Need help

A reasonable HOA board would require the son to provide to the HOA the court order appointing him executor. Subsequently the HOA should let the son vote on behalf of the estate, including letting the son assign a proxy to someone else.

The son should sign any HOA papers properly, meaning he is supposed to indicate that he is the executor of the estate of so-and-so, deceased.

My board is in the same situation with a unit owner. She passed a week ago. The owner was going to give me her proxy for the Owners budget meeting at the end of the year. HEr son has no problem giving me his proxy for this meeting. Will it be hard to get the Court order appointing him executor? IS that the original paper set up while My neighbor was alive?

If by "original paper" you mean the son had power of attorney for his mother, then as Geno indicated, this "power of attorney" extinguished at death. As much as some people involved with the estate want to give the POA special powers after death, doing so is wrong, dangerous and invites litigation. POA legally counts for nothing as far as acting on behalf of the estate.

By any chance does the deed for the deceased's property include the name of anyone besides the deceased? If so, then this other person could give you the proxy.

Else the property has to go at least partly through probate. By this I mean that, first, whoever is the named executor has to obtain a copy of the death certificate. This by itself can take a couple of weeks. Second the executor has to appear at probate court, with death certificate and will in hand, and then be approved by the probate court. How long this will take depends on the locale. Connecticut statute appears to require the executor to file the will, and seek the court's appointment as executor, within 30 days of the decedent's death. The court may hold a hearing to answer questions from family members and others or to record people's position on the estate and executor.

NpS suggests this can be treated informally without problems. But estates and questions about who gets what often bring out the worst in families. Before probate, I would not want the HOA appearing to favor one family member over another, as if one family member is more "in charge" and has "more say" than the others. The HOA should not become involved in a family dispute that may become a legal dispute very quickly.

Worse, if the issue being voted on is contentious, other members could rightly challenge the proxy (by a person who has not yet been legally appointed executor) as invalid.

You can roll the dice and accept what is really an invalid (at present) proxy from the son. Maybe most of the time, this will not be a problem. Or you can forego obtaining any proxy for this home until the probate court has formally appointed the son as executor.

I disagree. For example:

From Connecticut statute 47-252 – Voting. Proxies. Ballots:
... (5) Except as otherwise provided in the declaration or bylaws, a ballot is not revoked after delivery to the association by death or disability or attempted revocation by the person that cast that vote;

From Connecticut statute 33-706 Proxies:
... (e) The death or incapacity of the shareholder appointing a proxy does not affect the right of the corporation to accept the proxy’s authority unless notice of the death or incapacity is received by the secretary or other officer or agent authorized to tabulate votes before the proxy exercises his authority under the appointment.

From California Corporations Code 7613 Proxies:
... (c) A proxy is not revoked by the death or incapacity of the maker or the termination of a membership as a result thereof unless, before the vote is counted, written notice of such death or incapacity is received by the corporation.

From Alaska Statute 10.06.418 Proxies:
... (c) A proxy is not revoked by the death or incapacity of the maker unless, before the vote is counted, written notice of the death or incapacity is received by the corporation.

From Ohio Statute 1701.48 Voting by proxy:
... (E) A revocable appointment of a proxy is not revoked by the death or incompetency of the maker unless, before the vote is taken or the authority granted is otherwise exercised, written notice of the death or incompetency of the maker is received by the corporation from the executor or administrator of the estate of the maker or from the fiduciary having control of the shares in respect of which the proxy was appointed.

Where "written notice of death" is required, I think the person providing the written notice of death, and the written notice itself, needs to have proper authority. E.g. in a contentious election, Neighbor X seeks to invalidate A's proxy. Neighbor X provides an obituary from the local paper alleging A has died. I do not think this is legally enough. Neighbor X has no actual knowledge (like an original copy of the death certificate) that A is dead. If it is a contentious election, the board had better dot all i's and cross all t's in its decision-making on proxies. Consultation with a HOA attorney might be advisable.

(Here's to a long and likely academic answer. Still, maybe it will help someone in the future.)

In the hypothetical you propose, if an appeals court ruled in favor of the HOA, then subsequently in contentious elections the appeal court's ruling would give dishonest HOA members free rein to send emails to the Board lying (knowingly or not; maliciiously or not) about the death of members who submitted proxies. Barring more effort by the HOA before the vote is counted, I respectfully disagree that a HOA would be within its rights to reject the proxy in your hypothetical.

What should a HOA do in a contentious election where there is a neighbor C who emailed the HOA secretary and board that A has died before the vote is counted? I agree one has to treat these situations on a case-by-case basis and even then, often the HOA and a court just do the best they can. For now, I'd just say the HOA should make more effort to make sure the outcome of the election reflects the membership's desires.

By your interpretation, couldn't one mischief-making HOA member write the HOA board with a list of owners who assigned proxies (with said people serving as proxies being against the mischief-maker's goals in the election) and declare that this is his official "written notice" that the people on this list are dead? Subsequently why wouldn't a rogue board, having the same goals as the mischief maker, seize on your so-called "safe harbor" statute and throw the election?

It seems to me that the discussion is now much less academic.