Property owner's death and tenants - legal question

Factual Questions
1

Hypothetical question - An individual owns a house and property. A friend lives with him, with his permission. The friend pays no rent, does nothing towards the upkeep of the house, property, utilities, etc. He takes care of himself completely. The friend is in no way related to the owner, and there is no romantic connection either. Both people are reclusive, but it’s well known in the community that the friend lives there. This arrangement goes on for 20+ years.

The owner dies. The will states that the house and property are left to the owner’s nephew, who is his only living relative. The friend who lives with him is not mentioned in the will at all. The will was written well after the living arrangement started, so the owner knew about the friend when he wrote the will.

The new owner wants the friend out ASAP. What legal rights does the friend have? Is he a tenant who would need to be evicted through the courts? Can the new owner have him removed immediately because he never paid any sort of rent or compensation to the old owner, besides friendship?

This is totally hypothetical, and based on the Asimov story “Legal Rites”. In the story, the friend sues to remain in the house on the theory of adverse possession. Based on my short reading, adverse possession wouldn’t apply, since it violates both exclusivity (the friend shared the house with the owner) and hostility (the owner permitted the friend to stay).

Summary of story:

The “friend” is a ghost, who lived with the old owner. The new owner uses a bunch of witchcraft & spells to exclude him from the house, and the ghost sues under “adverse possession”. After some legal wrangling, the ghost winds up winning and being awarded the right to stay in house for as long as he exists (i.e. forever), creating a legal precedent that ghosts have the legal right to haunt houses.

2

Like everything else, the specifics of this would depend on the law of the jurisdiction where the property is located. (By the way, I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice but rather a general explanation of the state of the law. Should you be deceased or otherwise and have questions about the occupancy of any premises by other persons, deceased or otherwise, please see a corporeal lawyer practicing law in the relevant jurisdiction.)

Under New York law, the friend would be considered a “tenant at will” because he is someone who entered onto the land with the permission of the owner for an indefinite period. As such, he is entitled to remain on the property until his tenancy at will is properly terminated. New York Real Property Law § 228 provides:

§ 228. Termination of tenancies at will or by sufferance, by notice.

A tenancy at will or by sufferance, however created, may be terminated by a written notice of not less than thirty days given in behalf of the landlord, to the tenant, requiring him to remove from the premises; which notice must be served, either by delivering to the tenant or to a person of suitable age and discretion, residing upon the premises, or if neither the tenant nor such a person can be found, by affixing it upon a conspicuous part of the premises, where it may be conveniently read. At the expiration of thirty days after the service of such notice, the landlord may re-enter, maintain an action to recover possession, or proceed, in the manner prescribed by law, to remove the tenant, without further or other notice to quit.

What that means is that the new owner (probably whoever is appointed Executor for the deceased individual, or the nephew when title is transfered to him) must give the tenant at will at least 30 days notice as specified in the statute, and the tenant at will will be legally required to vacate on the date specified in the notice. If the tenant at will does not vacate on the date specified, most likely the landlord will have to sue to evict the tenant at will.

(Edited to add: You are correct that adverse possession should not apply because the occupant was on the property with the permission of the owner.)

3

The title character in Oscar Wilde’s charming story The Canterville Ghost also “went with the house,” but definitely didn’t want to: The Canterville Ghost - Wikipedia

4

What Billdo said. Most states have similar tenant-at-will laws requiring no more than 30 days’ notice by the owner.

5

Adverse possession is fun for legal people to play with but in reality, it wouldn’t work.

Landlords have lots of ways of getting people out. At an extreme, I could go to Humboldt Park and hire a crackhead for $50.00 to deal with the “problem tentant.” Trust me, you’ll leave that apartment and never look back.

Is it wrong and illegal? Yes, but it works and now that you’re out of the flat, it’s up to you to get back in, much less prove the crack head was paid off by the landlord.

6

Didn’t read the spoiler, did you? But yeah, I’m guessing the good Doctor just wanted to have fun with the story (it’s got an O’Henry ending as well), and wasn’t too concerned with the actual legalities.