Ending tenancy after mother’s sudden death

kelbly

Just want to Edit to say value of stuff may be around £2000 - 

Hi

my mum suddenly passed away (not expected) Mother’s Day weekend this year.  I found her and spent half an hour doing chest compression as directed by 999. This came 3 years after our dad suddenly passing away too.

We had to have coroner involved  etc and had to wait a while before we had a cause of death etc. 

It has been a massive shock.

my mum was privately renting- she was abit of a hoarder but not collecting random plastic pots - it was more collections of ornaments etc.  the house is 35 years full of her and my dads belongings stretching to a couple sheds full in the garden also.

i spoke with the landlord who said give us a timeframe to work with to get it cleared, then see how we get on.  He said he wouldn’t hold us to the time frame.  So we have been doing what we can and have felt quite proud of our efforts - considering the way it makes me feel when there and the trauma of the deaths.

On Friday I had an email from the landlord saying it needs to be done by the end of June.  Realistically this cannot be done. I had emailed to say we would clear the house as soon as we could so they can get in to sort it out a landlord was not good staying on top of things - there is ALOT that needs to be done due to landlords fault not my parents.

The other snag is - mum died intestate - does this mean that actually we can’t deal with ending the tenancy until we have applied to be administrator? Just checking what I have read.

If we haven’t managed to clear everything by the end of June what will happen? As in theory it’s not our personal liability? I want to cooperate and get it done.  

RAS

I'm sorry for your loss. 

What is happening about the rent, meantime? Who is paying that? 

With respect to probate, many banks will let you transfer money up to £30K on receipt of the death certificate and the signature of a waiver. It may be easier if this is done by the person who informed the registrar, with proof of identity.

You can use that money to pay the funeral (first dibs), the rent or re-pay the person who has covered it so far, and any other debts including pension overpayments. As long as there is enough money to cover the debts.

If the money left in the accounts is not sufficient to cover the debts, it is best not to get involved as that counts as intermeddling.

The likely snag is if she has N&SI accounts as they often require probate for smaller amounts. 

HRH_MUngo

Would you feel able to get a house clearance person in to deal with your mum's things?  This is what we did when my mum died on 6th April.  She had a load of stuff too, but only one or two pieces that meant anything to me, I took those and the house clearance did the rest.  I found it less upsetting than trying to deal with it.

Of course if the place is full of family heirlooms then this is not an option.

SiliconChip

Sorry for your loss.

The important thing is that the landlord can't end the tenancy, only the tenant (which I think would be the administrators of the estate in your case) or the courts can do so. The former can end it either by giving the notice required in the tenancy agreement or at the end of a fixed term tenancy. The LL can issue a notice to quit (most likely a S21 if you are paying the rent) but it is then likely to take many months before the case gets to court. I'd suggest speaking to Shelter to get some advice from them then negotiate a date for ending the tenancy with the LL that will allow you to complete clearing the house.

dimbo61

Sorry for your loss but there are companies who will do house clearance.
You have already stated that your Mum and Dad were hoarders and the house was full of stuff along with a couple of Full sheds.
Did your Mum and Dad request any work to be done ? 
If the property required updating with rewire, new kitchen and bathroom your parents would have needed to empty the property and live elsewhere for a couple of months.
A Landlord cannot demand access to a property to carry out a Gas Safe Check/Certificate, or an EICR, or any other works without the Tenants agreement.

Marvel1

I would post here for better advice in terms of interstate and administer the estate.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/deaths-funerals-probate

If for example there is no money, and there is nothing personal to keep, I would walk it from it all.

kelbly

RAS said:

I'm sorry for your loss. 

What is happening about the rent, meantime? Who is paying that? 

With respect to probate, many banks will let you transfer money up to £30K on receipt of the death certificate and the signature of a waiver. It may be easier if this is done by the person who informed the registrar, with proof of identity.

You can use that money to pay the funeral (first dibs), the rent or re-pay the person who has covered it so far, and any other debts including pension overpayments. As long as there is enough money to cover the debts.

If the money left in the accounts is not sufficient to cover the debts, it is best not to get involved as that counts as intermeddling.

The likely snag is if she has N&SI accounts as they often require probate for smaller amounts. 

Hi thanks for your reply - we haven’t actually been asked for rent yet! I assume it comes from the estate? Which I believe will be in deficit.  There won’t be enough money in her accounts to cover anything. I actually lent her money to buy shopping and coal before she passed.

kelbly

HRH_MUngo said:

Would you feel able to get a house clearance person in to deal with your mum's things?  This is what we did when my mum died on 6th April.  She had a load of stuff too, but only one or two pieces that meant anything to me, I took those and the house clearance did the rest.  I found it less upsetting than trying to deal with it.

Of course if the place is full of family heirlooms then this is not an option.

I was advised not to as some of her possessions were possibly worth something.  It wasn’t junk she hoarded but vintage and nice things! With the odd bit of junk in between!

the auctioneer said the nature of the way she kept her things - there could be something which is worth something “hidden”.

HRH_MUngo

AFAIK the rent will need to be paid until the end of the tenancy.  No-one needs to ask for it, it was 'asked for' when she signed the rental contract.  Was she paying it by Direct Debit?

I would contact the landlord and ask how she was paying the rent and get it up to date.  If it is not being paid you can't expect the landlord to wait for ever to get his place back.

Grumpelstiltskin

If the estate is insolvent then the rent does not have to be paid.

As advised by Marvel, walk away and don't be pressured into paying it.

HRH_MUngo

Grumpelstiltskin said:

If the estate is insolvent then the rent does not have to be paid.

As advised by Marvel, walk away and don't be pressured into paying it.

I just meant that if they were going to take another couple of months to go through the mum's stuff, then surely the landlord would require paying?

I don't disagree with walking away.  I would.  I would run the risk of there being things of value and just let them go.