What will happen to my apartment?

[boca]

I've been planning to ctb for a while but I just looked up what happens to a lease if a tenant dies and apparently the debt is passed on to the next of kin. I don't want to transfer the debt on to my parents (I have no children and am not married). I guess I was just kind of thinking a lease would be void after you passed away, but apparently that's not the case. Is there any way around this?

 

[Snake of Eden]

I never heard of that. Unless they cosigned the lease i fail to see how they will be responsible to pay off your arrears.

 

[odradek]

I think the main factors here come down to where you live, whether you have a long term lease, and how compassionate your landlord is. After doing some brief reading on US, UK, CAN and AU laws, it really depends on where you live. It seems like the most likely place your landlord would (or could) seek money from your estate is in the US. If you live there it can even differ depending on the state. I don't live in the US but I was both shocked yet unsurprised that landlords could do this. I'd recommend you look up your local laws to see what they say. Sadly this really comes down to how ruthless your landlord is if you're American. If you live in the others places I checked I'm fairly certain they cannot do this, but don't quote me on this as I am definitely no lawyer.

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

In Illinois (USA), the deceased person's family is not responsible for their debt – but their estate is. Did your parents cosign the lease? Your landlord might be able to obtain money from your estate, but they can't go after your parents if your estate has no money unless their name was also on the lease.