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The granting of probate is such a personal matter that it can be tempting to deal with it all ‘within the family’ as much as possible, and not involve anyone else apart from solicitors. However, this is far from the case.
ASAP Clearances, who offer probate house clearing services in Finchley and across North London, explain some of the difficulties of trying to clear out a dead relative or friend’s home completely by yourselves, and why it’s worth employing the services of a professional clearance company like us.
The Emotional Factor
Inevitably, a probate case will have involved the death of either a family member or a close friend.
This means whoever is responsible for dealing with the dead person’s estate will be grieving, while also having to make all sorts of other difficult decisions both emotional and logistical; telling other friends or members of the family, registering the death and sorting out funeral arrangements are all things which will need to be dealt with.
In cases like this, you want as much practical and emotional support as possible – but you won’t get that if you decide to clear out the deceased person’s property yourself. On top of making all the difficult decisions about what to keep and what to give away (or discard as rubbish) – you also have to ‘do the deed’ and take it to its new home – whether that’s a rubbish site, charity shop, or giving it to someone else.
Do you really want this sort of ‘double whammy’ at such an important, emotional time?
With a professional house clearance company, you will be dealing with someone who can sort out all the mechanics of disposing of items and be experienced enough to treat the whole matter sensitively.
The Scale of the Clearance
Probate clearances involve the whole house – this means you are dealing with everything outside as well as inside the property – gardens and outbuildings as well (if there are any).
Some of the items may be bulky - for example, garden equipment such as lawn mowers; others may need to be dismantled. This includes disability aids such as stairlifts which might form part of the dead person’s estate and aren’t necessarily part of the fixtures and fittings of the home.
This is going to mean an awful lot of heavy labour if you undertake it yourself. Professional house clearance companies like ASAP Clearances, will have their own (large) vehicles which will minimise the time it takes to complete the process – and the staff will be well used to transporting large items away safely and securely.
The Time Factor
Even if it’s a smaller, rented property there may be time pressures – for instance the landlord may be eager to relet the home or flat to another tenant for financial reasons.
Again, if you are an executor of the dead person’s estate, you will have plenty of other things to deal which follow any death – and you still have to fit your own life around getting everything else done.
There may be other time pressures as well. For example, the property may need to be sold quickly if the deceased person has run up debts, and other beneficiaries of the estate may have financial problems of their own which selling the property as soon as possible would help alleviate.
Professional house clearance companies will be able to fit round the demands on your own time, and will be able to be flexible with bookings, and still complete the job as quickly as possible.
The Environmental Factor
Some bigger probate clearances may also involve disposing of items which need a bit more care, such as fridges, sinks, baths and any left-behind construction waste.
It’s easy to fall foul of the regulations in cases like this – which can mean more time and expense if you get it wrong (and you could be fined if you dispose of something in an inappropriate way).
Professional house clearance companies are often licensed waste carriers and so know all the rules and regulations (and may be able to dispose of something that you aren’t allowed to).
There’s another environmental factor too – clearance companies may also be able to place some items in new homes and recycle as much as possible, much more so than you are able to. This cuts down your carbon footprint by avoiding unnecessary waste.
Probate House Clearing in Finchley from ASAP Clearances
At ASAP Clearances we tick all of these boxes.
- We have a reputation for handling every clearing job sensitively, yet efficiently and quickly (hence our name); and work directly with solicitors to produce a satisfactory outcome for all parties.
- We are often asked to clear entire houses, including gardens.
- We are Licensed Waste Carriers which allows us to take away a lot more items than you would be yourself (unless you apply for your own licence).
- We recycle as many items as possible, rather than let them go to landfill.
For more details on our probate house clearance services, follow this link. To get in touch you can fill in the online form on the left-hand side of the page or call us on 020 3475 0508.
Remember, at ASAP Clearances we offer a lot of other services too, including garden clearing in Barnet, hoarding house clearing services in Bushey, and block management clearance in Enfield.