Clearance work, done quietly and properly

We clear homes after a death: whole-property probate clearances, part clearances where the family is keeping furniture, hoarded and heavily cluttered properties, and the cleaning and preparation a house needs before it goes on the market or back to a landlord.

Most instructions come from four groups of people:

• Executors and administrators, usually dealing with a first estate.
• Families splitting the job between them, often from different cities.
• Probate solicitors and estate practitioners instructing on behalf of an estate — see our page for professional instructions.
• Estate agents and landlords who need a property emptied to a deadline.

We work across Greater London and the M25. We are a clearance contractor, not a probate adviser: we do not give legal, tax or valuation advice, and we say so plainly on our disclaimer.

This is the part that worries people most, so here it is in full. Nothing leaves a property on the assumption that it is rubbish.

1. Walk-through first. Before anything is touched we walk the property with you and agree, room by room, what is being retained, what is being cleared, and anything that must be found — documents, jewellery, a specific photograph album.
2. Retained items are isolated. Anything set aside is grouped, labelled and, where you want it, photographed, so a beneficiary who was not there can see what was kept.
3. We search before we clear. Pockets, drawer linings, books, tins, freezer compartments, wardrobes, loft and under-bed storage. Cash, bank paperwork, wills, deeds, passports, medals, jewellery and anything that looks like it may carry value are set aside for you — not valued by us, not bought by us.
4. Items of apparent value are flagged, not priced. We are not qualified valuers and we will never offer to buy items out of an estate we are clearing. Where something may be worth more than it looks, we stop, photograph it, and tell you, so the estate can get a proper valuation.
5. Personal and sensitive material. Paperwork with personal data, medical items and private correspondence are handed to you or, on your written instruction, disposed of securely.

If a beneficiary wants to be present, that is welcome. If nobody can attend, we can work to a photographic record instead.

Executors have to account for what they did with estate property. Our paperwork is designed to slot into estate accounts:

• A written, itemised quotation before any work begins.
• A contents inventory where the estate needs one, produced before clearance starts.
• Photographic record of the property before and after, on request.
• A list of items set aside, retained, donated, sold or returned to family, with dates.
• Waste transfer notes for everything removed, showing the licensed site it went to.
• A VAT invoice addressed as the estate requires.

Retention of these records is covered in our privacy policy.

It happens, and it is not our place to arbitrate. Our position is fixed and we explain it up front:

• We take instructions from one named person — the executor, administrator, or the solicitor acting for the estate. Not from whoever calls last.
• If a disputed item is raised before or during a clearance, we stop on that item, set it aside, and record it. We do not remove it while the question is open.
• If the dispute is about the whole clearance, we pause the job rather than press on. A paused job costs the estate far less than a wrongly cleared one.
• We do not pass one family member's comments to another beyond what is needed to do the work.

Three routes out of the property, and the estate chooses which applies:

• Returned to family. Delivered to an address you give us, or held for collection. Recorded either way.
• Donated. Usable furniture, clothing, books and household goods go to reuse organisations and charities wherever they will take them. We tell you where things went; we do not claim a specific charity partnership we have not agreed.
• Sold. Where the estate wants items sold, that is arranged through third-party auction or resale routes, with proceeds going to the estate. We do not take items in lieu of payment and we do not buy from an estate we are clearing — that conflict is the reason.

Anything with no reuse or resale value is recycled where it can be and disposed of legally where it cannot.

Everything removed goes to licensed waste transfer stations and recycling facilities, with a waste transfer note for each load. Under the Environment Agency duty of care the estate remains responsible for its waste, which is exactly why we hand those notes over rather than keep them.

We work reuse-first: donate what can be used, recycle what can be processed, and send as little as possible to general disposal. Fly-tipping in the name of a cheap quote is a liability that lands back on the executor.

Our crews are in a family's home, often surrounded by paperwork and personal effects. Confidentiality is treated as a working rule: no discussion of a property or a family outside the job, no photographs published, no address shared.

Confidentiality undertaking in writing

Available on request for professional instructions

Personal data we hold is covered by our privacy policy.

Greater London and the M25. Travel beyond the M25 can usually be arranged — ask when you call.

• Probate Clearances London
• Probate Clearances West London
• Probate Clearances North London
• Probate Clearances South London
• Probate Clearances Croydon
• Probate Clearances Barnet
• Probate Clearances Ealing
• Probate Clearances Enfield
• Probate Clearances Harrow
• Probate Clearances Bromley
• Probate Clearances Wimbledon
• Probate Clearances Kensington

See every borough and district we cover.

Probate Clearance London is the trading name used by Hoarders Cleaners for probate and estate clearance work. Same company, same crews, same insurance — a separate name because bereaved families and their solicitors need something different from a general house-clearance service.

Operator

Hoarders Cleaners

Trading as

Probate Clearance London

Correspondence address

430 Hackney Rd, London E2 6QL, United Kingdom

Company number

Available on request

VAT number

Available on request

Call 0794 455 7700 or 020 7164 6963, email info@houseandofficeclearance.co.uk, or use the contact form. There is no charge for a visit and no obligation afterwards.

Visits to our address at 430 Hackney Rd, London E2 6QL, United Kingdom are by appointment only — please call ahead. Full contact detail is on the contact page.