

The stories are endless and sadly, almost always the same. They will tell you how close they all used to be and that their relationships will never recover.

Although I preach about the benefits of planning for multiple ownership of a family cabin before it passes to the next generation, planning after the fact can help repair strained family relationships. However, helping a family in a “shared cabin crisis” is not a picnic for the attorney.

The feelings of injustice and betrayal and distrust are hard to heal. It makes drafting an agreement difficult or almost impossible. However, if all of the family members can finally admit that this is a problem they cannot solve on their own, that is the point that much of the healing begins.