Estate cleanouts
Clearing a loved one’s home, carefully
After a death, a home holds both a list of tasks and a lifetime of meaning. We help families and executors find what matters, make decisions together, and clear the home on a timeline that respects both.
- We take direction from the executor
- Everything is looked through before it’s bagged
- Keepsakes are the family’s decision
- Planned backward from your deadline
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Grief and logistics at the same time
Estate cleanouts usually happen at a hard moment. The funeral is barely over. Family members live in different states. A house needs to be listed, or a lease ends at the end of the month. People tell us the hardest part isn’t the lifting. It’s making decisions about a parent’s things while still grieving them.
We can’t make that easier by rushing. We can make it easier by bringing order: a clear plan, a careful search for what matters, and a team to handle the heavy work so the family can focus on the decisions only they can make.
Before the cleanout: a short list for executors and families
0 of 11 checked
Secure the home
Agree how decisions get made
Know your dates
Before a box, a bag, or a drawer is emptied, it’s looked through.
The search for what matters
Important things turn up in unexpected places: envelopes tucked in books, cash in coat pockets, a title in a kitchen drawer, jewelry in an old tin. So we sort with the assumption that anything might hold something. Before a box, bag, or drawer is emptied, it’s looked through.
Anything that could matter goes into a set-aside box for the executor or family: legal and financial papers, photographs, letters, valuables, keys, and devices. Papers with personal information are never thrown away loose, because identity theft after a death is a real risk.
For a fuller list of what to look for and where it tends to hide, see what not to throw away during a cleanout.
What we look for as we sort
- Legal papers
- Wills and trusts, powers of attorney, health care directives, and any letters from attorneys.
- Property and money
- Deeds, vehicle titles, bank and brokerage statements, checkbooks, stock certificates, and paper savings bonds.
- Insurance and benefits
- Life insurance policies, pension and annuity letters, and benefit statements.
- Taxes
- Recent tax returns and the records behind them. The executor may need these for final returns.
- Identity documents
- Birth, marriage, and death certificates, passports, and military discharge papers.
- Devices and access
- Phones, computers, tablets, drives, and anything that looks like a password list.
- Valuables
- Cash, jewelry, watches, coins, and collections. We set them aside; we don’t appraise them.
- Family history
- Photographs, slides, home movies, letters, diaries, recipes, medals, and the small things that carry a person’s story.
Keepsakes and family decisions
In the five decisions we use, keepsakes are usually ‘Give’: items passed to family and friends. Families handle this in different ways. Some walk through the house together and take turns choosing. Others ask us to gather the meaningful items into one room so everyone can see them at once. Some need us to set things aside for relatives who can’t travel.
When family members disagree about an item, we stop and put it in Hold until the executor or the family decides. We don’t referee, and we don’t decide for you. If relatives can’t be there in person, we can set items aside and pack them for collection.
How an estate cleanout usually runs
Step 1: A first conversation
Who’s involved, who has authority, the deadline, and anything you’re hoping to find.Step 2: A walkthrough
In person, or by video if family members are far away. We’ll arrange how to get keys and access.Step 3: The careful sort
Room by room, everything is looked through. Important finds go into the set-aside box for the executor.Step 4: Family review
Keepsakes and set-aside items are reviewed by the family or executor before anything else leaves.Step 5: Donation, recycling, and removal
What’s agreed goes to donation, recycling, or disposal, in that order of preference.Step 6: Cleaning and handover
Cleared rooms are cleaned, and we walk through the home with you, or send photos if you can’t be there.
When the home was also overcrowded
Sometimes the person who died had been living with a hoarding situation, and the family is seeing the full extent for the first time. That can bring up grief, guilt, embarrassment, and anger, often all at once. None of it means you failed them. You won’t hear judgment from us, about them or about you.
These cleanouts take longer, because there’s more to look through and more that may be damaged. The careful sort matters even more here: in an overcrowded home, important papers and valuables are easy to lose and easy to miss.
Questions about estate cleanouts
Should we have an estate sale first?
If there may be items of real value, it’s worth deciding before the cleanout. An estate sale company or appraiser sells or values items first, and we clear what remains. We don’t buy or sell belongings, so there’s no conflict of interest in what we recommend.
Does the family need to be there?
Not for every day. Many executors attend the walkthrough and the final review and leave the sorting to us, with clear instructions about what to look for. We’ll agree how and when you want to review the set-aside items.
What happens to things nobody wants?
Usable items go to donation where they’re accepted. Paper, metal, and electronics go to recycling where local programs take them. The rest is disposed of properly. Nothing leaves until the executor or family has agreed.
We have a closing date. Can you work to it?
Tell us the date on the first call. We’ll tell you whether it’s realistic for the size of the home and the level of sorting you want, and we’ll build the plan backward from it.
We think there may be accounts we don’t know about. Can you help?
We can’t search records, but the careful sort often turns up statements, letters, and account numbers that point the executor in the right direction. Executors can also search state unclaimed-property programs through unclaimed.org (opens in a new tab).
Helpful sources
For executors and families
- GuideWhat not to throw away during a cleanoutDocuments, valuables, and keepsakes that turn up in almost every home, and where they hide.
- GuideWhat happens to donated, recycled, and discarded itemsWhere things go after they leave the house, and how personal information is protected.
- PageFor professionalsCoordination, written scopes, and documentation for care teams, property managers, and attorneys.
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Talk through an estate cleanout
Tell us the deadline, who’s involved, and anything you’re hoping to find. We’ll explain how we’d approach it and what we’d need from the executor.
- 1A real person calls you backWe listen first. Share only what you’re comfortable sharing.
- 2A private walkthrough, if you want oneWe look at the home with you and ask what matters to keep.
- 3A written plan and estimateNothing starts, and nothing leaves, without your yes.
Request a Free Estimate
Complete the form below for a confidential, free, no-obligation estimate.
Fast. Free. No obligation.
Or call (850) 347-6111