Tenant Died - Working out next steps

[Frank Gucciardo]

I found out yesterday that one of my tenants was killed in a car accident early Saturday morning.  I feel terrible to say the least.  This is in my three family property and he was room mates with another guy who is his friend. Both are on the same lease, however, they each paid half the rent separately (not specified in the lease).  Both paid on time and are/were excellent tenants.

Since the accident just happened, I have not spoken to the family, I have texted with the room mate though to offer condolences and let him know we are here if he needs anything.

My plan is to call my lawyer in the morning and get his advice on how to handle.  I am going to give the room mate a month or so to find another room mate (at my discretion of course), verify he can pay the full monthly amount ($900), or decide to leave (month to month lease).  I am not going to ask him to pay the full amount for at least July, maybe August. 

My biggest concern is how to secure his belongings and how to legally handle any family that wants to get his stuff from the apartment.  If it were up to me I would just let his parents get his stuff and be on their way, however, I don't want to get into any legal issues if someone down the road says they had no right to his stuff.  

I may be overthinking this but want to be respectful and legal.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?  Any feedback on how you handled?

I'll keep this thread posted as I work through this.