My property manager passed away

[Sarah Bookout]

Very unique situation here. We own a property in TN that was managed by a property manager who had been in real estate for 30 years. He knew the business and was a one man show for his property management company. Well, he passed away a few weeks ago and we found out yesterday. His children went in and shut down his business. They shut off his phones and the whole situation is a mess. There will be a lot of stuff coming from this. But, we signed a contract with him that we have been informed is null and void at the time of his death. The problem is our tenant has their deposit sitting with his company in an escrow account. It will be a while before that money will be dispersed back to them. The man's three businesses were in a mess and there are lawyers involved. In the mean time we need a new property manager. The tenants will be moving out about June 2016. So the question is: do we charge them another deposit (I would rather not). Just wondering if anyone has any creative ideas for the deposit. Thanks!