Deceased estates

Deceased Estate Help on the Northern Beaches & North Shore

Calm, practical help sorting a loved one's home, so the family can make decisions together and nothing that matters is lost.

Northern Beaches Home Organisation helps families and executors on Sydney's Northern Beaches and North Shore sort the home of someone who has died. We find the important papers, gather valuables and keepsakes for the executor and family to decide on, and organise donations, recycling and disposal room by room. We are organisers, not cleaners, rubbish removalists or valuers, and every estate starts with a free discovery call.

What we do

  • Search the house for papers the executor needs before anything is thrown out
  • Gather jewellery, documents and valuables into one place for the executor to secure
  • Photograph and list contents room by room, so the executor has a record
  • Hold keepsakes in a set-aside area until each family member has had a say
  • Organise donations, sale, recycling and council collections
  • Leave the house ready for cleaners, the agent or the landlord

How it works

  1. Discovery call. With the executor and anyone in the family who wants to join, from anywhere. We agree who makes the final decisions, any dates that can't move, and which rooms will be hardest.
  2. Papers and valuables first. Wills, bank and super statements, insurance policies, property and car papers, tax records and photos are found and handed to the executor before any sorting starts.
  3. Sort room by room. Family and keepsakes, donate, sell, recycle, dispose. We usually begin with low-emotion rooms like the laundry and linen cupboard.
  4. Share before anything goes. Photos of furniture and keepsakes go to the family, and items stay set aside until the executor agrees.
  5. Clear it properly. Donations leave the same day. Bulky items are timed to a council collection. Paint, chemicals and electronics go to the right drop-off.
  6. Hand over. The house is ready for whichever trade comes next: cleaners, rubbish removal for what's left, the agent or the landlord.

The executor makes the decisions

The NSW Government's guide for executors says the executor's job is to find, protect and list the estate's assets, including household and personal goods, and to store valuables such as jewellery, ornaments and paintings. Our sorting is built around that: we find things, gather them and list them, and the executor secures them and decides what happens next. We don't give legal or tax advice. For the admin steps, from the death notification to mail redirection, see our step-by-step guide to clearing a deceased estate.

What we don't do

  • Cleaning, rubbish removal or skips. We'll tell you on the first visit if they're needed and time our sessions around them.
  • Valuations. Items that may be valuable are kept together for a valuer.
  • Legal or financial advice. That stays with the executor's solicitor or accountant.
  • Hoarding or squalor clean-ups. These need a specialist cleaning company.

Getting things out of the house locally

On the Northern Beaches, mainland households can pre-book two council bulky-goods collections within 12 months, so on a large house we plan the sessions so both count. North Shore limits differ by council. Vinnies NSW takes furniture pick-up bookings online, subject to availability. See the Northern Beaches donation and recycling guide and the North Shore council clean-up guide for the full rules.

A family home is usually scoped as a Whole-home transform, based on its size and how much is in it. Every estate is quoted after a free discovery call.

Book a free discovery call Call 0425 253 921

Deceased estate FAQs

Usually once the executor and close family are ready, which is often a few weeks after the funeral. Finding papers, securing valuables and making a list of what is in the house can start early, because those are part of the executor's job anyway. Before anything of value is sold or given away, check with the executor or their solicitor.

No. We're organisers, not a rubbish removal or cleaning company. We sort everything and organise where it goes: donations leave the same day, bulky items are timed to a council collection, and paint and chemicals go to the right drop-off. If the house also needs a skip, rubbish removal or specialist cleaning, we'll say so on the first visit and plan our sessions around those trades, which you book directly.

Yes. The discovery call is by phone, so family anywhere can join. During sorting we photograph furniture, collections and keepsakes, hold them in a set-aside area, and send the photos so each person can say what they would like. Nothing in the set-aside area leaves until the executor has agreed.

No, we're not valuers. We find these items, gather them in one place and list them for the executor. If something may be valuable, the executor can have it valued before deciding what happens to it.

A tenant's death does not end the lease on its own, according to the Tenants' Union of NSW, and the rent usually stops once the property is handed back. That makes the timetable tighter than for an owned home, so tell us the handover date on the discovery call and we'll plan the sessions backwards from it.

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When you are ready

A free, no-pressure call to talk through the house and the family's timeline.

Book a Free Discovery Call Call 0425 253 921