First 30 Days After A Landlord’s Death | Practical Playbook

What To Do In The First 30 Days After A Landlord’s Death

This guide gives you a clear first month plan so lenders stay calm, tenants see continuity, and the family keeps control. It is written for company directors, LLP members and executors who need to act now without creating problems later.

Companion guides

If you have not already read them, these two pieces lay the groundwork this article builds on:

Whole of Life Insurance for Landlords — Keep Your Portfolio Bankable

Inheritance Tax for Landlords — Pay on Time Without Forced Sales

1. First principles

• Keep payments flowing. Rent collection and mortgage servicing must continue.
• Talk early, then document. Lenders and tenants respond well to prompt, calm communication.
• Buy time. Your goal is an orderly process, not quick sales.

2. Who does what on day one

• Executors confirm authority for personal assets. Company directors or LLP members handle business operations. Where both apply, agree a single point of contact for lenders and brokers.
• Identify all live facilities, direct debits, standing orders, insurance policies and managing agents. Create one shared list.

3. Immediate notifications

• Tenants and agents. Confirm that rent collection and repairs continue. Give a single contact email and phone number.
• Insurers. Check that property, liability and rent guarantee policies remain in force.
• Banks. Notify relationship managers where there are business accounts. Keep accounts operational.
• Lenders. Acknowledge the death, confirm that payments will continue, and ask for their standard bereavement process.

Copy and paste email to lenders

Subject: Notification and continuity plan following the death of [Name]

Dear [Lender Contact],

We write to notify you of the death of [Name] on [Date]. Payments on account number [xxx] will continue as scheduled. We are preparing a short continuity pack with updated valuations and a refinancing plan.

Please confirm your standard bereavement process and the documents you require at this stage. Our single point of contact is [Name, role, phone, email].

Kind regards,
[Name] for the directors or executors

Phone script for lenders

“Hello, I am calling to notify you that [Name] died on [Date]. Payments will continue. We will send a brief continuity note and updated information. Please let me know your bereavement process and any immediate requirements.”

4. Keep money moving

• Leave existing payment rails in place. Avoid changing rent collection details during the first month.
• Ring fence a working capital buffer for one year of calm if available. Keep this in the operating account.

5. Valuations and the quick information pack

• Order a portfolio AVM snapshot. A HomeTrack style report is sufficient for first contact.
• Prepare a one pager for brokers and lenders: portfolio value summary, current balances and rates, covenant highlights, maturities in the next 12 months, and a simple statement of intent to maintain a target LTV of about 40 per cent.
• Attach the AVM snapshot and the latest rent roll.

6. The trustee loan, if a policy was in place

Where a whole of life policy is owned by a discretionary trust, instruct trustees to receive proceeds and lend to the company or personal representatives. The loan reduces LTV quickly, preserves a liquidity buffer, and creates a clear receivable for the trust. Keep the paperwork short and tidy.

Basic loan note wording you can adapt

Trustees lend £[amount] to [Borrower] for the purpose of reducing secured debt to a target LTV and funding a one year liquidity buffer for operating costs. Interest accrues at [x]% and may be rolled up. Repayments will be made from trading surpluses or refinancing proceeds.

7. Governance and records

• Minutes. Record the decision to implement the continuity plan, accept the trustee loan, and instruct brokers.
• Loan agreement. Sign a short agreement between trustees and the borrower.
• File the pack. Keep lender emails, minutes and the loan agreement together.

8. Speaking to tenants

Keep it short and reassuring.

Dear [Tenant], we are writing to let you know that [Landlord or Director Name] died on [Date]. Your tenancy and maintenance arrangements continue as normal. Please continue to pay rent to the same account. Your contact for repairs and queries is [Name, number, email]. Thank you.

9. Repairs, safety and renewals

• Complete urgent repairs and safety checks without delay.
• Diarise insurance renewals and fixed rate maturities. Do not miss a date through confusion over roles.

10. What your professional team does

• Broker. Gathers the pack, tests the refinancing plan with underwriters and reports back.
• Accountant. Confirms entries for trustee loans, interest accrual and minutes, and prepares any estate accounts.
• Solicitor. Reviews trust and loan paperwork, updates director registers and provides any probate support.

11. 30 day timeline at a glance

Days 1 to 3

• Notify key parties. Confirm payments continue. Appoint a single point of contact. Start the AVM pack.

Days 4 to 7

• Send the lender email. Call brokers. Draft minutes and a short continuity note.

Days 8 to 14

• Receive the AVM snapshot. Finalise the one pager. If a policy is in trust, complete the trustee loan agreement and transfer funds.

Days 15 to 30

• Reduce debt to the target LTV. Confirm covenants and next review dates. Set aside the one year liquidity buffer. Agree a 90 day plan with brokers for any refinances or tidy ups.

12. Common pitfalls that cause delays

• Changing rent collection details too early.
• Paying lenders directly from a trust rather than via a borrower loan.
• Missing a fixed rate expiry because no one owned the diary.
• No single point of contact for lenders and brokers.

13. How we help

Our consultation service covers retirement planning, business continuity and legacy planning for landlords. The process is written, structured and client-led. It is not a phone call. We base our recommendations on a conditional-logic Fact Find followed by focused email exchanges. Your inputs drive the analysis and the priorities. Our role is to organise the options, test commercial feasibility, and document an implementation plan that your own accountant, solicitor and regulated adviser can execute.

Scope of topics we cover

• Business continuity and lender management, including target LTV setting and liquidity buffers
• Succession and legacy planning that keeps control tidy, including equalising between children without selling core assets
• Structuring options such as LLP governance, company housekeeping and Family Investment Company considerations, with clear signposting to legal drafting where needed
• Life insurance trust and loan-back mechanics, including trustee duties, loan terms and security options
• Refinancing pathways, broker briefing notes, and the documents underwriters expect to see
• Valuations approach using AVMs for portfolio snapshots and when to commission a full valuation
• Director loan accounts and intra-group balances, with tidy-up options before, during and after an owner’s death
• Insurance strategy at a commercial level, including whole of life sizing logic and ownership routes, with referral to a regulated adviser for product selection
• Governance pack items such as shareholders’ agreements, members’ agreements, Wills and LPAs, flagged for your solicitor to draft or update

How it works

• You complete our conditional-logic Fact Find and property schedule
• We follow up by email to clarify objectives and any missing data.
• We prepare a tailored 30+ page written report setting out your options, worked examples, risks, and recommended next steps.

What you receive

• A 30+ page personalised report with numbered recommendations and a clear sequence of actions

⚖️ Important Notice – Scope of Planning Support

Property118 does not provide formally regulated or insured advice on law, tax, or financial services, including life insurance, mortgages, pensions, or investment products.

Our role is to present researched planning recommendations based on our interpretation of current legislation, HMRC guidance, established case law, and our extensive experience supporting UK landlords.

While our bespoke recommendations are always based on detailed research, we strongly recommend that you share them with appropriately regulated professional advisers, such as your solicitor, accountant, or financial adviser, and ask them to review and confirm the correct legal and tax treatment before proceeding.

Specific regulated responsibilities include:

• Tax calculations and filings – Your accountant
• Stamp Duty Land Tax and equivalents – Your solicitor
• Company structuring – Your accountant
• Legal drafting – Your solicitor or Barrister
• Trust, wills, and succession planning – A STEP-qualified solicitor or trust specialist
• Life cover, pensions, and other financial services – An FCA-regulated financial adviser

Property118 is happy to work with your existing advisers or introduce you to trusted professionals. Our planning is designed to support you in making commercially led decisions that can then be implemented through appropriate regulated channels.