The month after a loved one’s death can be difficult and hectic. As if the loss itself isn’t enough, you suddenly have a long list of to-do’s piled onto your plate, often with tight deadlines attached. Handling an estate cleanout is a demanding task, but you don’t have to do it alone. We’ve laid out a step-by-step guide for cleaning out a parent’s home, with tips from estate cleanout experts, to help you tackle the job with as little stress as possible.
How to Clean Out a House After the Death of a Loved One
1. Secure the Home
You might not immediately clean out the house after their death, but you do need to secure your loved one’s property ASAP. You never know who may have keys to their home. In order to protect their belongings, make sure to change the locks immediately after their passing. If they were a renter, contact their landlord to find the best solution for securing the property.
2. Track Down Important Documents
Before digging through and tossing items left and right, make sure you have the essential documents needed to take care of your loved one’s bills and other affairs. Once those are located and placed in a secure spot, then you can turn your focus to cleaning out the deceased’s house. Important documents to hang onto include:
- Credit card statements
- Utility bills
- Any passwords or usernames for online accounts
- Invoices, receipts or paperwork for art or jewelry
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- Pay stubs and tax forms
- Mortgage payments, deeds and car registrations
- Insurance policies, wills
- Social security card
3. Take a Look at the Will
If your loved one’s death was expected, you may have already familiarized yourself with their will. But if their loss was sudden, make sure to carefully read over the will before starting the estate cleanout. Many wills are straightforward, but some are more complicated than others and may require a probate attorney’s counsel. Note that the executor of the will should choose the attorney if one is needed.
What happens if a loved one dies without a will?
When a relative dies without a will, it means they have died “intestate.” Intestacy laws vary by state, and will determine how their property is allocated after their death. Get in touch with legal professionals in your area to learn more about how to handle an estate cleanout without a will.
4. Set a Time Limit
Rather than using a vague timeline for handling the estate cleanout, select a specific date and inform the entire family, especially if you are facing a deadline from the landlord. Knowing that you must empty the house by X month on Y date creates a greater sense of urgency than saying that the work must be complete “within a month.” Setting a firm end date will also help you get the house on the market faster.
“In each family, there is usually one relative that wants to take their time and cherish each memento they come across. The key is to strike a moderate compromise. It is not fair for a relative to drag their feet for many months and sometimes even years.”
Julie Hall | The Estate Lady
Cleaning Out a Relative’s House While Grieving
Part of cleaning out a house after the death of a loved one is learning how to work through your own grieving process. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all strategy for coping with these emotions. Be kind to yourself in whatever ways you can, allow yourself to take breaks as often as you need and lean on your support system as much as possible.
5. Sort Through the Items
When kicking off your estate cleanout, don’t let the whole family loose on the house right off the bat. First go through each room and do a rough sort. Set aside any items that may be high-value for appraisal, even if you’re not sure what they’re worth. “We recommend getting appraisals for larger pieces, such as fine art, contemporary design or antique furniture, silver, jewelry and antiques,” say the experts at Winston Art Group, who specialize in appraising estate items. “If the owner was a collector of a specific area, such as coins or stamps, it would be worth evaluating that property as well.”
If an item is borderline high-value, go ahead and put it in the appraisal pile. Keep other, sentimental items – like an old sweater or knitting supplies – in a separate pile.
Estate Cleanout Tip:
Eliminate junk as you go.
You may be iffy about throwing away some items, but others – like badly broken furniture – will be no-brainers. Having a roll off dumpster in the driveway is an easy way to throw away the things that definitely won’t make the cut, keeping the area as clear as possible.
6. Get an Appraisal
Hiring an appraiser will make it much easier to determine which items are valuable enough to be sold and which should be divided among the family. Most of us aren’t equipped to determine what counts as a valuable asset on our own. “An appraisal provides the executors with an itemized visual inventory of all the property in the home,” says Winston Art Group. “It can be used for equitable distribution amongst the heirs. In some cases the appraiser may also be able to turn up new information about an heirloom that the family was unaware of, such as artist attribution or value in instances where the artist’s market has increased.”
How does the appraisal process work?
“First, the executors and their attorneys need to discuss if an IRS compliant appraisal is necessary. If they choose to proceed, the specialists would go onsite to inspect, photograph and catalogue all the property belonging to the estate. They would then perform research and produce fair market values with comparable research to support their findings. A final product would include a visual inventory of the estate, as well as full cataloguing of the higher valued pieces and the supporting research.”
Winston Art Group Specialist | Winston Art Group
7. Bring in the Family
Now it’s time to bring the family in to claim what they want to keep. If your relatives generally get along and there haven’t been any major disagreements about the estate or the home cleanout process, you might choose a day to have everyone come in at once. This way, if multiple people want the same item, they can hash things out right away, keeping the process moving forward.
On the other hand, if there are tensions in the family, bringing in smaller groups of relatives at a time can make the process less fraught. Start with the deceased’s immediate family, then those relatives and friends they were closest to, and then everyone else. Let each group go through the house placing sticky notes with their names on whatever items they want. Put those who chose the same items in contact with each other — reminding them that they have to come to an agreement by the target date you established for the estate cleanout.
8. Donate Any Unclaimed Items
If there are usable items in good condition left over after everyone has made their claims, choose an appropriate charity and contact them to arrange a pickup. If your relative lived in a care facility, consider donating some of their belongings to their caregivers who may have developed a special relationship with your loved one.
