Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Request input re: residence/transfer of ownership from our Legal Committee

[Elizabeth Magill (pastorlizm]

We have complicated membership rules that are probably not relevant for ya’ll. 
But we just made it so anyone who is on the deed for the home can provide the 
trustees with notarized letter authorizing someone over 18 to be part of the 
appropriate decision making process.

This helped our family where the children own the home, but the parents live 
there. But it also helped families where only one of the adults is on the deed, 
but the others are active in our community.

Because we make almost all decisions in meetings, the risks of expanding who 
can make decisions is really quite slight—they still have to be people who come 
to meetings. 

-Liz
www.mosaic-commons.org in Berlin, MA
508-450-0431




> On Dec 5, 2016, at 12:16 PM, Ruth J Hirsch <heidinys [at] earthlink.net> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Here's the question the Legal Committee would like to ask of other cohousing 
> communities:
> 
> Membership in our homeowner’s association is currently limited to the owners 
> (natural persons) of the houses. 
> 
> Some members are interested in transferring  their houses to their children 
> as an estate planning technique. This would be done by either 
> (1)  selling/giving the house to a child outright and remaining in the house 
> with the child’s permission, 
> or 
> (2) selling/giving the house to the child but retaining a life estate in the 
> house, meaning the parent would have a recordable property interest in living 
> in the house for life. 
> 
> In either scenario, under our current bylaws, the child would be the owner 
> and therefore be the member.  
> We’re considering amending our bylaws and would like to know what other 
> communities allow. 
> 
> Is this form of ownership permitted by your cohousing community? 
> 
> If someone other than the resident owns the house, can the resident be a 
> member instead of the owner? 
> 
> Have you investigated estate planning methods for transferring your houses, 
> and if so, what do you see as pros and cons? (Note: Several members have 
> transferred their houses to a living trust, and we haven't objected because 
> the member is the trustee of their trust, so ownership hasn't yet transferred 
> to a child or other person.)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Julie, Legal Committee
> Cantines Island,  a Family Friendly Community
> Saugerties
> 
> Where we have a family sized house available.  Please let others who might be 
> interested in a wonderful, beautiful, family friendly community in the 
> beautiful Hudson Valley know about this.
> thank you  
> 
> 
> PS:  I have an intermittent e-mail glitch.  If you write and do not hear back 
> from me shortly, please call me or please re-send.  Thank you,  Ruth
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PS:  I have an intermittent e-mail glitch.  If you write and do not hear back 
> from me shortly, please call me or please re-send.  Thank you,  Ruth
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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