First published 30 December 2021. Reviewed and updated 25 August 2026.
Clearing a deceased estate is two jobs wearing one coat. There is an emotional job, sorting through a life and the memories attached to it, and a functional job, getting a property ready for sale, rent or settlement. Doing it well means giving each its own space. These are the five tips we give every family who calls us.
1. Make a plan before you touch anything
Do not walk in on a Saturday and expect to finish by dinner. Set the end date first, usually driven by a sale, settlement or renovation date, then work backwards. If there are several beneficiaries, get them involved early. Set a date for bequeathed items to be collected, and a date for family to walk through and choose keepsakes. Giving everyone a defined part in the process matters; for many families it is part of grieving properly.
2. Sort the wanted from the unwanted
Once bequests and keepsakes are out, sort what remains into four piles: keep, donate, recycle, and genuine rubbish. Be honest about the last pile. The keep pile has a way of growing until the job stalls, and a house full of half-decisions is harder to deal with than the original full house. If two family members want the same item, decide it now, not on clearing day.
3. Check everything for valuables
Estates hide things. We have found cash in biscuit tins, jewellery wrapped in tea towels, war medals in garage drawers and share certificates inside books. Before anything leaves the house, check pockets, drawers, boxes and envelopes. This is also the reason to use a clearing crew that looks through what it loads rather than shovelling everything into a skip: a good crew is your second set of eyes, and hands things back.
4. Donate and recycle before you dump
A deceased estate is usually full of genuinely useful things: furniture, whitegoods, clothing, books, tools. Charities want much of it, and giving it a second life sits better with most families than landfill. What cannot be donated can often be recycled. When we clear an estate, donation and recycling are sorted as we load, and only the true remainder goes to the tip. Our waste statistics guide shows why that sorting matters.
5. Use a specialist crew for the heavy part
The final clear is physical, repetitive work, and it lands on families at their lowest ebb. Handing it to a specialist crew is not giving up; it is the same call as hiring a removalist for a house move. Look for a crew that is insured and police checked, quotes one fixed price with tip fees included, sets keepsakes aside as standard, and does not rush you. That is how we have done our deceased estate house clearances since 1989, and it is what we would want for our own family.
If you are earlier in the process, start with our guide on what to do when someone dies, which covers the paperwork and notifications that come before the house.
Common questions
How long does a deceased estate clearance take?
The clearing itself is usually quick. A typical home takes our crew a day, sometimes two for a very full house. The sorting and deciding beforehand is what takes time, and that part should move at the family's pace, not ours.
What happens to items the family wants to keep?
They are set aside, full stop. We agree before we start what stays, and as we work we look through everything we load. Documents, photographs, jewellery and anything that looks personal or valuable gets put aside and handed back, not thrown in the truck.
Do we need to be there on the day?
No. Many families prefer not to be, and some live interstate. Once we have walked the property with you, in person or by video, and agreed what stays, we can clear the home, sweep it out and send photos when it is done.