Probate house clearance for executors and families

A probate clearance of a three-bed house usually starts at around a full truck, £360 plus VAT for 15 cubic yards, and a packed loft or garage can add a second load. RLE Waste Clearance confirms the price from photos of each room before the crew starts. Fridges, mattresses and TVs are charged on top, from £10 plus VAT each.

Clearing a house before probate is granted is a decision for the executors, and RLE Waste Clearance doesn't ask executors for a grant of probate or other proof of authority before clearing. GOV.UK (external site) describes probate as the legal right to deal with someone's property, money and possessions, so check with the estate's solicitor if you're unsure. A price from photos lets you book as soon as you're ready.

The time you have to empty a council house after a death is set by the council or housing association, so ask them for the date the keys must go back. We price the clearance from photos and agree a day before that date, working 7am to 7pm, seven days a week. Nobody from the family needs to be there if a key can be left for the crew.

RLE Waste Clearance doesn't buy or value the contents of a house, so nothing is knocked off a probate clearance for furniture, ornaments or anything else that might be worth something: the price is the load. Have anything you think has value looked at before the clearance date, and set it aside with what the family is keeping. Everything else goes to a waste transfer station, where it's sorted.

A probate house clearance can go ahead with none of the family there, as long as access and instructions are clear. A key safe, a neighbour or a relative can let the crew in. Set aside what you're keeping, tell us which rooms to leave alone, and we'll clear the rest. You can pay by bank transfer on completion.

Things you've set aside in a probate clearance stay where you've left them. Put them in one room with the door shut, or label them, and tell us when you book. The crew only clears the rooms and items you've asked for, so nothing you're keeping goes on the truck.

Chemicals and other hazardous waste can't go in a probate house clearance, but asbestos that has already been removed can if you tell us about it first. Old tins of paint are fine at £10 plus VAT per 5 litres, and Calor gas bottles at £10 plus VAT each. Bromley residents can book the council's hazardous waste service (external site) for chemicals.

Executors can check who's doing the house clearance by looking up the firm's waste carrier number on the GOV.UK register (external site). RLE Waste Clearance is a registered upper tier waste carrier, CBDU175566, and every clearance comes with a waste transfer note and a receipt for the estate's records.