A cabin trust is a popular planning tool for people who want to keep a lake cabin in the family. A similar option is to transfer title to a cabin to a limited liability company, whose members are family members with an interest in the cabin.
In a typical case, the cabin is transferred to a trust. The beneficiaries of the trust are children of the property owners. The trust agreement will include provisions about use and maintenance of the cabin, payment of expenses relating to the cabin and other matters dealing with the property.
A cabin trust will usually also address situation, such as family members who want to sell their in the cabin or who fail to pay their share of expenses to maintain the cabin.
An attorney should be consulted to determine whether a trust arrangement is a good idea and whether a trust is preferable to a limited liability company. Also families can be quite unsettled about the disposition and use of a cabin after the death of the parents.