We have a tenant who has recently deceased who lived on his own. He has a next of kin who seems to be dealing with his affairs. At this stage, we do not know if the tenant has a will/executors etc. From a legal perspective are we allowed to deal with his next of kin ie letting them have access to his flat? Are we allowed to provide them with a key in order to clear his belongings? Do they have authority to end the tenancy? The tenant died already owing a month’s rent and the fire brigade forced entry to the property damaging the door and lock. There is a deposit but at what stage and who do we contact about getting it repaid to us. Thank you.
Question
Succession Rights and Rights of Survivorship (England)
Tenant death
Answer
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1 Comment
The tenancy doesn’t end upon death but instead passes to the estate in this case. Therefore, it is acceptable for the next of kin to deal with affairs, have a key etc. as it is their tenancy now. They will technically owe the rent too until they hand back the keys to you and formally end the tenancy (although few landlords would want to ask a relative for the rent in such awful circumstances unless they were being uncooperative!).
Please see this article which has full information about death of a tenant.