I just wanted to provide a brief update.
Firstly... Thank you very much for all of the great suggestions. This has been a learning process for me, certainly. The suggestion of a creating a sheet of helpful hints was particularly helpful and thoughtful (and was much appreciated by the family).
The family is in town now, clearing the belongings from the suite. I met with them last night for the first time. Obviously, this is an extremely difficult time for them, but they seem to be handling things as well as one would expect.
Their goal is to have the suite empty and cleaned by the end of the week.
I have been in contact Service Alberta and have been told that I do have a fixed term lease. As such, the estate is responsible for the term of the lease, until I am able to find a suitable tenant. It will be unlikely that I will be able to find a tenant before March 1st. Assuming I find one for April 1st, I would lose one month's rent. (there is substantial damage to the suite that the damage deposit - i am hoping - will fully cover). Legally... the estate is responsible for rent for the month of March. That seems like a VERY difficult conversation to have with the grieving family.
My heart says just let the family clean out the suite and try and move forward. The business side of me feels that a one month's loss of revenue is a big hit, and one that I am not legally obligated to absorb.
Basically... I am juggling emotions of being a sympathetic guy or a business man. Losing one month's revenue for me personally would be a tough thing to swallow after being caught in layoffs recently.
Thoughts?
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