Clearance after a death: what the notary expects

Before touching anything: inventory

A notary needs to know what the estate contains before it is divided or sold. That means a list of the furniture, the objects, the papers and anything that may have a value — not an auction catalogue, but enough to establish that nothing was removed without trace.

In practice, we photograph room by room before the clearance starts, we set aside papers, photographs, jewellery and anything the family may want, and we produce a short written inventory. This is the step that prevents a dispute six months later.

Three outcomes for every object

What has no value goes to the tip, after sorting. What is usable goes to associations — Emmaüs, the Restos du Cœur, local charities — and we give the family the list of what was donated. What has a value is assessed, and the value can be deducted from the cost of the clearance.

That last point is where the difference between quotes is made. A firm that charges a flat rate per m³ has no reason to look for value. A firm that assesses it can turn a paid clearance into a free one, or into a clearance that pays the family back.

• Documents and papers: set aside before anything else
• Personal objects: kept for the family on written instruction
• Usable goods: donated, with a list
• Valuables: assessed, value deducted from the invoice
• The rest: sorted and taken to the tip

The timetable with the notary

The clearance often has to happen before the property is valued, photographed for sale, or handed to the buyer. That gives a date, and the date is usually short. A flat takes one to two days; a house three to five, depending on volume and access.

We work with the notary’s timetable rather than against it, and we keep the keys only for the duration of the works. At the end, the property is swept, locked, and the keys returned against a signature.