What is a “Family Vacation Property LLC”?
A Family Vacation Property LLC is a Michigan limited liability company which owns a vacation home. A limited liability company is an entity, formed under Michigan law that has many of the benefits of a corporation without the lengthy corporate formality’s and complexity. A Family Vacation Property LLC is created by filing articles of organization with the State and then deeding the property to the LLC.

What are the benefits of a Family Vacation Property LLC?
The main benefit of a Family Vacation Property LLC is that it offers a framework for the management, maintenance, funding, and transfer of the family vacation home. The flexibility of the LLC combined with the effectiveness of a well drafted operating agreement allows for the family to address many of the issues that can divide a family and make it an ideal way to title the family vacation property.

What is an operating agreement and how is it used?
The operating agreement is the document created by the family that addresses the relationship of the family members to each other and to the family vacation property. It covers things such as schedule of use, how expenses are paid and by whom, how disputes among members are resolved i.e. arbitration/mediation, who can be an owner (“member”) of the Family Vacation Property LLC, and whether the Family Vacation Property can be modified mortgaged or sold.

Who runs the Family Vacation Property LLC?
The LLC can be managed either by a manager or by the members of the LLC. Most Family Vacation Property LLC’s are managed by a manager. The manager pays bills, coordinates the schedule of use and supervises maintenance to the property. Major decisions are still made by the members (typically by 2/3 or 3/4 vote).