My tenant died, what next?

LydiaJ

Teflon_mike wrote: »

hi...
don't know if this helps..
i work in housing benefits and if your tenant was on benefits he would only be entitled to help with rent as long as he was alive at the property. As he died he has no liability to pay rent so rent cannot be chased.
it's the same for council tenants, if they die they are charged up to the sunday after death or the sunday if they die that day.

with regards to any next of kin, as they are not on the tenancy agreement they cannot be charged rent for the property.

best thing to do is inform council tax and put the house up for rent again.

The T's estate is still liable for the rent. If the estate is insolvent, then the LL would be treated the same as any other creditors, and would get a proportion of the money owing in accordance with how the assets compare with the liabilities.

G_M wrote: »

There's some conflicting advice being given (becomes common law tenancy; tenancy ends on Sunday following death [!]; AST continues in name of the will's Executers/Public Trustee; tenancy ends immediately as "no one wants a dead body in the property"; etc)

I don't know the answer (though suspect the contract continues with the Executers taking on the tenant's rights and responsibilities).

However, my own approach would be to talk to the relatives(after the funeral). Chances are they won't want the tenancy (and associated expense) to continue, though may need some time to arrange things. So ideally reach an agreement with them to surrendor the lease at a mutually agreeable date.

THEN write to confirm what's been agreed, and arrange hand-back of keys, inspection, deposit etc.

The actual legal position only becomes an issue if there is disagreement about surrender, and/or rent stops being paid whilst the tenancy continues.

Yes Yes Yes Yes.

I found having to empty late-nearly-ex's house very stressful. I understood that the estate needed to pay rent until the tenancy was ended (with the house empty) but my situation was made more stressful because I didn't get to choose the timing. His parents gave notice to the LA within the first couple of weeks after he died, before the funeral, and before we'd ascertained that he hadn't written a new will and so I was still executor.

That meant that I had to clear the house in a hurry over Christmas, while trying to care for two bewildered and bereaved children, who had been injured in the road accident that killed their father. It was an absolute nightmare. I think 17 of my friends helped out altogether, and there's no way I'd have managed it without them. So please do let the T's wife (or executor, if it isn't the wife) decide what timing is best for the family.

When you return the deposit, it goes to the solicitor dealing with probate (if there is one) or the executor (if they're doing the probate themselves). Late-nearly-ex's LA demanded a copy of the death certificate and the grant of probate before releasing it. I would recommend that you get proof of who the executor is before you release the deposit, just to cover your back.

Well done for handling this sensitively. Believe me, it will be much appreciated by the widow. I still have very positive feelings towards the LL and the bloke at the LA who were so helpful and understanding to me.

mcc100 wrote: »

Do you really think that giving notice is a priority at this moment in time ?

The OP is merely stating a fact. She's not saying that they ought to have given notice, just that they haven't. Sometimes the family do give notice immediately, and it's relevant to the thread for the OP to tell us that they haven't.

prudryden

I would expect that the Estate of ............ assumes responsibility for all outstanding contracts and any liabilities due on those contracts. Thus, the executor of the Estate of ......., once confirmed by probate, will be in touch to negotiate a settlement with you. The executor may not necessarily be a member of the family. I would further expect that you are a creditor and a claimant along with probably many others that the Estate will be sorting out.

prudryden

poppysarah wrote: »

I am pretty certain that death frustrates most contracts...

It can certainly be frustrating, especially if you have to wait for probate which, depending on the complexity of the Estate, can take an extraordinary length of time.

ali-t

With council housing in Scotland, relatives are given 2 weeks from notification of the death to clear the house and give the keys back to the council.