More details to this question:
My mom had a life estate in farmground which she cash rented to her stepsons. She passed in August but the last payment of the contract they signed last year is due November 1st. They are now the owners. Do they still owe that payment to her estate or is it null and void since she has passed?
1 ANSWER
I'm very sorry for your loss.
If your mom had a life estate, it ended when she passed away. If the lease was set up the usual way, with tenants paying as they go, then her stepsons were no longer receiving any rights from her after she died, and have no obligation to pay rent. Frankly, I would have expected the lease to explicitly so provide.
It is possible, however, that the lease was set up a different way. For example, it may have provided that the tenants purchased the right to occupy the farmground during your mother's lifetime, however long it lasted (whether 1 year or ten years) for $10,000 (just making up the number), the amount to be paid in monthly installments. In that case, all of their obligations would have ripened at the time of the lease ($10,000 for a life estate) and they would still be obligated to pay what they agreed.
Answered on Aug 31st, 2015 at 9:08 AM