My father passed recently and he had a signed lease at this apartment complex in louisiana. I'm not sure if it's privately or corporate owned, but his girlfriend lived with him. She's listed on the lease as an occupant, not a shared tenant. Assuming i would become legally responsible for the lease, being that i am the only/primary heir of any of his estate i contacted the property manager.

She stated that "there was no need to worry that it had all been taken care of." I called back a few days later after pondering on it and wanting genuine answers, she then proceeded to tell me that the lease was transferred into someone elses name. Of course she wouldn't say who but I already know that it was the girlfriend. I was going through some of my dad's emails and found the lease agreement that proves my dad was the main and only tenant of the apartment.

The girlfriend had already spent 2,000 off of his credit card after he died (which I'm already in legal process of getting back) but I'm confused as to how she was able to obtain the apartment without a death certificate. Is that even legal? Is there something I can do about this and if so what legal steps do I need to take?