What we handle
Clearing the house
From a house nobody has been through yet to an empty property ready to hand over.
Island Estate Clearing empties a property room by room, separating what is worth selling from what is for donation, recycling or disposal. The 21-day Form P1 notice period and the two to three months a probate application typically spends in the British Columbia court queue are time in which the contents can already be dealt with, and a written summary of what left the property is provided for the estate file.
Clearing a house is the part most families cannot face and most executors have no time for. It is also the part that does not have to wait.
Scope is driven by volume, how much is worth selling, whether outbuildings are involved, access and stairs, and the distance to disposal and donation sites. A written price follows the walk-through.
What clearing a house actually involves
Every room, cupboard, closet, crawlspace, garage and outbuilding is worked through in turn. Contents are sorted into what will be sold, what will be donated, what can be recycled, and what has to go to disposal. Documents, photographs and anything that looks personal or financial are set aside for the family rather than handled as contents.
Anything of real value is appraised first
Items that may carry real value are identified and accounted for before anything is cleared, not after. That is both the correct order for an estate and the reason an executor can sign off on the work with a clear record behind it.
Contents do not have to wait for the grant
An executor can clear a house long before a grant of probate issues. The Form P1 notice of proposed application has to be delivered at least 21 days before the application is filed, and the court then generally takes two to three months to process it. Full administration through to distribution commonly runs 8 to 12 months after the grant. Very little of that time has anything to do with the contents.
What is left behind at the end
The property is left broom-clean as standard, and a full clean can be added so it is presentable rather than merely empty.
What a clearing job covers
- Full house clearance
- Every room, plus garage, crawlspace, attic and outbuildings, sorted and emptied.
- Partial clearance
- A single floor, a garage, a shop or an outbuilding, where the family is handling the rest.
- Donation and recycling routing
- Usable household goods to local donation channels, with recyclables separated from disposal.
- Written contents summary
- A record of what was sold, donated, recycled and disposed of, for the estate file.
How a clearing job runs
- A walk-throughthe property is walked and photographed, what is worth selling is flagged, and anything that needs an appraisal is identified.
- A written scope and pricewhat is included, what happens to each category of contents, and what it costs — in writing, before anything moves.
- Sorting and removalroom by room, with personal papers and anything of apparent value set aside for the family rather than cleared.
- A written summarywhat was sold, what was donated, what was recycled and what was disposed of, in a form that can go straight into the estate file.
What the housing here means
Housing across Vancouver Island runs from forty-year single-owner ranchers to low-rise strata with booked elevators and rural acreage with three outbuildings. Those are genuinely different jobs, and the scope is set by walking the property rather than by floor area.
People also ask
- Can a house be cleared before probate is granted?
- Household contents are almost never what holds up an estate, and clearing commonly happens during the notice period and the court queue. Anything of real value should be appraised and accounted for first.
- What happens to personal papers and photographs?
- Documents, photographs and anything that looks personal or financial are set aside for the family rather than treated as contents to be cleared.
- Does the executor need to be there?
- No. Out-of-province executors are sent photographs, a video walk-through and written updates, and decisions are confirmed in writing.
- Is a record provided of what was removed?
- Yes. A written summary of what was sold, donated, recycled and disposed of is provided for the estate file.
Related: selling the contents and cleaning and preparing the property · the executor's guide · Qualicum Beach, Ladysmith
Clearing and preparing the contents of a family home, across Vancouver Island.
Nothing has to be sorted, identified or valued first. Send whatever is known and a walk-through can be arranged.