When a tenant for life demises any lands and dies on or after the day when any rent becomes due and payable, his or her executor or administrator may recover from the subtenant the whole rent due, but if such tenant for life dies, before the day when any rent is to become due, his or her executor or administrator may recover the proportion of rent which accrued before his or her death, and the remainder man shall recover for the residue.
9-217.Rent recoverable by representative, from subtenant.
Article IX. Eviction · Part 2. Recovery of Rent; · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceWhen a landlord who holds only a life estate dies, the estate's executor can collect the full rent due if death came on or after the rent's due date, but if death came earlier, the estate and the remainderman split the rent based on when the life tenant died.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/9-217
Plain-English Summary
Section 9-217 fixes a proration rule for rent owed by a subtenant when a life-tenant landlord dies partway through a term. If the tenant for life demises the land and dies on or after the day rent becomes due and payable, the life tenant's executor or administrator may recover the whole rent due from the subtenant.
If instead the life tenant dies before the day the rent is due, the executor or administrator recovers only the proportion of rent that accrued before death, and the remainderman -- the person who takes the property once the life estate ends -- recovers the rest.
The section fits alongside Section 9-206.1's rules for farmland leases with a life-tenant landlord, showing that this Part addresses the life-estate landlord situation in more than one place, with each section tailored to a different kind of dispute that can follow the life tenant's death.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can collect rent from a subtenant after a life-tenant landlord dies?
The deceased life tenant's executor or administrator, and in some cases the remainderman as well.
Does the timing of the life tenant's death matter?
Yes. If death occurs on or after the rent's due date, the executor or administrator collects the entire rent; if death occurs before the due date, the rent is split.
How is the rent split when the life tenant dies before it is due?
The executor or administrator recovers the proportion accrued before death, and the remainderman recovers the residue.
Who is the remainderman referred to in this section?
The person entitled to the property once the life estate ends.
Does this section apply outside the life-tenant landlord situation?
No, it is specific to rent owed by a subtenant when a life-tenant lessor dies.
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 82-280.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: life tenant landlord dies rent illinoisremainderman rent collection illinoissubtenant rent after landlord deathlife estate rental property illinois