The Estate Cleanout Checklist Families Actually Use
An estate cleanout goes smoothly when the sorting happens before the truck shows up. This is the order that works, whether you have a weekend or a month.
Before you touch anything
Secure documents first: wills, deeds, titles, tax records, insurance policies, and anything with an account number.
Check the obvious hiding places — freezers, coat pockets, book spines, taped envelopes under drawers. Cash and jewelry turn up in all of them.
Sort in four piles
Keep, sell, donate, haul. Tag rooms rather than items where you can — it moves ten times faster.
Photograph anything a family member may want to claim later, then move on.
Schedule the haul
Book the cleanout once the keep pile is out of the house. A crew clearing full rooms is dramatically cheaper per cubic foot than a crew waiting on decisions.
Ask for donation drop-off and a broom-swept finish in writing so the property is showing-ready for a realtor.