9. Remove Unwanted Items
If you haven’t already, it’s time to rent a dumpster to haul away what’s left. This is the quickest and simplest way to complete an estate cleanout. If this feels overwhelming, remind yourself that the items you’re putting in that dumpster aren’t the things your relative cared about or the objects you associate fond memories with. It’s the regular old junk that your relative likely would have been happy to get rid of.
10. Hire an Estate Liquidator
The final step in your estate cleanout is to sell the valuable items. If you have a large number of items to sell, hiring an estate liquidator is your best bet to get the job done quickly. As Hall explains, “They know the market, the values and the right way to sell personal property.” If you have a smaller number of valuables to sell, Hall suggests taking the items to a consignment shop or contacting an estate buy-out person.
When Handling an Estate Cleanout, Ask for Help
Cleaning out a relative’s house can be both physically and emotionally draining – don’t be afraid to reach out to those closest to you for help. If you have a reliable support system, assign and delegate certain tasks to break up the responsibilities – for instance, ask one person to handle the bills and important documents, another to hire the appraiser and another to handle the lock changes.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, contact a local grief support group. Above all, remember that there are professionals who can help at every step of the estate cleanout process – using them can save you time, energy and stress during an already difficult period.
Once you’ve sold or given away the most usable items, learn how to get rid of broken furniture, appliances and more during your estate cleanout.
U need to warn people to go thru stuff like book etc. my mom had withdrawn a 1000.00 the day before her head injury. we never found the money, “church ladies came to help and helped themselves to stuff. 6 ladies came to help and all the questions bombarding me. i just gave up. they took things that i wanted even took the next door neighbors bench. really. not a thank u or anything. supposely it was going tothe church only 1 item got there. a person had a junk store and took it all. BEWARE>!!!!!
My parents are in this business, just told me about a time they found 116k in cash in some old lady’s house. Thank goodness for the honest ones. This poor lady had no family and donated everything from her estate to the fire department. Blessed her heart.
Hi,
Couldn’t help but ask, what business are your parents in? I am currently looking into a cleaning/organizational company that has a focused approach on handling estates of the deceased.
Any information you can provide is super helpful.
Thank you and all the best to you.
Jay
In doing some research on beginning a company that specializes in handling a deceased relative’s estate – I stumbled across your post.
Don’t want to ask anything, just tell you I’m really sorry you experienced that. No one should have to go through what you went through after the passing of your mom. I send you love and healing.
Best wishes,
Jay
I am not financially able to pay for an estate clean out or professional cleaning. Would a realtor be able to assist with a percentage of the sale? I was told an auctioneer could sell off items in the home and split the outcome. Would I be eligible for a loan to bring the home up to a valuable price?
I have a nephew who will receive 1/3 of the sale after paying off the reverse mortgage, taxes, homeowner insurance. I live out of state which also makes everything more difficult. Is the phone number below good for the state of Nevada?
Anymore suggestions would help me. Soon there will be snow over the summit, so things will probably be delayed.
Hi Signe,
So sorry for your loss and your situation. You may want to get in touch with realtors and auctioneers local to the estate for more details to that end.
If you are looking to take on junk removal during your estate cleanout, we do offer affordable, flat-rate dumpster rental services across the state of Nevada. Visit our pricing page to find rates closest to you and give us a call whenever you’re ready to schedule your rental.
Again, so sorry for your loss and we hope this has been helpful.
Is it really legal to clean and donate/give away items to family members and friends PRIOR to the probate process-The official filing of the will through the courts for the probate process. I am told two different things.
My state may be different ( VA) But it seems risky to be getting of things prior to going through probate. Please fill me if your state is different.
Thank you
Yes, that is interesting. I purchased furniture and items from the out of state children at a garage sale as they cleaned out the rental shortly after his death, then learn a few weeks later that someone else said certain furniture and items was theirs!
My father was a great man who touched a lot of lives while he was living. He loved to shop. When he passed away we went through his things and found a lot of items were new with the tags still left on them. Some people that we know, are still grieving the loss of my dad. So I got an idea. I’d make gift baskets with the new items that dad had tucked away and present them at Christmas time to our family and friends. For example, My father loved to cook Gumbo every Christmas. We found a large stock pot that was practically brand new. We cleaned it up so it could sparkle and put a lot of things like measuring cups, kitchen towels, wooden spoons, etc and made it into a Cooking gift basket, that included a pic of him and the story of how he made gumbo every Christmas. We have about 25 people to go and we are having fun putting together gifts for people we love in the present from a great person we love in the past…
Hi Galen,
We are so sorry for your loss, but truly appreciate your sharing this great idea with our readers. What a wonderful way to keep the memories alive!
Thanks for reading!
My grandmother passed years ago. The one thing i always admired about my dads siblings and still plan to carry this through with my kids.
They gave back everything to each family member that purchased, gifted, donated, etc throughout the years. Everything. Then when it was all said and done, those family members then took possession and passed down to who ever they wanted to. And anything she had that was hers alone, the kids decided to allow the grandkids to go through it at Christmas time and after all was gone through they donated. The grandchildren and great grandchildren got back in envelopes many photos they gave to her over the years. I have the most respect for my dads siblings for doing it this way. No one was hurt over anything.