What happens when your landlord dies?
You’ll be permitted to stay if your landlord decides to honor or renew your lease.

Or your new landlord chooses to start over and cancel your lease, forcing you to locate other housing.

Jane Sayner, 75, chose neither of these alternatives.
Jane Sayner has lived in St. Albans, Melbourne, Australia, for over 20 years.

She paid AUD$250 a week to rent a two-bedroom unit from St. Albans multi-millionaire John Perrett.

It was the same amount she’d been paying since she moved in.

She wouldn’t be able to afford another house if she had to relocate.
She would have to either live with her stepchildren or return to work.

Jane had been at her previous job for 25 years and didn’t want to work any longer.

She doesn’t want to think about going back since she needs to pay her rent.

Fortunately, she does not have to.

Her landlord, John Perrett, died in September 2020.
He was a multimillionaire who had never been married and had no children.

However, 30 years before his death, he obtained a kidney transplant, which extended his life.

John was glad that he gave a large portion of his money, around AUD$18.6 million, to the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Nephrology Department.

In his will, John made three further provisions.
One unit was sold for AUD$400,000, and the proceeds were donated to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Jane was one of two long-term renters who were left with two properties.

Yes, John bequeathed the two-bedroom apartment to Jane, who now owns the property she used to rent.

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
It wasn’t the first time Jane had heard of this.

John phoned her one day to find out her complete name.

“Then one day he called and said, ‘My solicitor’s here; could you please give me your full name, because I’m leaving you your unit?’ ” I believed I’d misheard something. Certainly not. ” (Leaving all his money to charity) was always what he was going to do for the entire time I knew him,” Jane recounted.

While John’s death was heartbreaking for Jane, it must have been a relief to know that the house was now hers.
She has clearly made the apartment more homely since she moved in more than 20 years ago.

“I treated this place as if it were my own.” There was no garden out back when I first moved in. “Because I lived here, I planted a lot of plants and flowers that are still here today,” Jane explained.

John didn’t become upset and instead urged Jane to make the property feel more like a home.
He also brought his father’s old pots for Jane to utilize for further plants.

John and Jane had a connection that went beyond landlord-tenant; they were friends.

Jane and John would converse for nearly an hour, during which time John would tell her about his father.

She would also cook for him on occasion.

In addition to being single and childless, John was an only kid.

It was no surprise that he had entrusted the unit to Jane, who had shown him kindness.