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Who is Responsible for Making Rent Payments When a Tenant Passes Away?

What happens when someone renting an apartment or a home passes away? While the distribution of assets does not include rental property, the estate includes a liability - the lease that secured the apartment for its occupant

An elderly woman wrote to The New York Times “Ask Real Estate” columnistwith a question regarding her rented apartment. She wanted to know if her daughter would be responsible for her signed lease, if she passed away while still a tenant in the apartment. Her question appeared in a recent column, “A Noisy Cafe Next Door.”

The expert’s opinion?

The woman’s estate would owe on the lease and need to make regular payments. However, New York law does provide that the tenant’s estate can attempt to find a new tenant which the landlord must accept if reasonable.

This is fairly standard for any contract that you sign, and a lease is a form of contract.

Unless the terms of the contract state that it terminates upon death, then the person’s estate is normally responsible for that contract.

Naturally, there are exceptions, such as when a contract would be impossible to perform after one of the parties passes away. For example, a contract for a celebrity to make a personal appearance would be impossible to perform if the celebrity passed away.

One thing to note, however, is that like New York, many states do have special provisions in the law regarding how to handle post-death leases.

Before paying on a lease, an estate administrator should consult with an estate planning attorney in his or her jurisdictions to see how local law applies.

Contact Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced California estate planning attorney.

Reference: New York Times (September 19, 2015) “A Noisy Cafe Next Door,”

The Estate Tax, Loved and Hated, Celebrates 100 Year Birthday

The estate tax, enacted 100 years ago on September 8, 1915, when revenue was needed to fight a war, is a polarizing tax with enemies and friends on both sides of a big divide.

One would think that any tax or law that makes it to the hundred year mark must be a good tax or law that is accepted by all as a good thing. One exception to this thought is the estate tax.

Its existence is likely to play a role in the 2016 Presidential election, just as it has in every recent Presidential election. Republicans continue to call for the abolition of the estate tax, while Democrats ask that it be strengthened.

The two sides could not be further apart on the issue.

Republicans believe the tax hinders small business and family farmers, while Democrats believe the tax is important for revenue and to mitigate wealth inequality.

Forbes reported on the estate tax’s birthday in a recent article, “Estate Tax Hits 100th Birthday And Paul Carron Calls For Many Happy Returns.”

Whatever your own thoughts are on the estate tax, it might be worthwhile to reflect on what it means that it has been with us for 100 years. It could mean that once a law is in place, even a bad law, that it is very difficult to get rid of it. It could also mean that the estate tax has become an integral part of our society.

The two ideas are not mutually exclusive.

It is possible that in another hundred years, Americans will still be debating over the estate tax and whether it should exist at all. We do know that this is an issue that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon.

Find out more by contacting Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: Forbes (September 15, 2015) “Estate Tax Hits 100th Birthday And Paul Carron Calls For Many Happy Returns.”