Probate House Clearance: What to Do Before the Van Arrives
In brief
Clearing a house after a death is usually the last step, not the first. Value the contents, agree what the beneficiaries keep, sell what has value, and only then instruct a clearance firm for the remainder. A probate house clearance typically costs £300 to £1,500 depending on volume and access, less any items the firm buys. Clearing before valuing destroys the evidence for the estate figures and, more often than executors expect, throws away the most valuable thing in the house.
Why Clearance Comes Last
The executor's duty is to collect in the estate, value it, pay what is owed and distribute the rest. Contents are part of the estate, and their value has to be reported for probate and, where relevant, Inheritance Tax. Once a clearance firm has taken everything to a warehouse or a tip, there is no way to establish what was there or what it was worth, and the executor is left estimating from memory and defending that estimate if HMRC or a beneficiary asks.
There is a second reason. Clearance firms are paid to remove things, and most are honest about anything obviously valuable, but they are not valuers and they are working fast. The Georgian bureau under a pile of newspapers, the drawer of costume jewellery with one signed Dior brooch in it, and the box of medals in the loft are exactly the things that leave in the van. A valuer's visit before clearance finds those items and puts a figure on them.
The Sequence That Protects the Estate
Work through the house in this order. Each step makes the next one cheaper.
- Secure the house and change the locks if keys are unaccounted for. Tell the insurer it is unoccupied.
- Remove documents first: the will, deeds, share certificates, bank papers, passports, pension letters, and anything with account numbers on it. Shred what is not needed.
- Walk the house with a room-by-room inventory, noting anything that might be worth £1,500 or more and anything the family believes has value. Photograph those items.
- Arrange a contents valuation for the items of value. A home visit typically costs £100 to £300 and produces a schedule for form IHT407.
- Agree with the beneficiaries which items are being kept, using the valuation to make the division fair.
- Send items with resale value to auction, with the valuation as a guide for reserves.
- Offer usable furniture and goods to charities that collect, such as the British Heart Foundation or local hospices; many collect free.
- Instruct a clearance firm for what remains.
What a Probate House Clearance Costs
Clearance is priced on volume, access and disposal. A one-bedroom flat with ordinary contents and lift access might be £300 to £500; a three-bedroom house with a full loft and garage £800 to £1,500; a large or hoarded property considerably more. Firms charge extra for items that cost money to dispose of, such as fridges, mattresses, paint and asbestos-containing materials, and some charge for stairs.
Many clearance firms offset the value of saleable items against the fee, and some will clear a house with good contents for nothing. That is convenient but it is not a valuation: the offset reflects what the firm can sell the items for quickly, not Open Market Value. Where the estate is taxable, the offset should be recorded as a sale of those items at the agreed figure.
Whoever clears the house, confirm that they hold a waste carrier licence from the Environment Agency (or Natural Resources Wales or SEPA) and ask where the waste goes. Fly-tipped waste is traced back to the household it came from, and the fines fall on the estate.
Items That Should Never Go in the Van Unchecked
The list below is drawn from what valuers regularly find in houses about to be cleared.
- Jewellery, including anything in a drawer, a coat pocket or a handbag. Small, plain pieces are the ones that turn out to be platinum.
- Watches, especially anything with a Swiss name and anything the deceased wore for decades.
- Paintings, prints and drawings with a signature, and anything in an old frame.
- Silver and anything that might be silver: hallmarks under the base or on the handle.
- Furniture with a maker's label, unusual timber or obvious age.
- Medals, coins, stamps, postcards, cigarette cards and other collections.
- Books: first editions, illustrated books and anything pre-1900.
- Cameras, hi-fi, musical instruments, vintage toys, model railways and tools with a name.
- Wine and spirits, including unopened bottles at the back of a cupboard.
- Documents: old share certificates, Premium Bond records and insurance policies still have value.
Clearance and the Probate Forms
Where the estate reports on form IHT407, the household goods figure should be the value before anything was sold, given to charity or cleared. Sales at auction during the administration are recorded and can be used to correct the estimate. Items given away have no effect on the value; they were still part of the estate at death.
For an excepted estate the contents figure goes into the probate application as a single total. It should still be a considered figure from an inventory, kept with the estate papers.
Ready to arrange one? Learn more about our house contents valuations before clearance.
Frequently Asked Questions
01Can I clear the house before probate is granted?
Yes. Executors can deal with the contents from the date of death, and there is no title register for chattels. The caution is not legal but practical: value and inventory first, because clearance removes the evidence for the estate figures.
02Who pays for a probate house clearance?
The estate. Clearance is a proper expense of administration and is paid from estate funds, or reimbursed to the executor who paid it. It is not deductible for Inheritance Tax.
03Do house clearance companies value the contents?
Not in the probate sense. A firm may offer to offset the resale value of items against its fee, but that is a trade offer rather than an Open Market Value and should not be used as the estate figure. A contents valuation is a separate service.
04What happens to items nobody wants?
Usable furniture and goods can go to charities that collect free of charge. What remains is cleared by a licensed firm and disposed of at a transfer station or recycled. Ask for a waste transfer note for the estate records.