Probate and bereavement house clearance

Clearing a home after a death

A probate or bereavement clearance is not quite like any other. It is someone's home, full of a lifetime, and it is usually being cleared by people who are grieving and often live some distance away. So we go at your pace. Nothing is rushed, nothing is thrown out without a look, and anything you want kept — photographs, documents, keepsakes, a particular piece of furniture — is set aside and returned to you rather than cleared.

You do not need to sort the house first. Emptying cupboards, drawers, the loft and the garage is our job, and we are used to doing it quietly and respectfully around a family. When it is done the property is swept and left ready to sell, re-let or hand back.

Working with executors and solicitors

Much of our probate work is for executors and the solicitors acting for them. We can:

• work to the timescale of the sale or the grant of probate — a clearance can wait until you have the authority you need;
• take instruction from, and invoice, the executor or the estate directly, so no individual is out of pocket;
• keep a note of what was cleared and where it went, which is useful when you have to account to other beneficiaries;
• deal with the property when you are not local — keys from the solicitor, agent or a keysafe, and a clear report back.

Valuation — the part that's easy to lose

This is where people most often lose money. Once a house is cleared, anything of worth has gone with it — and in an older person's home there is frequently more than the family expects: antique furniture, jewellery, watches, coins, medals, silver, paintings, collectables. If those leave in a van before anyone has looked properly, they cannot be brought into the estate's value or sold for what they are worth.

So before we clear, we go through the house with an eye for it and set aside anything that looks like it may have value, rather than clearing it with the rest. We are house clearance specialists, not regulated valuers, so we won't put a figure on your estate for HMRC — but we will make sure the items that need a proper probate valuation are still in the house when the valuer arrives, and we can point you to one, or make you a fair offer to buy items outright where that suits you. It is a small step that routinely saves families far more than the clearance costs.

What happens to belongings

Personal effects are handled with more care than a normal clearance. Papers, photographs and anything that might matter are put to one side for you to go through. Usable furniture and household goods are donated to charity or passed on; clothing, textiles, metal and electricals are recycled; and only what genuinely cannot be reused is disposed of, all under our Environment Agency waste-carrier licence. Very little goes to landfill, and nothing sentimental is thrown away by accident.

Costs, and paying from the estate

Probate clearances are priced the same honest way as any house clearance — by the load, from £695 +VAT, with all labour included and each same-day load half price. There is no payment upfront and no deposit, and the invoice is usually settled from the estate rather than by an individual executor. We give a free estimate from photos or a visit before we start, and where we buy back items of value that can be set against the cost.

Doing it with care

Churchills is a family-run business, clearing houses since 2007. We have cleared thousands of homes, and a great many of them have been after a bereavement. It has taught us that the job is only half about the furniture — the other half is being reliable, being gentle with the house and the memories in it, and not adding to a hard week. Most of our work still comes from families recommending us to other families.

Where we cover

We handle probate and bereavement clearances across Surrey and south-west London — Guildford, Woking and Godalming across to Kingston, Esher, Cobham and Weybridge, out to Leatherhead, Epsom, Redhill and Reigate, and up to Croydon, Sutton, Twickenham and Richmond. Call, or WhatsApp a few photos, and we'll take it from there.