Named Tenent on AST has died although carer still resident in property

Fuzzyness

I've just received notification that the mother of my tenant has passed away. She was named as the lead tenent on the AST (England) although her son who was her principal carer was also resident in the property and to all intents and purposes paid the rent etc. the son is identified as a permitted occupant on the AST but i'm wary of whether this is sufficient or if not, whether i should ask him to sign a new AST to establish that he is now the main tenent of the house and that our agreement is between us and him and not us and his deceased mother. any advice greatly recevied.

Guest101

Well your agreement at the moment isnt with him at all, if he didnt sign the tenancy.

So I would ask him to sign a new AST, though perhaps etiquette would dictate to allow him a couple of weeks to decide what he wants to do.

tim123456789

Is the tenancy fixed term or periodic?

The tenancy doesn't end with the death of the tenant, "ownership" passes to the estate who have the obligation to fulfil the contractual terms agreed by the deceased.

Fuzzyness

he signed the tenancy agreement with Power of attorney for his mother.

it was a fixed for 12 months but reverted onto a periodic about a year ago.

He's said he wants to stay for another 6 months so i'm happy to ask him to sign a new tenancy agreement to cover this period.

also do you know what happens in respect of council tax. as the property was in his mum's name she for some reason had an exemption from paying it. now that she's gone this liability should fall back onto him as the sole occupier from the date of her death; correct?

Guest101

In law it means she signed it. So you do need a new AST. Which means the deposit needs to be retruend to the estate and a new deposit registered.

Yes he becomes responsible for counil tax, though likely he is exempt too, being unemployed.

tim123456789

Guest101 wrote: »

Yes he becomes responsible for counil tax, though likely he is exempt too, being unemployed.

not anymore!

tim

Fuzzyness

not unemployed but retired.

good point about the deposit. thanks for the advice.