Lease legality question

[Dave Wacholtz]

I own a single family rental in Marquette County, WI. I currently rent it to my step mother ( My Dad rented the house from the person I bought it from for 34 years prior but he died in early 2022, I bought it in the end of 2022 and inherited my step mother as a tenant). Her daughter, son in law, and a friend of theirs also live in the rental. I have a signed lease with my step mother. I have the others as residents but no legal authority on the lease. 

My step mother is in poor health and was recently placed on hospice. The daughter/ son in law have a VERY poor reputation when it comes to their previous rental record and my plan is to "price them out" when my step mother passes. I owed my father to take care of my step mother, not her free loading kids. 

Question: Should I have the daughter sign a month to month lease so I have a legal basis when and if I need to evict? What happens to their legal authority to be there once step mother passes? Keep in mind they have 30+ years of accumulated "stuff" stored in every building on the rural farm style property and if I evict I feel they'll stiff me on rent until they get all their crap off the property. Any experienced opinions would be welcome. 

Dave 

[Richard F.]

Due to the length of the "residents", and the fact that your "lease" may, or may not be useless, you should have a local RE attorney review the facts, and advise you on local law. The "ownership" of all of the personal property also bears discussion and review of any Will or other documents. 

Having said that, at a minimum, I would plan on giving them a 60 - 90 day Notice to vacate, spelling out the disposition of the personal property (leave all or take all or somewhere in between if you have anything factual to support). Perhaps even provide some "cash for keys" assistance. You do not want to turn this into a huge legal battle. It will likely be more than costly enough for you once they are out, to sort and dispose any remaining personal property, and a complete gut rehab, or at minimum thorough clean and basic cosmetic refresh.