My mother is elderly and now ill and I need to get her moved out of her apartment into my home so I can care for her 24 hours a day. Is there a way to break her lease without having to pay the remainder of the lease? What if one of them died and couldn't afford the apartment could the lease be broken then? Thanks for your help.

Dawn

Hello Dawn:

If you sign a legal agreement and die before you can complete it, your estate will be responsible. That means if your parents died, and left an estate, that estate will be responsible for fullfilling the contract.

So, if you can't break a lease when they die, you're sure not going to be able to break a lease with them alive.

You CAN negotiate with the landlord. He's obligated to find a tenant as soon as he can anyway (unless you live in Florida).

excon

Talk to the landlord. They probably don't want someone dying in their units. They may let you out or just make you responsible until they can find a new tenant.

Thank you both for your helpful answers, that's the answer I seem to be finding. Just not what I want to hear. Maybe I can find someone to sublet it and then they can get out of the lease that way. Thanks again.

DAwn

If the lease permits a sublet that's a viable alternative.