# Landlord died suddenly--need advice **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338 "2015-12-03T19:01:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/21 "2015-12-04T22:04:19Z")
Once they’ve been probated, yes. Until then, no. I get the impression the OP’s landlord died in the last week, so it’s unlikely an executor or personal representative has even been identified/appointed yet. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/22 "2015-12-04T22:16:10Z")
> [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](#): > > Thanks again all. MAking a call to an attorney this afternoon. Wondering, though, how one knows, for real, who the executor is, if there is a will, whether it has gone through probate. In California our probate is awful, so anyone with any reasonable amount of money has a trust. I don’t know if your landlord did, but it is indeed possible. In that case you’d pay your rent to the trust, not to any relatives. Your lawyer should be able to find out. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/23 "2015-12-04T22:18:08Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Pantastic, my son was living in the Dallas, TX area at the time this occurred. I don’t know about Texas, but given the stories about bank foreclosures during the recession, but that bank says and what the law says are often very different. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/24 "2015-12-04T22:47:01Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Whatever you do, make sure you hang on to the rent money. It may take months to get this sorted out, but eventually you’ll owe that money to somebody-or-other. They should be sure to save all the receipts they got from the landlord showing they’re paid up to date , if a family member does decide to take over they could say the OP own back rent. I would look on line for their city tenants rights but this case is difference with the landlord dying. The OP could look on line to see if anyone else name is on the deed , they can get it from the city web site . If there is another name on the deed the OP could try calling that person . ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/25 "2015-12-04T23:21:35Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > Pantastic, my son was living in the Dallas, TX area at the time this occurred. I did a quick google search, and it looks like I was wrong for Texas (Dallas might have more protection). According to the page I found, it looks like in Texas after a foreclosure you generally only have to give the tenant 3 days notice and then you can file for eviction, though that will usually actually take 3-4 weeks. While I’m pretty sure it’s different than the OP’s situation, it looks like the bank was actually being more generous than it had to be. > **[Evictions in Texas - LoneStarLandLaw.com](https://lonestarlandlaw.com/evictions-in-texas/)** > > Eviction is a judicial process by which an owner recovers possession of real property and, if appropriate, a judgment for unpaid rent, attorney's fees (if any), and court costs against a defaulting tenant or occupant. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/26 "2015-12-05T05:46:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > In California our probate is awful, so anyone with any reasonable amount of money has a trust. I don’t know if your landlord did, but it is indeed possible. In that case you’d pay your rent to the trust, not to any relatives. Your lawyer should be able to find out. Are trusts recorded with some public recorder at the time they are created? Where would one inquire to find out? My father and his wife created a trust, but I don’t believe any of the likely beneficiaries know any details about it – like, in particular, where any relevant documents might be, or who the lawyer was who worked it up, or any other details. Are these recorded with the state? Or with a County Recorder? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/27 "2015-12-05T15:42:58Z")
They can be so recorded. But in most (all?) US jurisdictions they don’t have to be. And generally they aren’t because part of the point of a trust is to keep all the arrangements non-public forever. Unlike a will which becomes part of the public record after probate. The testator of a will or the settlor of a trust is responsible for ensuring the relevant people know that the documents exist, where they are kept, and at least some of what they say. At the bare minimum any primary or back-up executors should know they are so named in somebody’s will. And any/all folks with an interest in a trust should know who the trustee will be after the “trust matures” as we say in the biz. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/28 "2015-12-05T23:12:19Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Are trusts recorded with some public recorder at the time they are created? Where would one inquire to find out? > > My father and his wife created a trust, but I don’t believe any of the likely beneficiaries know any details about it – like, in particular, where any relevant documents might be, or who the lawyer was who worked it up, or any other details. Are these recorded with the state? Or with a County Recorder? They are not recorded in California. Neither mine nor my father’s was. But, if there is a trust, it is likely that the property belongs to the trust not your landlord. Also, certain provisions of the trust may be triggered when your landlord died, and you should then pay your rent to the trust. But obviously there is no way of knowing until you talk to whoever is the trustee - of course assuming that there is a trust. Now, my lawyer said that the trustee should send information on the trust to all those mentioned in it, but I doubt many people actually do this, unless they have lots of money. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338/29 "2015-12-06T11:31:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I don’t know about Texas, but given the stories about bank foreclosures during the recession, but that bank says and what the law says are often very different. The idea is that they might use a foreclosure method to do the eviction. Probate is a long way off, and the benefactors may as well let you stay to pay rent (unless they are homeless and need to move in ??? ) … But if there is a mortgage the bank might foreclose far faster… ticking “owner no longer able to pay rent” (eg because he can’t get it from you and from his pension, and pay it to the bank… as he is dead.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/landlord-died-suddenly-need-advice/739338.md?page=1)