Can a landlord seek default judgment against a deceased tenant in eviction before estate appointment during probate?

Family Law

Barrister

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If your mother was a tenant, then legally the landlord has to include everyone who was a tenant in any eviction case so that they can terminate the legal rights of any person who was living there. If your mother has passed, then you can notify the court and they will essentially dismiss the case against her personally and only consider it against her estate.

With that said, nothing will happen prior to the actual hearing date where you and your sister filed formal Answers to their complaint. At that hearing, you can notify the judge that your mother has passed away, and the judge will either dismiss the case against her or will amend the case to reflect that it is now her estate that is a defendant and that there has not been a legal representative appointed by the court.

Since there is no legal representative, you can't really file anything on behalf of the estate. You can simply notify the judge at the actual hearing date when you and your sister show up for court. They aren't going to be able to do anything at all prior to the court hearing, even if they filed for a default judgment against your mother, because presumably you and your sister are also both defendants.

And any motion that they might file for a default judgment would normally be heard at that first hearing date.

Full Conversation

Hello,

I’m hoping to get some guidance on an eviction situation involving me, my sister, and our late mother.

Earlier this year, on July 10, 2025, our mother passed away. Since then, we have been going through probate, and no one has been officially appointed as the administrator of her estate yet. That court date isn’t until February 2026.

Recently, the landlord’s attorneys sent out an unlawful detainer (eviction) lawsuit. They sent separate envelopes addressed individually to me, my sister, and our mother. Even though our mother is deceased, they still named her as a defendant.

My sister and I both filed Answers on time to the unlawful detainer. However, today we received a document in the mail from the landlord’s attorney saying they are requesting a default against our mother because “no Answer was filed” for her.

Our concern is that our mother is deceased, so she obviously cannot file an Answer, and there is currently no estate administrator who has legal authority to respond on her behalf. The landlord and their attorneys have been told multiple times that our mother passed away, yet they are still acting as if she is alive and able to respond.

We are worried they are trying to move forward with a default judgment against a deceased person, which doesn’t seem right, and we don’t know what we are supposed to do next to protect ourselves.

We’re looking for advice on:

What we should do now that they are requesting a default against our deceased mother
Whether this is allowed when no estate representative has been appointed
What, if anything, we need to file to stop this or notify the court properly

Any guidance on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated, as this is very stressful and confusing, especially while we are still in probate.

Thank you for your time and help.

Lexi, Chatbot

I'm sorry to hear about the challenges you're facing during this difficult time. Have you or your sister been able to communicate with the landlord's attorney regarding your mother's passing and the probate situation?

No.

Lexi, Chatbot

Have you received any court dates or deadlines related to the eviction process that you need to be aware of?

The original unlawful detainer we was sent in the mail said we had to submit an answer, which me and my sister did, but our mom is deceased. She could not have possibly done one.

Lexi, Chatbot

Is there anything else the lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured they’ll be able to help with your eviction situation.

How would I notify the court about her death? We already have a separate probate case that is still pending. The landlords know our mother was murdered back in July, and we just got this mail today addressed to our mother asking the court or requesting notice of default against our mom. Me and my sister were on the lease as well.

Barrister

Hello and welcome to the site! My name is Barrister and I am a licensed attorney and I am here to help with your situation. I know your question is important, but there may be a short delay in my responses as I type out an answer or reply, as I am typically working with several customers at once on the website. I have read your post and I am sorry to hear you are having to deal with this situation, as I realize it can be frustrating and confusing.

Barrister

And any motion that they might file for a default judgment would normally be heard at that first hearing date.

Ok thank you so much.

Barrister

You are very welcome. Glad to help when I can in a difficult situation like this. Have a good evening and be safe

Barrister

66,544 satisfied customers

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