8 min read
How to Handle an Estate Cleanout (Without Losing Your Mind)
Downsizing, probate, and multi-generational homes need a different cleanout playbook than a renovation — plan stages, donations, and hauling.
Estate cleanouts are emotionally heavy and logistically dense. The two-week rule saves families: give yourself two weeks of low-pressure sorting before any bin arrives.
Start with paperwork, photos, and small heirlooms. These are the items regret is built from. Everything else can be triaged into donate, sell, recycle, and dispose.
For executors managing a property from another province, most haulers will provide dated photos of the loaded bin — this is admissible for estate accounting.