Who can clear out a house after someone dies?

How does a family clean out a house after someone dies?

Most families work through the house in the same order: ask first, record the rooms, set the papers apart, and only then move things. The steps below are for a phone in one hand, one action each.

The June's Help house cleanout checklist

1. Ask a lawyer whether anything in the house can be moved, sold, given away or thrown out yet, and write down the answer and the date.
2. Choose one person to keep the key and one person to speak to any company, so the house has a single point of contact.
3. On a phone, walk through each room before anything moves. Take a wide photo of every wall, then close photos of drawers, shelves, closets and the garage.
4. Make a short list for each room. Copy the lines from the room list further down this page into a note or a spreadsheet.
5. Put the mail, statements and anything with an account number or a printed date in one box. Photograph the letters and add them to June's Help.
6. Look through coats, books, freezers and kitchen drawers for keys, cash, jewelry and small items that are easy to miss.
7. Set aside what relatives have asked for, label it with a name, and ask the lawyer how to hand it out.
8. Ask a few cleanout companies for a written quote, using the questions further down this page.
9. On the day, stay or send someone, and take the box of papers away first.
10. Keep the invoice, add it to the bills and spending list, and photograph the empty rooms.

See also: Checklist after someone dies: the first week (2026), What goes on a checklist for settling an estate?

Who can help clear out the house?

Help comes from four places: relatives, friends and neighbors, an estate cleanout company, and a hauler or a charity pickup for single items. Each suits a different job.

Relatives and friends are good for sorting, because they know what a photograph or a recipe box means to the family. A cleanout company is for volume, such as a full garage or a house of furniture. A hauler takes what the family has already decided to let go, and a charity pickup is arranged with the charity itself.

A relative who lives far away can still do a share. Someone near the house keeps the key and sends photos, and the far-away relative reads the room list on a video call, picks out what to keep and talks to the companies by phone. A relative who lives in Texas can also hold a family seat, an extra with the assistant plan, to read the letters as June read them. A relative elsewhere reads the photos and the room list that the family sends on.

See also: How to share the work of an estate with family, Checklist after someone dies: the first week (2026)

How can a family choose an estate cleanout company?

Ask each company for a written quote and the same set of questions, then compare the answers side by side. This page names no company and recommends none.

Start with companies in the same town as the house, since the quote depends on what is inside it. Ask for a visit, or send the room photos, so the quote describes the real house. Put the questions at the end of this page in a text or an email, so each answer is in writing.

Ask each company for the same things in writing, and phone the number printed on its own papers. A company that gives the family time to decide is easier to compare than one that presses for payment on the spot. The FTC has a short alert on callers who press families to pay quickly.

• Federal Trade Commission Imposters prey on families preparing for the funeral of a loved one A short FTC alert on callers who press a family to pay quickly., official page, opens in a new tab

See also: How do I track estate bills and expenses?, Which accounts do I cancel after a death?

What should be photographed and listed first?

Every room should be photographed and listed before anything leaves it, because the photos show where things were and the list shows who asked for what. Here is one example line, for the kitchen: Room: kitchen. In it: dishes, a mixer, the freezer. Papers: a drawer by the phone with statements. Asked for: the recipe box, by Anna. Photographed by: Marcus. Copy these lines into a note, an email or a spreadsheet, once for each room:

• Room: [kitchen]
• What is in it: [dishes, small appliances, food in the freezer]
• Papers, mail or account numbers found: [drawer by the phone]
• Items a relative asked for: [recipe box, asked for by Anna]
• Items to ask the lawyer about: [the car title in the desk]
• Photographed by: [name], on [date]

See also: How do I keep a call log for an estate?, What goes on a checklist for settling an estate?

Who decides what can be sold or thrown out?

That is a question for a lawyer, and this page does not answer it. A house can hold things that belong to different people.

A lawyer can tell the family what applies before a car, furniture, jewelry or a house itself changes hands. Writing the question down, with the photos and the room list, makes the visit short. The same goes for a dispute between relatives over who gets what: keep the list, and ask.

See also: What goes on a checklist for settling an estate?

What does June's Help do while a house is cleared?

A cleanout turns up letters, and June's Help reads a letter from a bank, a life insurer, a pension or Social Security in plain words, quotes its own lines, and lists the dates printed on it. A letter of another kind gets the sender, the dates printed on it and a line saying who can help.

The family can keep the cleanout bill on the bills and spending list: add the bill, say who paid, mark it paid and see the totals, then download a CSV export that opens in a spreadsheet. The family types each amount in by hand. June doesn't take medical bills.

A lawyer is the one to ask about the house itself. June doesn't replace your lawyer. She keeps your letters and dates ready to show one.

The family does the lifting, the calls and every decision about the house itself.

See also: How do I track estate bills and expenses?, Which accounts do I cancel after a death?