Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Who Gets the Vacation Home?" The article explores some of the issues involved with family cabins or vacation homes, including payment of expenses and the issues of access and use. Often, once the owner of the property passes, the children have a difficult time of "splitting-up" or sharing the property.
The article suggests three possible solutions to sharing a property (and its inherent expenses): setting up a limited liability company trust, a dynasty trust, or a "qualified personal residence trust" (QPRT). In these arrangements, family members can all contribute funds to expenses like taxes, insurance, utilities, etc. In most situations, by gifting the property to a trust, there is the added benefit of not having to pay estate taxes.
No matter what method is chosen, always make sure to include an "exit strategy" so that future generations can sell the property if they choose to do so. The article gives a fine overview of a topic that often causes families confusion and strife.
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