When a friend or loved one has passed away, it can be a very difficult time for everyone around you both physically and emotionally. There are so many things that you have to deal with when someone passes away suddenly, and one of the hardest things you will have to do will be clearing out their deceased estate. However, you do a few things to make it easier on yourself, it won’t seem so hard when it comes time to start moving things out of their old home.
Create a plan
Before you start to get rid of anything from the estate, you need to create a plan of what you are going to do over the next few days or weeks. If you know your loved one well and have an idea of what things you will need to take care of, this step should be pretty easy for you because you will know where most things are. However, if you are looking after the estate of someone that you don’t know very well, it can be a bit harder to make a plan. Even just planning to start with a certain room of the house or a few key items can help you to break the tasks that you need to complete down so that you can get them done faster. If it helps, you can even try to create some goals for yourself for each day or each week so that you can feel more productive when you tick them off.
Get some help
Because cleaning out a deceased estate is such a big job, you shouldn’t have to do it by yourself. Try to enlist your family or friends to help you with the cleaning and moving of all of the items or get rubbish removal specialists because it can be hard to go through someone else’s belongings on your own. It can also be a very emotional experience to go through on your own, especially if you were close to the person who has died. Another reason why you might want other people present when you are clearing out a deceased estate is that it makes it easier when you are dividing up any items that someone else might want, so you will know if someone wants to keep something before you throw it away.
Sort through the paperwork
When you are cleaning out a deceased estate, it is not unusual to come across a lot of paperwork. But sometimes it can be hard to know what you should be keeping and what you can throw away. For example, if you find things like bills in the paperwork, you need to contact creditors as soon as possible so that they know that they will no longer be paying any of their bills. Other things like old letters can also be thrown out of there is no reason to keep them or if you have no sentimental attachment to them. Important and official documents like birth certificates, bank statements, life insurance policy documents and other versions of their will should all be kept just in case there are any discrepancies when the estate is passed on to someone else.
Organise removalists
If you have a lot of stuff that you need to go through when clearing out an estate, you may want to hire some professionals to help you out. Getting rid of things that you don’t want to keep can be hard when you have a lot to go through, so you should find some professional rubbish removalists like the team at 1300 Rubbish. If you get someone who can take away your rubbish for you and help you clean out the deceased estate you will find it easier to get things done quickly.
Take some time
Cleaning out a deceased estate can take a lot of time, so it is important to give yourself a lot of time to get rid of things. Not only can it be hard to physically move things out of a deceased estate, but it can be mentally taxing if you or your loved one was attached to some of the items that you are getting rid of. And although most of us hope that we can get everything done quickly, it is often easier said than done to get the place cleaned up and ready for someone else to move into. You should also set aside some time at the end of the clearing out to clean things up because then it will be easier you when you want to sell the place or pass it on to someone else. The point is that clearing out a deceased estate is always going to take a bit of time, so you need to give yourself as much time as possible to do a good job.
