Clearing a Loved One's Home: A Practical Checklist for Families in Ireland

Clearing the home of someone who has died is one of the hardest jobs a family faces. It's emotional, it's physical, and it usually comes with a deadline — a sale, a tenancy ending, or a nursing-home room to be vacated. This checklist is based on the hundreds of bereavement clearances we've carried out across Dublin, Kildare and Leinster.

1. Check timing with the solicitor or executor first

If the property is going through probate, ask the solicitor whether anything needs to stay in place until a valuation or inventory is done. In most cases the contents can be cleared once the executor is happy, but it's worth a two-minute phone call before booking anything.

2. Walk through once with a notebook — not a bin bag

Do one slow walk through every room, including the attic, garage and shed, and write down anything that must be found: passports, wills, deeds, bank documents, jewellery, medals, photo albums, a particular ornament someone has asked for. Give the list to whoever is doing the clearance. We check every drawer, box and pocket for exactly these items and set them aside.

3. Decide the three piles — keep, offer, go

• Keep: things the family wants. Put them in one room or label them clearly.
• Offer: good furniture and items that could be donated or reused — tell us and we'll set them aside for charity or reuse where possible.
• Go: everything else. You don't need to bag or sort it; that's our job.

4. Utilities, post and the small admin

Redirect the post, take final meter readings on the day of the clearance, and tell the insurer the property will be empty — many policies change once a house is unoccupied. Keep the heating on low in winter.

5. Don't try to do it in one weekend on your own

Most families underestimate the volume. A three-bed house that's been lived in for forty years typically fills a full truck, and the attic and shed usually add another half. A professional crew does it in a day, respectfully, and you can be there — or not — as you prefer.

6. What happens on the day

We arrive at the agreed time, walk the house with you (or your instructions), then work room by room. Anything personal or valuable we find is put to one side for you. Furniture is carried out, not dragged; carpets are protected; the house is swept at the end. You get photos when it's done if you can't be there.

7. After the clearance

If the house is going on the market, a deep clean makes a real difference to photographs and viewings — our sister companies Spotless.ie and KrystalKlean.ie can arrange that. If there's a garden or driveway to tidy, we can clear those in the same visit.

If you'd like to talk it through, call us on 083 090 4545. There's no pressure and no charge for a quote.