2 Answers
Dear Client,
It is very much possible for different heirs to collect rent from different tenants and then issue a rent receipt during the pendency of a title dispute or succession. However, this does not mean the final ownership rights are decided. Unless a competent court rejects the validity of the Will all the legal heirs step into the shoes of the deceased. A tenant is paying rent in order to avoid default, however, such payments are still subject to the final decision of the pending suit. Legal heirs can collect rent and issue rent receipt but it will lead to disputes regarding entitlements to rent and mesne profits. The court in such cases will make the necessary adjustments with regards to the amount collected after deciding the suit.
Therefore, a safer option would be to pay the rent jointly to all heirs by the tenant and deposit the same with an appropriate authority or court or obtain a written arrangement between the heirs.
I hope this helps and if you have any further issues do not hesitate to contact us.
Dear Client,
The honest answer is that the arrangement you describe which involves multiple legal heirs separately issuing rent receipts to different tenants is legally problematic and carries real risks for all parties involved.
Until the Will is either probated and upheld or successfully challenged and set aside, the ownership of the property is legally unsettled. During this period, no single legal heir has been conclusively established as the owner of the property or any part of it. A rent receipt issued by any one legal heir to any tenant is therefore not being issued by a person with confirmed authority to collect rent as the established landlord but it is being issued by a person who is a claimant to ownership, not a confirmed owner.
From the tenant's perspective, paying rent to any one legal heir during this period exposes them to a legitimate dispute later. In the event that another heir ends up being declared as the rightful owner of the property, then the tenant may find himself or herself required to make rental payments to the rightful party. The courts have ruled that making rental payments to the wrong person does not necessarily discharge the duty of paying rent.
The cleanest and safest solution is for all legal heirs to jointly agree to have rent collected in a common pool until the will dispute is resolved, with a jointly signed receipt issued to each tenant. Alternatively, the court hearing the will dispute should be approached for an interim arrangement order regarding rent collection. Courts in property disputes regularly pass such administrative directions to protect all parties during the pendency of title disputes.
I hope this helps, and if you have any further issues, do not hesitate to contact us.