When clearing a loved one’s household estate, we often get asked “what happens to all the household, where does it all go? We say sell, gift, donate, recycle then dump.

First, you need to make sure items have been allocated according to the person’s legal Will. You must have the authority from the Estate Trustee before you can start the Estate Clearance. There could items that have been Willed to people or groups. Once these have been removed and you have the legal clearance to begin you can make a start.

Ask family members or close friends if there is anything they may like. Often, it’s the sentimental items of little value that could mean the most to people. I have a little black and yellow pot which used to sit on my Nana’s dining room windowsill. My Nana told me Winnie the Poo used to put his honey in there. As I type this, I can see it on my kitchen windowsill, and it reminds me of my nana.

The next step is to sell items; there are several ways you can do this at an Auctions, on Trade Me, Facebook Market place, Stamp dealers, Antique dealers or a Trader. It depends on how much time you have to sell items, Trade Me is good but it can time to list, answer questions, emails with the buyer and pick up times. We use a mixture of Auction and Traders. Traders can offer you a buy now price and take it away then and there. Auctioneers will take items they believe they can sell; the auction may happen in a couple of weeks they pay less their commission a couple of weeks later. Have clear instructions from the Trustees on where the proceeds of the sale need to go too. At Estate Matters everything we sell on behalf of our clients goes directly to their Estate

Donate; either drop off to a local charity or they can pick up for free. Make sure what you are giving them is not rubbish otherwise it costs the charity to dump. You may have a lot of craft materials you could give to a local school or community group. Clothing Bin is great for clothing and linen. Animal charities love blankets and towels for the animals.

Recycle at the refuse centre, try and recycle as much as possible. Paints, Oils, metal, batteries and many more items can be recycled. Sometimes it’s too easy to get a skip and dump the lot but it’s not the right thing to do and we need to keep as much out of the landfill as possible.

Finally, what is left will need to be dumped, either by skip or taking it to the rubbish dump. Check your local council for dumping charges.

If the job is overwhelming, give the Girls at Estate Matters a call and we can come and give you a free estimate.