does estate of deceased have the right to sublet stabali

[conehead]

i was hoping someone could tell me if the estate or the heirs of a deceased person has the right to sublet a stabalized apartment. we've been getting conflicting advice from friends. LL says the estate can finish the lease term but can not sublet to a 3rd party, thus making the apartment essenitially unsusable to us.

thanks

[Phil Cohen]

That makes no sense at all. Why should the "estate" (defined as what, by the way?) have the right to live in the apartment but not sublease it? What is his basis for saying that?
Unless he can provide an explanation that makes sense, I would go ahead and sublease it. If the LL refuses, he is probably unreasonably refusing a sublet.

[consigliere]

The estate can keep the apartment until the end of the lease.
 
Case law has held that only the estate itself is entitled to possession of the apartment, until the will is probated.
 

[MikeW]

If someone doesn't have legitimate succession rights to the apartment (ie, have the proper relationship to the deceased tenant, and/or have been living in the apartment for the proscribed amount of time), I doubt the apartment cab be left to that person in the tenant's will.

In that case, the LL could probably sue to recover the apartment regardless of the lease.

[consigliere]

I should have posted the link below sooner, but here it is:
 
Real Property Law §236 - Assignment of lease of a deceased tenant specifically addresses the issue raised.
 
But be careful. There's also another Real Property Law §236 that deals with something entirely different.