Who has the right to enter the home of a deceased tenant?

Question

If a home owner-occupier dies (and there are no other owners or occupiers), heirs inherit the property and thus the right to enter the property (at least after the inheritance is formalised). How does this work in case the last remaining tenant-occupier of a rental home dies? During their life, the tenant had a right to privacy of the home, restricting the right of the landlord or heirs (or anybody else) to enter as they please. After the tenant dies, the heirs would understandably want to enter the property, and possibly the landlord would, too.

• Does the executor have the right to enter the rental home that they know (or can reasonably assume) to contain inherited property, in order to formalise the inheritance?
• Can apparent heirs (for example, the children of the last remaining parent) do so?
• Does the landlord have the right to enter the rental home unrestricted, now that it is no longer inhabited by a tenant with a right to privacy of the home?

I'm interested in answers for any location. If that is too much, let's say Germany.

NB: for the purpose of this question:

• It is clear beyond doubt to all parties that the occupant has died and that their remains have been taken care of in accordance with cultural customs (the body is not on the property but in a hospital, morgue, cemetery or so.)
• The lease is current and the rent is paid for.

Answer 1

Generally speaking, a person with priority to be appointed as executor, personal representative, or administrator of a decedent's estate has the right to enter and take control of the property of the decedent as necessary to stabilize the situation pending formal appointment. Once appointed, the person can ratify the entry and any actions taken.

Generally, when the rent is current, a landlord can enter only under the circumstances when the landlord could enter when the tenant was known to be absent from the premises (e.g. for maintenance or fire inspection issues). Similarly, a landlord who entered to stabilize an exigent situation in the apartment (e.g. the stove or oven was still on, or a starving dog was present) would likewise not be trespassing if the landlord entered to address this issue.

The analysis could be more complicated if there was a non-tenant occupant dependent upon the decedent tenant present (e.g. the tenant's spouse, or disabled child, or non-tenant cohabitant, or minor child). Control of the property would usually be handled by the estate's proper representative, once appointed, unless a spouse or other person had priority to occupy it while it was owned by the state as many state laws provide.

The relevant rules in the U.S. arise under state law.

Germany is different because of the principle of "universal succession" by which the heirs, collectively, take ownership of the decedent's estate unless an election otherwise is made by one or more or them. There isn't always a court appointed executor in the same sense.

A Variation

With respect to the point that:

It is clear beyond doubt to all parties that the occupant has died and that their remains have been taken care of in accordance with cultural customs (the body is not on the property but in a hospital, morgue, cemetery or so.)

Prior to this happening, the landlord or law enforcement could enter to make a "welfare check" in the tenant's circumstances. The question presumes that this already happened, or was unnecessary because we know that the tenant died outside the flat.