QUESTION
Can an executer of a will change the locks and lock someone out of the home that was currently living in the home? A girlfriend and their minor child?
Asked on Sep 06th, 2021 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
My son passed away a few weeks ago. Last year he bought a home and immediately moved into it with his pregnant girlfriend. The loan and deed were only in my son's name. A few weeks later they had a baby girl. He has an older child with a former girlfriend. He named his best friend as executer of the will and me ( his mom) if the BF couldn't be executer. The girlfriend and baby were staying with me. As support for each other. She didn't move in just staying in my spare room so we both wouldn't be alone, since we were both obviously distraught. His friend took all my son's possessions and put them in storage and then changed the locks. He locked my son's girlfriend and my son's baby out of their home! He is saying the lawyer told him to. He hasn't even seen the lawyer yet. How do you lock a woman and her baby out of their house. They lived there!
1 ANSWER
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Generally, any occupant of residential real estate is entitled to due process before being evicted. Under the Landlord Tenant Act, a notice to vacate must be served at least 15 days before any action is filed to evict.
However, if your sons girlfriend vacated the premises, she would no longer be occupying and the executor would be free to change the locks. Her only remedies are a petition in orphans court or a lawsuit for wrongful eviction. There would be a fact question whether she was an occupant at the time he changed the locks.
Nothing precludes him from allowing her to reside there. But as a practical matter, as executor he must take steps to secure and liquidate the property for the estate.
I hope this has been helpful, but I suggest speaking with an estate attorney and I would be happy to refer you to one. Simply call or email me for a referral.
Best Regards,
Matthew R. Nahrgang, Esquire
35 Evansburg Road, Ste 400
Collegeville, PA 19426
(610) 489-3041 o
(610) 489-3042 fax
nahrganglaw.com
Answered on Sep 07th, 2021 at 10:53 AM