Interesting court decision: Be careful not to die before closing

Part of the contract, for an example the contract I had it said that the contract is null and voided if the purchaser dies.

Quote:
"The crux of this matter lies in contract paragraph 15.2, which expressly makes the contract binding on the parties' "heirs, personal and legal representatives and successors in interest." The inclusion of this provision indicates that the parties explicitly contemplated, and provided for, the possibility of either party's death before closing, by specifying that the death would not terminate the contract, but that the contract would survive, to be performed by the successors or heirs of the deceased party. This provision makes the contract binding on Altman's estate. "

We always include a "no death" clause in our contracts expressly forbidding purchasers from kicking the bucket.

This is the key phrase written by the court that will be the basis for appeal.

"While plaintiffs assert that Altman did not receive notification of the board's approval before she died, a broker for the co-op's managing agent stated that she informed Altman of the approval,"

We all know that rule 14 section 2 line 17 of the REBNY handbook states "that under no circumstance will a broker be responsible for telling the truth at any point once a party to the deal dies, and furthermore, if either party in the deal becomes incapacitated, or worse, brokers should do everything possible to insure that a commission is still achieved.

There is nothing novel about including one way or the other a clause to address what happens if a party should die during the contract period. This is pretty basic lawyering. Our preprinted purchase contract included a statement that if we died before closing, the contract would be void and deposits returned. We dickered the clause, though, to also state that if EITHER of us died (my partner or myself), the contract was also void since we knew neither of us would want to live in the place alone. Got a tiny bit of push back from seller's attorney. I said through my attorney that this was a deal buster and non-negotiable--clause had to be changed or we'd walk. I mean seriously, who is going to let a deal fall apart for two youngish (well, one middle-aged) buyers over something like this. Of course we got it our way. We both survived so it didn't matter in the end.

Dying isn't the violation. The violation is not notifying in writing that you are dead within 24 hours of dying.

Correct. It's the perm, not the dying.

'no death clause' hahaha. As I see it, the problem is why did he go and try to buy when he knew there was a chance of dying?

Another reason to rent = cause ya could die