Commercial tennancy jeweller safe opening question

[BillyBB]

Tennant deceased possibly intestate. Rent not paid in the two years since and no contact from next of kin beyond informing of the death. They have not even retained a solicitor.
Landlord expects to get a lien on the chattels to cover rent and expenses. This is a jewellers shop with lots of stock. He has access to the shop and one safe but not a second safe.
Does he need legal permission to have the second safe opened? would a lien be enough as he has to inventory everything?
It may be that the goods on display and in the first safe cover costs but stock cannot just be left in the second safe indefinitely.
There are items left for repair that rightfully belong to third parties. He has been advised that he cannot even let them have things as it could be seen as distributing wealth and he then be liable for the estate.

[buildersmate]

I assume you represent the interests of the landlord in some way.
Sounds like this person needs to apply for a caveat to the Probate Registry, to ensure that the probate office is aware of the claim on the estate so that whoever does end up dealing with the deceased person's estate gest to grips with the various claims from the landlord.
More info on how to do this here.
http://www.justice.go...s/probate/caveats.htm
The landlord can't speed the process up - just ensure the claim gets dealt with. It sounds like there are likely to be assets within the estate to cover this, but I don't see how the landlord can DIY.

[dzug2]

The landlord is a creditor of the estate and can take out probate/letters of administration if noone else will.

Not a fast procedure though

[cathfromsaron]

this will be slow, as is all probate etc.
the family will need to be involved to speed things up.
if they knew there were gains as well as liabilities, they may be more co-operative?

[BillyBB]

Many thanks. I just wanted to know what paperwork I need to see before doing any work on the landlords behalf. With a vacant empty property it would not matter but the possibility of significant contents and warring family makes me nervous. I will try to get the safe sealed before I decode it.

[Jonathan-Joe]

Will the landlord be able to claim rent up to the time that the executors clear the premises? If so, it is in the family's interest to get things moving quickly.

[BillyBB]

Yes he is claiming rent but I suspect only for a 'reasonable time' which may be coming to an end!
Bet nothing happens for another year though.