Clearing out a parent's home in Metro Vancouver: a step-by-step checklist

Clearing out a parent's home is one of the hardest jobs a family takes on. It's physical work on an emotional timeline, often done while also handling an estate, a move into care, or a house sale. This checklist breaks it into steps so nothing important goes out with the junk.

It's written for families, executors and anyone helping an older relative downsize.

The checklist at a glance

Print this page to tick these off as you go. The steps below explain each one.

1. Confirm who has authority over the home: your parent or their attorney while your parent is alive, or the executor after a death.
2. Set a deadline and pick one person as the contact.
3. Gather the paperwork into one box that leaves with a family member.
4. Tag what each family member wants, and photograph sentimental items nobody has room for.
5. Sort the rest into keep, sell, give away and clear.
6. Set aside what can't go in the garbage: paint, solvents, propane, electronics, appliances, mattresses and tires.
7. Book the clear-out of the "clear" pile.
8. Do a final walk-through: cupboards, attic, crawl space, garage rafters and shed.
9. Read the meters, and cancel or transfer utilities, internet and insurance.
10. Redirect mail through Canada Post.
11. Take dated photos of the empty rooms.

Step 1: Agree on who decides

Most arguments during a clear-out come from different people assuming they're in charge. Before the first box:

• Confirm who has legal authority over the home and its contents. While your parent is alive, that's your parent or the attorney named in their power of attorney. After a death, it's the executor or administrator: an enduring power of attorney ends when the adult who made it dies (Power of Attorney Act, s. 30). If an estate is involved and you're unsure what you're allowed to remove, ask a lawyer before anything leaves the house.
• If you're the executor, list what's in the home and what it's worth before anything is sold, given away or cleared. Listing the estate's assets and debts and finding out their value is one of an executor's basic duties, and an executor can be held personally liable for debts left unpaid after the estate is distributed. Banks and other institutions may also require the will to be probated before they'll transfer assets (Province of BC, Deal with wills and estates, checked 5 October 2026).
• Agree on a deadline: a listing date, the end of a tenancy, a care-home move-in.
• Pick one person as the contact for any contractors.

Step 2: Find the paperwork first

Before sorting anything else, go through the home for documents. They turn up in odd places: freezer bags, books, coat pockets, the backs of drawers.

Set aside:

• wills, deeds, insurance policies, and bank and investment statements;
• tax records, pension and benefit letters;
• passports and birth and marriage certificates;
• keys, safe-deposit details, and any written-down passwords;
• recent bills, so services can be cancelled.

Keep them in one box that leaves the house with a family member.

Step 3: Mark what family members want

Walk through the house together, or share photos with anyone who can't be there, and tag items with coloured stickers, one colour per person. Settle disagreements before anything is moved. Photograph sentimental items nobody has room for. For many people, a photo is enough.

Step 4: Sort the rest into four groups

1. Keep: tagged items going to family.
2. Sell: furniture, collectibles or tools with real resale value. For anything valuable, get an appraisal first.
3. Give away: usable household goods. Local charities, shelters and community groups take many items, though most have strict rules about furniture and mattresses, so call ahead. We sometimes donate usable items from a clear-out, but we can't promise it, so if particular pieces should go to a charity, arrange those drop-offs before the clear-out day.
4. Clear: everything else, meaning broken furniture, worn mattresses, old appliances and decades of storage.

Step 5: Watch for items that can't go in the garbage

Older homes often hold things Metro Vancouver bans from garbage: paint, solvents, propane tanks, electronics, appliances, mattresses and tires (Metro Vancouver Disposal Ban Program). Many can go to free recycling at regional recycling and waste centres, and paint, flammable solvents, gasoline and pesticides can go free to Product Care depots (see Local resources below). Our guide to getting rid of a mattress covers mattresses in detail.

If the house is older and you're planning renovation work, have anything that might contain asbestos tested by a qualified professional before it's disturbed.

Step 6: Clear the "clear" pile

Once the family has taken what they want, the rest can usually go in a single day. This is the part most families hand off, because it's heavy work: basements, garages, sheds, and furniture that has to come down stairs.

With our estate cleanout service, the crew will:

• work through the whole home, including basements, garages, sheds and yards;
• set aside documents, photos and keepsakes that turn up, for the family;
• recycle what can be recycled and take the rest to sanctioned facilities;
• leave the home cleared and swept, ready to list or hand over.

Estate cleanouts start from $399 per project and are quoted up front, with recycling and disposal included (pricing). Most homes are cleared in one day; a home where the family is still going through things can take more than one visit.

Step 7: The final walk-through

Before you hand over the keys:

• check every cupboard, the attic, the crawl space, the garage rafters and the shed;
• read the meters, and cancel or transfer utilities, internet and insurance;
• redirect mail through Canada Post;
• take dated photos of the empty rooms for the executor or landlord.

Local resources

Official programs that help with a clear-out in Metro Vancouver. Links last checked 27 September 2026.

• If you're the executor: the B.C. government's Deal with wills and estates page lists an executor's basic duties, from listing the estate's assets and debts to redirecting mail and selling assets. Its After a Death page has a printable checklist.
• Federal steps: the Government of Canada's What to do when someone dies page asks a few questions and builds a checklist of the steps for your situation. For the deceased's taxes, see the CRA's Doing taxes for someone who died.
• Leftover medications: don't put them in the garbage or down the drain. Take them to a participating collection location in the free medications return program. Not every pharmacy takes part, so check first.
• Paint and household hazardous products: leftover paint goes free to Product Care depots, and some of them also take flammable solvents, gasoline and pesticides; not all do, so check first. Bring products in their original labelled containers. Household cleaners, bleach and refillable propane cylinders aren't accepted.
• Electronics: computers, TVs, printers and small appliances go free to Recycle My Electronics drop-off locations. Wipe personal data from computers and phones first; that's the owner's job, not the depot's.
• Large appliances: free at MARR collection sites, or we pick them up free (see free appliance pickup).

If the home is severely cluttered

If years of accumulation make rooms unsafe to walk through, begin by clearing a path to the exits and main rooms, and bring in help early. Our hoarding cleanout service works at the family's pace.

Common questions

How long does an estate cleanout take?

Most take one day. A home where the family wants to go through things first can take more than one visit.

Does someone from the family have to be there?

No. Many executors and family members live out of town. Once the family has marked what stays, we can work from that plan with a key or lockbox from you, the executor or the realtor.

Do you work with realtors and executors?

Yes. We work with whoever is responsible for the property, with one point of contact and one upfront quote. We serve Vancouver, West Vancouver, White Rock and the rest of Metro Vancouver.

Call 604-348-7640 for a respectful, upfront quote.