Clearing a Home After a Death

Clearing a parent's or relative's home is a job people do once or twice in a lifetime, usually while grieving, often to a deadline set by a property sale, and frequently alongside relatives who disagree about it.

It is worth saying what a company should do here, and what it should not.

Just-In-Time Moving works across St. George and Washington County. We are licensed in Utah and carry general liability insurance.

Settle the legal position first

Before anything leaves the property, be clear about who has authority to dispose of the contents. That is normally the executor or personal representative, and it matters even when the family agrees.

If the estate is going through probate, or if there is any dispute, take advice before clearing. Items removed cannot be brought back, and a clear-out done ahead of authority creates real problems.

We will work to instructions from whoever the family identifies, and we will not take a view on family arrangements.

Search before you clear, thoroughly

In a long-occupied home, the things that matter are rarely together.

Documents, deeds, policies, cash, jewellery and photographs turn up taped inside drawers, in books, in coat pockets, inside tins, at the back of wardrobes and in the freezer. This is not unusual; it is normal for a generation that did not trust banks with everything.

Go through the house looking only for those things first, before any volume decisions. Anything of possible significance gets set aside for the family rather than judged from a truck.

Give it more time than seems necessary

The pressure is usually to be quick. Where the timetable allows any slack at all, take it.

Photographs, letters and personal effects deserve looking at rather than bagging, and family members frequently want items they have not thought of yet. Staged work over several visits costs more and is often the right choice.

How our crews work

Quietly, without comment, in the house or afterwards. No photographs. Anything that looks like it might matter is shown to you rather than binned.

If we find something valuable in what was marked for disposal, we will say so. This happens more often than you would think.

What happens to it

Donatable items can go to a charity if you have identified them. Metal and appliances are separated. The rest is disposed of.

Call when you are ready. You do not have to explain the circumstances.

Call (435) 862-3080 or email office@movingjustintime.com.