Hello, I had a great tenant but she suddenly passed away recently. I wanted to return the security deposit but I am not sure to whom and how. Normally I ask people to remove all their belongings to get their money and I do not haggle over minor wear and tear.

She had minor kids that went to live with the previous boyfriend, but the current boyfriend came and emptied the house for me and he wants the money. What would you do?

It gets written to the probably nonexistent estate. If it's large enough, someone will file a small estate's petition.

Contact the folks who are listed as emergency contacts and ask them for the next of kin.

What has been said above is absolutely correct, there haven't been many times when a formal estate has been opened up for former tenants.

The check goes to the estate. Without a will, the minor children would be heirs at law. If they are 16 or older they can renounce to an adult to handle it. Younger than that, for a small estate their "natural guardian" is their father and he can appoint another adult to be representative of the estate.

Ray, I had to look at my lease to see how it's worded. Mine says "The tenant's rights and liabilities under this lease are continued to tenant's heirs, executors, and administrators. Death does not end this lease."

"Death ends a lease..."

I don't see how that works. In addition to providing shelter, a house also provides secure storage of personal property. Let's suppose the deceased person had some items of value in the house. Is the land lord obliged to store those items for free until the estate is settled or an executor comes to claim them? Does the land lord have to provide utilities and security to ensure the items are not damages by high or low temperatures or thieves breaking in? It could takes months for the executor to show up if he/she is out of the country and/or doesn't take immediate action for whatever reason.

With that in mind, if no one contacted me I would follow my state's abandoned property laws, which say that if rent is unpaid for 30 days and there's no sign anyone is coming to retrieve the belongings, then I may dispose of them in any manner I see fit: toss, keep, or sell.

But since boyfriend came and emptied the house, that won't work. He shouldn't have done that (he robbed the estate), but that horse is out of the barn now. You might ask your attorney if you're obliged to report this to authorities to keep your name clear in case anyone does creep out of the wood works and claim your deceased tenant had a collection of silver coins or autographed Jimi Hendrix guitars stashed away somewhere.

In my state, if no executor contacted me, the security deposit would be sent to the state unclaimed property division.