Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

My father died a bit unexpectedly Feb 8, 2018. My sister and I (his only surviving relatives) were a bit estranged, so we are completely overwhelmed with the task of settling his affairs. He had lots of debt, and little to no assets we can see... and his will did not establish a personal representative. So the postal service will not permit me to forward his mail until I present a death certificate (getting this week).

It appears my dad’s landlord (an Assisted Living Retirement Community) took it upon themselves to “Deceased Return to Sender” his mail without our consent. But we needed his mail because we literally have no clue what bills and accounts he had. His rent is paid in full for Feb, and we have to 28th to vacate and haven’t turned in keys yet.

So now I’m truly outraged because if they “deceased” a statement to an account/asset we don’t know about, we will never see it at this point. And he didn’t have much cash we can see, so.. any asset we can get is needed to help settle his affairs.

Can the Landlord/Assisted Living Facility rightfully return his mail if his rent for Feb is paid, and we have not yet turned over possession of his apartment?


Asked on 2/18/18, 10:33 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

It is probably a policy of the home to notify the postal service of deaths. However, I find that somewhat unethical in lieu of the situation. I suggest you file a change of address immediately with the postal service and hopefully you will receive his mail. A lot of postal services just return to the original sender which is a mail order service that does not even read the envelop.

Check with the clerk of court's office in the county he died and see if there is a will on file. Odd that there is no personal representative. You or your sister or both can apply to be the personal representative.

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Answered on 2/19/18, 7:39 am
Barry Stein De Cardenas, Freixas, Stein & Zachary

The will has no personal representative selected? Odd indeed. You would need to file a probate in order to martial any assets, if any. if no assets. there wont be anything to pay the bills with. not sure what you are trying to accomplish. learn about other assets? only way to get that info or require the ALF to provide his mail and personal papers is to file the probate. This will be a costly process and one of you will need to act in the personal rep role

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Answered on 2/19/18, 12:07 pm


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