Query over rent arrears (private landlord)

Lann76

silvercar wrote: »

If it is a joint tenancy then the partner is responsible for it all now.

There is no his rent and her rent, only their rent. The tenancy is now hers along with any arrears that she may feel she needs to pay to keep the tenancy going and avoid eviction.

As for the funeral costs, they normally come from the estate not from the beneficiary of a life assurance policy. So all the money from the policy should have gone to the named beneficiary and the funeral paid from the estate.

It may be that your father trusted his partner to use the insurance policy payout to cover the funeral, but there is no obligation on her to do so.

These policies he took were funeral policies (Coop and another) originally life cover but then he switched them to funeral plans so paid out on his death to organise things. It's just that one of them could be used directly through the funeral director to claim an extra £250 back so they took care of that and the other was to be cashed by us. If it had been the other way around the same would apply and the policy naming her as beneficiary would have been claimed back through the funeral director. It just so happened that before we read the details in full he was already in the care of a funeral director.

getmore4less

Refer the landlord back to the joint tenant unless there are specific terms in the tenancy agreement which result in a liability.

Chances the partner has anything documented to say the deceased was liable for the rent is low.

SevenOfNine

Lann76 wrote: »

We used the Tell us once unique ref no so that's been done and takes care of anyone I believe paying him benefits, etc.

It does as far as paying your dad, but have the DWP written to you yet to confirm he hasn't been overpaid at all, if he has they'll be claiming it back.

My condolences.

G_M

Lann76 wrote: »

Both my dad and partner as far as I'm aware. She is still occupying the property and plans to stay there I hear.

She is joint tenant.

She is fully liable for the full rent, past, present and future, until the tenancy ends and she vacates the property.

The tenancy is nothing to do with the Estate.

macman

As above. The date of the unpaid rent is irrelevant (whether prior to his death or after it). Under a joint tenancy both signatories are jointly and severally liable. The fact that he may have been the one actually paying the rent does not matter.
BTW, her LL must be utterly incompetent if he can't work out which months the rent was overdue, unless it's a cash in hand arrangement.