Time to clear rented house after death

Rain_Shadow

BJV wrote: »

I am happy, healthy ish and have just done my wills. Two children , house etc.

I would be devastated if I was not well and my family members where even thinking of what to do with my things. Ok there is planning ahead but ?????

Op we all deal with situations in different ways and this could be your hubby's way of coping. But again I stress I would be so upset if my relatives where even thinking of it when I was about to pass.

Sorry I know not what you want to hear but ???

P.s I hope your MIL is ok / well as well as can be expected and not in pain. End of life care is so important. Not only for the patient but also the family.

They will be thinking of it. They just won't be telling you about their thoughts.

silvercar

How quickly you may need to move depends on the tenancy and circumstances.

If a council tenancy there will be a council policy on how long post death you have.

If a private tenancy then rent will be due until the property is handed back. If your relative has no savings beyond the essential for funerals then there will be no one to claim rent from. If there are funds then you have a decision on how long you want to owe rent on the property.

If you have a particular hard hearted landlord you may find you are required to give notice and pay rent until the end of the following rent period, or whatever is specified in the rental agreement.

cloo

I think it's wise and sensitive to plan ahead - a lot of people feel overwhelmed with the practicalities when a family member dies and it sounds like you have extra pressure with your MIL's volume of possessions.


I can't imagine you'll be rushed out of there, especially if you can keep covering the rent.


I'm not sure what the arrangements will be re end of lease, as tenancies that started before 1989 have a different rules around them I think, however I wouldn't worry about that.


Perhaps one thing to start with is thinking about who can help, if anyone, with the clearance, as it sounds like a larger group might make it more manageable for you.


Wishing you and your husband's family all the best at this sad time.

AdrianC

Is it worth discussing things with the ailing mother-in-law? She may well be a bit overwhelmed herself at the amount of stuff she's built up, and doesn't know where/how to get started.

It might be worth tackling it along the lines of "I'm sure there's a lot of family history which we don't know - can you help us sort your photos/memorabilia, and explain who's who?" - as you do that, you've got a good opportunity to at least plan sorting and shedding a lot of the utter toot, and figure out what you want to retain, and what can be cleared/sold. You may even find she's willing to clear a lot of it once she starts to realise what's there.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I think it is worth having a sit-down with MiL and going through photo albums in case they're stuffed full of lovely old family pics, but with no labels. She may be the only one who can identify the people and occasions and this should be noted. My nan has a tattered old album of late Victorian/Edwardian family pics, but we can only guess at who they might be- seems such a waste when having a photo taken was expensive and a big deal back in the day.

G_M

This is a property forum.

OP asked a simple, practical, property-related question.

And deserves simple, practical replies.

Discussion of whether this is or isn't morbid, insensitive or whatever is

a) inappropraite here - go over to the discussion forum or Deaths & Funerals

b) before commenting we'd anyway need to know far more about the family, the relationships, the MIL herself etc. Individuals are all different and different people cope with impending death (their own and their family mmbers) in different ways.

It's inappropriate to jump to conclusions and be judgemental.

Cakeguts

If the house is very full you may need plans to empty it and then sort through the contents once they are out of the house. I don't think you can expect the landlord to wait for 6 months while you go through everything with it still in the house.

moneyistooshorttomention

I don't see why a landlord would be bothered about how long it took to clear a house after the event - they're still getting paid their rent - so it's no skin off their nose as to whether the tenant is still living there or no in the event.

The only "practical" consideration, I would think, is to do with the insurance cover the landlord will have on the house. Insurance companies tend to specify a maximum length of time they will "allow" of the property not being occupied. From memory - I think some specify as little as a month allowed of non-occupancy. Others state 2 months of "non-occupancy".

Probably best to bargain on 1 month of "non-occupancy" by the tenant in the event - and then you've "covered all bases" as regards what length of time insurance companies will or won't allow.

One month should give sufficient time to take paperwork/jewellery/etc out of the house for sorting out later - followed by arranging for suitable charity and/or house clearance firm to come in and take the "non-personal" possessions away.

AdrianC

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I don't see why a landlord would be bothered about how long it took to clear a house after the event - they're still getting paid their rent - so it's no skin off their nose as to whether the tenant is still living there or no in the event.

Go back a step...

The tenant is a long-standing, heavily protected tenant. They've been there half a century. Apart from the minor detail that the landlord is now able to much more easily sell the property now that it's vacant, you can almost certainly bet that the tenancy is not at a current market rent.

paddedjohn

marksoton wrote: »

Indeed. But on this part of it?

Woman dies.
Son moves stuff out.

What's to bloody plan!? I suppose you could put a removals firm on speed dial if you're that way inclined.....

When my dad died it took us months to empty his house and garages, not something we discussed while he was alive but I wish we had. 3 old vans stuffed with junk, 4 cars, 6 bedrooms to the ceiling, 3 living rooms the same and that was before I could get started on the garages and various lock ups around the town so there's loads to plan. I was 'lucky' in a sense because I inherited the house and didn't need to return it to any landlord but it still took me months to sort out.