In New York, Leases Are Estate Assets Sometime Capable Of Being Inherited

In New York, leases are capable of being passed through an estate the same as a piece of property. This is due to a mishmash of laws ranging from the state which grants estate asset status to lease to the local such as New York City's ancient rent control law which allows the lease to continue through the generations until broken. As a result, both sets of laws must be consulted to get a full grasp of what can and cannot be passed down. However, there are a couple of rules that will almost always come into play. The person who will inherit the lease must have cohabited with the lessee for a set period of time  and have a familial or interdependent relationship within certain specific statutory circumstances. While not every client will have a lease that can or will be passed through an estate, for those that do it is crucial that the specific requirements are met because a lease might have as much value as assets owned in fee simple by an estate and can be lost if proper procedure is not followed.

See Ettinger Law Firm, Inheriting A Lease, New York Estate Planning Blog, December 12, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.