How we handle a bereavement clearance
The first conversation is usually with a son or daughter, sometimes an executor or a solicitor. We ask what the house is like, what the family wants to keep, and whether there is a date the property needs to be empty by, for a sale, a landlord or the council. Then we agree a plan that fits the family rather than the van.
On the day, a two-person crew arrives at the agreed time. If you are there, we walk the house with you first. If you are not, we work from the list we agreed by message. Rooms are cleared one at a time, and anything that looks like it might matter is put aside before it is loaded.
What we look out for
- Photographs, letters, cards and diaries.
- Documents: wills, deeds, bank and insurance papers, passports, medical cards.
- Cash, jewellery, watches, medals and anything in an envelope or a box at the back of a drawer.
- Religious items, keepsakes, and anything with a name on it.
- Items the family mentioned, from the good china to a particular chair.
These are set aside for you to look through. We would rather hand you a box of things you then decide not to keep than load something that cannot be got back.
Working at the family’s pace
Some families want the house cleared in one day because the alternative is weeks of driving over to a half-empty home. Others want to do a room at a time, or take the furniture away first and leave the personal things for later. We do either. We also keep the crew the same where we can, so you are not explaining the situation twice.
For the practical and emotional steps before we arrive, our guide on how to clear a house after a bereavement is written for families in exactly this position. On the legal side, whether a house can be cleared before probate is a question for the solicitor handling the estate, and a bereavement clearance checklist is a useful thing to print.
Where the belongings go
Many families are relieved to hear that their parent’s furniture will not simply be dumped. We set aside good furniture, kitchenware, books and clothing for reuse or donation wherever we can arrange it, separate recyclable material, and send only genuine waste to a licensed waste transfer station under our Waste Collection Permit. If there are items you would like to go to a particular charity, tell us and we will keep them separate for you to drop off.
When the house was also very full
Sometimes a bereavement clearance is also a hoarder clearance, where a parent kept everything and the family has been unable to get into some rooms. We treat those with the same care and simply allow more time and more van loads. Nothing about the state of the house changes how we speak about the person who lived there.
Afterwards
We leave the house swept and closed up, and send photographs of each empty room if you were not there. If the property is to be sold, it is now ready for the agent. If it is a council or housing-body tenancy being handed back, we can work to their standard. If the property also needs a professional clean afterwards, that is a separate job for a cleaning company, and we are happy to time the clearance around it.
