Managing A Deceased Estate Clean Up: A DIY Guide With Pro Tips

Navigating grief while still needing to front up to work and life is a huge challenge. In some cases, the passing of a loved one means handling their deceased estate alongside dealing with your emotional loss. This can be an overwhelming task which requires careful handling. 

Whether you’re managing a deceased estate for the purpose of renting it out, selling it, or moving into it yourself, it’s important that you follow these steps to ensure it’s in a suitable condition.

We’ve prepared this helpful article to assist you in the process. Read this article for our deceased estate clean up DIY guide. 

Remove waste and rubbish from the home

To see what you’re working with, you’ll first need to thoroughly clean and clear out the home of your recently passed loved one. If you plan on selling the deceased estate, it needs to be thoroughly cleaned to a professional standard. You’ll want to vacuum, mop and ensure the flooring is gleaming. Dust all areas, including skirting boards and hard-to-reach corners. Wipe down all surfaces, especially kitchen benches and the bathroom, and deep-clean appliances such as the oven, microwave and dishwasher.

You can enlist the help of professional domestic cleaning services to get the job done promptly and to the highest standard, which can also take some of the stress away from doing it yourself. 

You may also want to enlist family members or friends to make the job a little less physically and emotionally taxing. Schedule a working bee, where you all gather at the home and put on some food and drinks for people to say thank you. Many hands make light work, as the saying goes.

If you’re not interested in making money from the belongings within the estate, or you’re dealing with items without significant value such as old or damaged furniture, you have a few options. You can donate usable items and clothing to an op shop. For rubbish and other items unsuitable for donation, you can arrange a hard rubbish collection via the local council, or use a private waste removal company. This will help prepare the home to be vacant and ready for sale, and look more attractive to prospective buyers or premium renters. 

Distribute, donate and deal with belongings

The next step is to sort out the deceased’s belongings. Firstly, you must check the will and ensure that any heirlooms, jewellery, precious items and mementoes are given to the stated beneficiary. Don’t skip this step, as you could find yourself with a major headache if you accidentally give an item to someone who wasn’t bequeathed it. 

After belongings with sentimental value have been distributed among family and friends, 

its time to sort out furniture and larger appliances. If you intend to continue managing the property, you can decide what you can keep and still use in it, otherwise make sure you discuss with siblings, children or other loved ones to ensure you share other belongings between the family fairly.

For old, broken or unnecessary items, you can sell or donate what the deceased has left behind. Some auction businesses will take a bulk lot, auction them off, and give you a portion of the sales price. This is the simplest and least stressful path for selling deceased people’s belongings, especially if there are lots to deal with. However, if you want to ensure the estate receives the full value of the items, you can sell them individually yourself on sites like eBay, Facebook marketplace or Gumtree.

Arrange mail redirection

Redirecting the deceased’s mail is an essential part of managing a deceased estate. Mail will still come in that needs your attention, such as bills, rates notices and other important council or corporate correspondence. Contact the local post office or call Australia Post customer service and put a mail redirection in place to your address. This way, all important letters and parcels will come to your home, where you can open them, pay bills and sort things out in your own time. 

You can also use the Australian Death Notification Service to digitally notify multiple organisations of the person’s passing, to close up accounts and eventually stop mail being sent to the address or in the deceased person’s name. Banks, insurance companies, group memberships, utility companies and similar organisations can be alerted, reducing the need to contact each one individually.

Change the locks

You’ll want to make sure to change all of the locks on the property, especially if you don’t live too near and can’t regularly access it. There’s no way of knowing who your deceased loved one has handed out spare keys to, whether friends, neighbours or cleaners. 

While we want to assume people are trustworthy, it’s best to play it on the safer side of things. So, for your peace of mind, update all the locks and ensure that only you and trusted family members have access to the property. At the same time, make sure the property is properly secured. Promptly address any structural weaknesses and secure entry points to external storage too, such as gardens or sheds.

It’s a good idea to leave on a light or two whenever you’re away from the property whilst you’re managing a handover or completing renovation or clean up work, to deter potential thieves from breaking in if they realise it is uninhabited.

Handling deceased estate clean ups with care

This helpful article has shared how you can manage a deceased estate clean-up with a handy DIY guide. Follow these tips to ensure a smooth process as you manage your grief, and ensure all items in this article are fully covered. 
Get a quote on any of our cleaning services today, for affordable services at honest prices, to help make handling your deceased estate as painless and straightforward as possible.