Bereavement Clearances

The First Steps

When we lose a loved one there are a million and one things to sort out, just when we feel we can’t face tricky tasks. Often it means working together with family, being away from home, and learning how to do things for the first time. Sometimes it means getting to grips with moving on, and we don’t yet feel ready. One thing that people can find really overwhelming is where to begin with clearing the house.

Sorting through the personal effects of a friend or relative can feel very strange, and choosing what to keep (and what to throw away) can be upsetting. Most people only go through this once or twice in their lives, and feel alone and unsupported through the process. There is so much organising to do. If you have the job of clearing a house to prepare it for sale, or return the keys to the landlord, here is a handy guide to get you started.

How do we deal with clearing the house of a late friend or relative?

Whether it’s emotional support or physical heavy lifting, take whatever help is on offer. It can feel lonely making decisions and returning to an increasingly empty house day after day. Even family who live far away can contribute admin support, listen to your feelings or chip in with costs.

Wills sometimes specify who should inherit key possessions, but there is always a great deal of stuff not accounted for. Make sure friends and family choose items to remember them by, and ask them to take them away. You can’t be expected to store things for people for long, it is reasonable to ask them to collect furniture and things at a time that suits you.

Once you are certain people have taken everything they might want, you can start to work on dealing with the rest. Even the tidiest of homes is full of the bits and pieces of daily life, and many older people have cupboards and drawers full of carefully saved treasures that ‘might come in handy one day’. The most environmentally friendly thing to do that is to re-use and recycle - in other words, finding new homes for pre-loved things. When you have everything from valuable works of art to the very last fork to deal with, that can feel completely overwhelming.

Professional and Specialist Clearance Services

A house clearance service can take the pressure off you and speed up the process. What you need is a professional team who understand and respect the challenges you are dealing with, and who can help you make decisions. You need compassionate and practical support to help you work out the most efficient and least traumatic way to get everything out and dealt with so you can begin to move on.

Monster Junk can dispose of anything from one item to the whole house, garage and gardens including furniture, beds, appliances, clothes, crockery, books, photos, soft furnishings, carpets, garden furniture, sheds, confidential items (shredding), garage junk, tools, ornaments, and all kinds of surprising items. Sometimes our clients worry about bringing us in when the deceased had a hoarding disorder or things have got in a real state. We are specialists in complex or challenging clearances, and believe it or not we’ve seen it all before. These are exactly the kind of homes are too tricky to clear yourself and you need a team of house clearance specialists - and the right equipment - to get the job done.

If you live at some distance from the property you may prefer to get your clearance done by professionals. At MonsterJunk we regularly work with estate agents and probate solicitors for bereavement clearances. We can collect the keys, share photos before and after the clearance, and return the keys to your agent with the Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note that proves you have disposed of everything responsibly.

What happens to the things we take away?

Although the family has agreed they don’t want what’s left, or they don’t have space for it, these things often jog people’s childhood memories and there is a strong emotional attachment to them. It can be hard to see familiar things you once loved getting thrown away. That’s one of the reasons it can be easier to get a team in to help. There’s nothing worse than good furniture and appliances going to waste, so we make sure that everything that can be is re-used, found new homes, donated to charity or at least recycled so that the elements can be used again. We leave you with a Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note with our Environment Agency registration number to show that you have disposed of everything responsibly.

See our reviews for feedback from other people who’ve been through this process with us. Bereavement can feel tough and lonely, but you don’t have to deal with it all by yourself. If you’d like to talk through how we can help call us on 0800 029 3737 or have a Live Chat through our website.