Friend's death - landlord holding on to possessions

Bob Z

a friend of mine died recently however the landlord is holding onto his stuff and refusing to pass it onto his family. can he do this? i am not directly involved in this situation but is there anything they can do?

Sulla Felix

If it's because he's owed rent, then no, he can't. Debts get sorted out through the estate, by the nominated executor. He can't hold onto the stuff until the estate is distributed because they form part of the estate.
If a solicitor is the appointed executor, inform them of the situation if they don't already know and let them handle it. If there isn't and a family member is the executor, they'll need to ring him and find out exactly what/how much is owed, and reassure him that it'll be paid out of the estate but that he has to return the items.

Bob Z

yes there arent that many items. its more personal stuff hes selling. would there even be a solicitor involved?

Sulla Felix

He's selling it? That's a definite no-no.

It depends, some people have a solicitor nominated to be executor, some people don't. The job is the same anyway, gather together all the bank accounts, savings, possessions etc, and distribute them according to the deceased' wishes according to the will, or if there isn't a will, according to the intestate guidelines.

If there isn't a solicitor already engaged, and the landlord is actively selling the deceased' belongings, they might want to think about engaging one, even just for a simple letter writing task.

Edit: If there isn't a will, there probably isn't a nominated executor. Afaik in that case it's the next of kin, in my fathers case (he died intestate) my mother did/is doing it, but she has a family friend who's a solicitor helping her a bit.

StillWaters

I'm sorry about your friend. I think your friend's next of kin (parents if they are alive) need to go to the Gardai about this. This is a serious matter and will be taken seriously by the Gardai.

Doop

StillWaters wrote: »

I'm sorry about your friend. I think your friend's next of kin (parents if they are alive) need to go to the Gardai about this. This is a serious matter and will be taken seriously by the Gardai.

Be fairly sure its a civil matter and the gardai wont touch it. Solicitor all the way. Is disturbing a landlord would do this regardless of monies owed. :mad:

L1011

Doop wrote: »

Be fairly sure its a civil matter and the gardai wont touch it. Solicitor all the way. Is disturbing a landlord would do this regardless of monies owed. :mad:

Theft is not a civil matter.

lOWCOUNTRY

MYOB wrote: »

Theft is not a civil matter.

Distraint of goods is.

Doop

MYOB wrote: »

Theft is not a civil matter.

Take it to the legal fourm and find out for yourself