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We had a tenant pass away in one of our rentals. The mother of the deceased is saying that the probate attorney will not allow a a change of address to be filed. So the new tenant is having to deal with all of the former tenant's mail being delivered to the house, and the mother picking it up once a week. Very inconvenient for everyone involved (the mother as well as the new tenant).
Does anyone have any experience with this, to know if there is any truth in this? I believe the mother is telling us the truth as she understood it, but I don't know if she misunderstood or if the probate attorney is just being unreasonable.
We've had a few tenants pass away over the years, and never run into this issue before.
Also, for anyone who has probate experience, how long should I expect this to take, so I can let my new tenant know.
Can't they just do a 'forwarding' address on the mail addressed to that person only and not physically change the address? They can do it in 6 month increments up to a year max for a nominal fee. I would assume things will be settled long before a year is up. Or would that be the same problem as physically changing the address of deceased?
I have seen other posts regarding people getting other people's mail, etc, etc and I know for a fact that our postal carriers will not deliver mail to anyone unless their name is on the mailbox or if the mail does not show 'in care of' to the person who's name is on the mailbox. I had that problem when I first moved in here and forgot to add my name on the mailbox. (LL had removed the previous tenant's name.) Couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any mail after I did the address change at P.O. Anyway, I went to P.O. to ask and they said they had returned everything as undeliverable b/c my name was not on mailbox and that is when they told me they won't deliver mail unless a name is on the mailbox and any mail that wasn't my name (previous tenant) would be returned undeliverable if there was no address change or a forwarding to where it should go to.
So, I would either suggest the forwarding (above) or ask your P.O. if that person's name is removed from mailbox will they still deliver their mail to that address?
But now that I typed all of that (LOL) I suppose either way (address change or forwarding) would require the probate attorney's interaction and approval The P.O. has to have some kind of proof from the actual person or a legal representative for proof of death in order to make any change. The whole situation is insane that probate attorney would still want deceased person's mail going to a total stranger who could actually open that mail, etc. Strange situation to put the current tenant in.
Property left through a will may spend several months or a year tied up in probate court before it can be distributed to the people who inherit it and or change anything dealing with the deceased.
It can easily take a year. BUT, the new tenant is under no obligation to acceept the mail for the deceased.
I would simply write "not at this address" and return the mail to the carrier. Additionally, as a tenant, I'd send a notice to the PO that there is no one by that name at the address and I do not want their mail being delivered to me. The tenant has no first-hand knowledge as to the status of previous tenants - so writing "deceased" is not what I would do.
Apparently a forward order is also not allowed. I thought it was pretty messed up and suspect the mother is misunderstanding.
Even returning the mail as "not at this address" is still annoying for the new tenant.
Our area doesn't have names on mailboxes, so no restriction on the post office not delivering the mail. In fact, at my parents' house growing up, they ran a real estate brokerage out of their home for a couple of years, so the mailman told us anytime he had mail for the subdivision that didn't match any house, he put in our mailbox, because we received mail for so many different people and entities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rabrrita
Strange, every state we have properties in, if the tenant dies, a change of
address is filed with a c/o the attorney's office.
Yeah, this is sort of what I expected. I believe this is what has happened in the past when other tenants have passed.
We just learned of this problem today, as the new tenant was moving in. I agree the new tenant shouldn't have to deal with this, if it is going to take that long. If we were talking 30 days, that isn't a big deal, but if we are talking 6-12 months, that isn't ok. I'll have to talk to the mother again.
Can you file a "hold" at the P.O.? - similar to when folks go on vacation and the P.O. keeps all their mail.
When you put your mail on hold you don't put an individual's mail on hold, the mail is put on hold for everyone at that address. So the new tenant would also have their mail held.
Apparently a forward order is also not allowed. I thought it was pretty messed up and suspect the mother is misunderstanding.
USPS regulations allows for a change of address for a deceased person. However, the estate's administrator, executor or trustee are the ones who can do so. They take an original death certificate to the post office for the delivery address and make the change. If there is no administrator, executor or trustee and the estate is being handled by a public probate attorney appointed by the state/court, that person can make the changes. As you suspect, there could be just a misunderstanding as to who controls what especially since the new tenant can certainly go to the post office with a copy of their lease and have mail for the deceased rejected. If the estate can't get it together, and you don;t want to create issues with the new tenant, go to the PO yourself and ask the Postmaster to assist.
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(LL had removed the previous tenant's name.) Couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting any mail after I did the address change at P.O. Anyway, I went to P.O. to ask and they said they had returned everything as undeliverable b/c my name was not on mailbox and that is when they told me they won't deliver mail unless a name is on the mailbox and any mail that wasn't my name (previous tenant) would be returned undeliverable if there was no address change or a forwarding to where it should go to.
The P.O. has to have some kind of proof from the actual person or a legal representative for proof of death in order to make any change. The whole situation is insane that probate attorney would still want deceased person's mail going to a total stranger who could actually open that mail, etc. Strange situation to put the current tenant in.
