Handling a Deceased Estate Cleanout

While you are still grieving for the loss of your loved one, the day goes difficult and hectic. As if losing someone close to you is not enough, you suddenly have an extensive list of to-dos on your plate, which comes with tight deadlines.

Handling a deceased estate cleaning can be a very demanding task. The thing is that you do not have to do it alone. In this article, we have outlined a guide for cleaning out your loved one’s home. We have also included some tips to help you deal with the job with as little stress as possible.

Secure Your Loved One’s Home

In most cases, bereaved families don’t want to clean out the house after the death of their loved ones. While you can follow this, it is important to secure your loved one’s property right away. This allows you to protect their belongings because no one knows who may have keys to their home. Make sure to change the locks right after their passing.

Find All Important Documents

While you are sorting their possessions, you can track down the documents necessary to tackle all your loved one’s bills and other affairs. Some of the important documents to hang onto include credit card statements, utility bills, invoices, receipts, paperwork, passwords or usernames for online accounts, mortgage payments, car registrations, wills, deeds, and insurance policies among others.

Once you locate these items and place them in a secure spot, you can shift your focus to cleaning out the deceased’s house.

Scan Through the Will

If the death of your loved one was expected, you may have already familiarised their will. However, if their loss was sudden, make sure that you take a look at their will. Read it over carefully before starting the estate cleanout.

Plenty of wills are straightforward, while others are more complicated and may require a probate attorney’s counsel. Keep in mind that the executor of the will should choose the attorney if necessary.

Set a Target Date to Complete the Task

While you can use a vague timeline for your estate cleanout, selecting a specific date to finish the task is a smart move, especially if your loved one rented a house and you are facing a deadline from the landlord.

By knowing that you must empty the house by a certain month on a date you’ve set, you can create a great sense of urgency of completing the work immediately. If you are planning to sell your property, setting a firm end date can help you get the house on the market fast.

Sort Through the Items

At the outset of your estate cleanout, make sure the whole family does not loose on the house right off the bat. First, you must go through each room and do a rough sort. Then, set aside any highly valued items for appraisal, including the ones you are not sure of the worth.

If you find items that are of borderline high-value, put it in the appraisal pile right away. Keep other sentimental items, such as an old sweater or knitting supplies, in a separate pile.

Get an Appraisal

The next step you need to take after setting aside all high-value items is to hire an appraiser. Most people do not know how to determine what counts as a valuable asset by themselves. With the help of a professional, you can determine which items are valuable enough to be sold and which should be divided among the family.

Call in the Entire Family

After the appraisal, it’s time to bring your family in to claim the items they want to keep. If your relatives get along with each other and there haven’t been any major disagreements about the property or the deceased estate cleanout process, choose a day to have everyone come in at once. This keeps the process moving forward.

However, if there are tensions in the family, it is best to bring in smaller groups of relatives at a time to make the process less fraught. Let each group go through the house and put sticky notes with their names on items they want to keep. Connect those who chose the same items and remind them to have to agree by the target date you set for the estate cleanout.

Donate Unclaimed Items to Local Centres

If there are still usable items left after your family has made their claims, send them to the charity of your choice. Make sure the items are in good condition. Contact the donation centre to arrange a pickup. If your relative lived in a nursing facility, donate some of the valuables to their caregivers who may have built a special relationship with your loved one.

Get Rid of Unwanted Items

The quickest and simplest way to finish a deceased estate cleanout is to remove all unnecessary items. Rent a dumpster to haul the rubbish away.

If are having a hard time throwing your loved one’s items away, keep in mind that these are not the things your departed family cared about or the objects you associate fond memories with. They are only regular junk that your relative likely would have been happy to clear out.

Hire a Professional to Liquidate the Estate

If you have already removed all unwanted items and given away reusable ones, your final step would be to sell the remaining valuable items.

In case you have a large number of items to sell, it is ideal to hire an estate liquidator to get the job done quickly. If you have a small number of items to sell, it is a right move to take these items to a consignment shop or contact an estate buy-out person.

Don’t let an estate cleanout drain you. Ask for help!

Deceased estate cleaning can be both physically and emotionally draining. So, don’t be afraid to reach out to professionals for help. If you call in the help of professionals like Deceased Estate Sydney, they will take the load off your shoulders.

If you are overwhelmed by the tasks that come with a deceased estate cleanout, get in touch with Deceased Estate Sydney right. We can help and guide you in every step of the estate cleanout process. Take advantage of our expertise and you can save time and energy and reduce stress during a difficult time.