R.I.P rent in peace…

01 October 2020 818

A lease agreement is binding on both the tenant and landlord even after one passes away, the estate (executor) of either the landlord or tenant remains bound by the terms and conditions of the lease.

There are some exceptions to the above mentioned statement:

  1. If the lease agreement specifically provides that the lease is cancelled in the event of the death of either the tenant or landlord.
  2. If the will of the deceased tenant or landlord makes specific provision for the termination of the lease on the death of that party.

There are certain steps that needs to be followed for different situations:

When someone passes away, an executor will be appointed to handle and deal with their estate, it is the executor’s  (as representative of the estate) duty to make sure that

(1) if the deceased person was the only person occupying the property , they give 20 business days notice (under the CPA), pay the penalties and cancel the agreement and

(2) if the deceased’s surviving family still occupy the property, the executor will make rental payments out of the estate, when the estate is wound up, the parties may renegotiate.  The lease agreement should include the new parties - this is applicable for when the landlord passes away as well.

 

Tags: Property
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