The tenant has died, what happens to the lease?
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Short answer
The lease does not die with the tenant: it continues. If no one was living with the lessee, article 1939 of the Civil Code of Québec allows the liquidator of the succession · or, if there is no liquidator, an heir · to resiliate it by giving two months' notice, and that notice must be given within six months after the death. If someone was living with the lessee, article 1938 applies: that person has two months after the death to notify the lessor, and becomes the lessee.
In detail
Two distinct notices exist, and they do not cover the same situation. The Tribunal administratif du logement publishes a notice for the death of a lessee (TAL-804-E), given under articles 1938 and 1939 of the Civil Code of Québec, and a notice for the cessation of cohabitation (TAL-803-E), given under article 1938. Both models remind the sender to keep a copy and proof that the notice was received.
Where no one was living with the lessee, two time limits overlap and they do not start on the same day. The first runs from the death: the liquidator, or failing that an heir, has six months to give the notice. The second runs from the notice: the resiliation takes effect two months later. The Tribunal states the calculation this way: "This period is calculated in calendar months. For instance, if the notice is sent and received on October 15, the lease will be terminated effective December 15."
Where someone was living with the lessee, article 1938 gives that person the right to maintain occupancy: the person "becomes the lessee if he or she continues to occupy the dwelling and gives notice to that effect to the lessor within two months after the death". If the person does not avail himself or herself of that right, the liquidator or an heir may, "in the month which follows the expiry of the period of two months, resiliate the lease by giving notice of one month to that effect to the lessor".
Rent remains payable until the resiliation. Both articles carry the same qualification about personal services: the part of the rent covering "services of a personal nature provided to the lessee" is owed only "to the services which were provided during the lifetime of the lessee".
What to document
The dates: of the notice, of its receipt, of each rent payment. A notice is proven by how it was sent; a payment, by the statement that carries it. The condition of the dwelling is photographed · an image carries its date, a recollection does not. And every exchange with the landlord or tenant keeps its timestamp.
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Official sources
- art. 1939, al. 1, du Code civil du Québec (RLRQ c CCQ-1991) · read on 2026-08-09
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.