One Contact for the Whole Property Side of an Estate

When someone passes away, the property is usually the biggest practical burden on the family and on the solicitor handling the estate. It needs clearing, it needs looking after while it sits empty, and at some point it needs to be ready for sale. We handle all three, so the executor has one contact and one invoice for the whole property side of the estate.

We're rated 5.0 on Google, 10/10 on Checkatrade and 4.8 on Trustpilot across nearly 200 reviews, and we're used to working at the pace these situations need.

House Clearance, Done Properly

Every probate clearance is gone through by hand, not just loaded into a van. Documents, statements and IDs are collected separately for shredding. Cash, jewellery, photographs and anything of sentimental or financial value is flagged, set aside and returned to you. Nothing is disposed of without your approval.

We work at your pace. That can mean this week, or it can mean waiting until the family is ready.

Empty Property Care

Most probate properties sit empty for six months or more between grant and completion. What many executors don't realise is that standard home insurance usually stops covering a property after around 30 days of vacancy, and the unoccupied insurance that replaces it almost always requires regular documented inspections, typically every 7 to 14 days. Without them, a claim for a burst pipe or a break-in can be rejected.

We take that off your plate. Weekly or fortnightly visits, matched to your policy terms.

After every visit you receive a photo report covering:

• Front and rear of the property, doors and windows checked and secure
• Every main room photographed, with ceilings checked for leaks and damp
• Signs of pests, vandalism or attempted entry
• Post collected and forwarded or held for you
• Heating on frost setting in winter, stopcock checked
• Meter readings for the estate accounts, if wanted
• Anything needing attention flagged with a photo, and a quote to fix it if you'd like one

The report is timestamped and takes 30 seconds to read. Forward it to the insurer or the solicitor and the inspection requirement is dealt with.

Keys are held securely, tagged by code rather than address, and signed in and out.

Sale-Ready Preparation

Once cleared, we can get the property ready for market: a deep clean, the garden brought back under control, and minor works like painting arranged through trades we know and have used. A presentable property sells faster and usually for more, and we can typically have a house viewing-ready within days of the clearance finishing.

For Solicitors and Executors

If you're an executor living far from the property, or a solicitor acting as professional executor, this is built for you. You get one point of contact for clearance, upkeep and preparation, evidence of every visit for the file, and a property that's being looked after rather than quietly deteriorating.

We work across London and the South East, with probate clearances as far as Birmingham.

Call Ellis on 07838 298 481, email info@simpleasclearance.com, or send a few details through our contact form and we'll come back to you the same day.