Can renters fix home without landlord’s OK?
Q. Does the renter of a home have the right to make changes to the home, such as painting the walls and cabinets, building flower beds or digging up and leveling the yard to put in an above ground pool, without the consent of the landlord? What are the consequences of making changes to the home or lawn without approval?
A. Typically, what a renter can and cannot do would be spelled out in a written lease agreement. But if there is no written lease, or if the lease doesn’t address these issues, then the renter should contact the landlord and ask for permission to do each of those things.
Most of the time, painting the walls and adding flower beds would be allowed. But painting the cabinets or installing an above ground pool might be going a bit too far without prior written approval.
Q. My father recently died from
COVID-19 complications, and his few personal belongings were destroyed. Most of his accounts passed to me by beneficiary designation or by rights of survivorship. I think he also has an account at Goldman Sachs, and I believe I am the beneficiary on this account. Unlike all the banks I’ve dealt with, when I call the main phone operators at Goldman Sachs, they refuse to look up his account using his name. They want an account number or a broker’s name to start the search. I have no statements available to me. What should I do?
A. Go to www.goldmanpfm.com, and click on “Find an advisor near you.” There you will find the names and phone numbers of various advisers at Goldman who you can call directly. Maybe one of them will be willing to help you out, even if it’s just to give you the name and phone number of the adviser your father was using.
If that doesn’t work, hire an estate planning attorney, preferably at a large law firm, and ask that attorney to use his or her connections to figure out whether your father had an account at Goldman Sachs. You can find one of these attorneys at www.tbls.org. Many estate planning attorneys at large law firms regularly work with advisers at Goldman Sachs as it relates to planning for their mutual wealthy clients.
Because Goldman Sachs private wealth management generally requires its clients to have at least $10,000,000 invested, you may want to take these steps sooner than later.
Note, if your father died this year with an estate in excess of $11,700,000, a federal estate tax return will be due and taxes will be owed nine months following his death. State death taxes may be due as well, depending on where he lived.
The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Ronald Lipman of the Houston law firm Lipman & Associates is board-certified in estate planning and probate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Email questions to stateyourcase @lipmanpc.com.