Clearing a deceased estate is one of the hardest jobs a family takes on, and it's one we help with every week. Here's the practical framework that makes it manageable.
Don't order the bin first
The instinct is to book a skip immediately and start clearing. Resist it. The first pass through an estate is about sorting, not disposing:
- Keep: Documents (wills, deeds, insurance, tax records — keep everything paper until the estate is settled), photos, jewellery, items named in the will.
- Sell or donate: Furniture, whitegoods, tools, books in good condition. Charities will often collect furniture free, which reduces your bin size a full step.
- Dispose: Everything else — and it's always more than you think.
Book the bin for the third pass, once the keep and donate piles have left the house.
Sizing an estate clear-out
A lifetime of possessions in a three-bedroom home, after selling and donating, typically fills 8–10m³. Smaller units come in around 4–6m³. Under-sizing is the classic estate mistake because sheds, garages and under-house storage don't reveal their volume until emptied — our size guide explains why one size up always wins, and it's doubly true here.
Watch for the banned items
Estates of long-held homes reliably contain the things no skip can take: decades of paint tins, garden chemicals, gas bottles, car batteries, and sometimes fibro offcuts stored under the house. Set these aside for a council hazardous waste drop-off. The full list is in our waste type guide.
Pace yourself
Standard hire periods suit a focused weekend, but estate clearing rarely follows a tidy schedule. If you're travelling to do the clear-out, book the bin for the days you'll actually be there, and consider two smaller bins across two visits rather than one large bin under time pressure. Search the property's postcode to see sizes and delivered pricing at that address.
Brett Taylor is the owner of Local Skip Bin Hire, an Australian skip bin comparison service that has helped families with estate clear-outs since 2016.