We’re sorry for your loss. Sorting out someone’s home and belongings is hard enough without worrying about bills, so here’s the short answer: in most cases the estate covers the cost of storage in the end. While things are being sorted, the person whose name is on the storage agreement makes the payments, and an executor can be repaid from the estate later.
If you’re the executor
You don’t have to wait for probate to store the belongings. You can rent a unit on behalf of the estate straight away, with the agreement in your name as executor. Storage costs you pay while dealing with the estate are generally treated as a legitimate estate expense, so you can pay them from the estate’s money or be repaid from it.
Two simple habits make this easy later: keep every invoice, which we email before each payment, and agree with any co-executors who’s paying before you book. If you’re not sure whether a cost counts, the estate’s solicitor can confirm it.
If you’re a relative paying in the meantime
If you’re covering the cost while probate is under way, that’s fine with us: anyone can pay on the account’s behalf. It’s worth agreeing in writing with the executor that you’ll be repaid from the estate, so nobody is out of pocket.
If they already had a unit with us
Please call us. Their storage carries on as it was until someone lets us know, so the sooner we hear from you, the sooner we can help you decide what to do: keep the unit while the estate is sorted, move it into the executor’s name, or clear it when you’re ready. To take over a unit, we’ll usually ask to see the death certificate and the grant of probate, and we’ll talk you through the rest.
If they joined us some time ago and paid a deposit at the start, it’s refunded when the storage ends, less anything owed.
Keeping costs down
Once you know when the house clearance or sale will happen, email us your end date. The notice period is normally 14 days, you only pay up to your end date, and we refund any unused days once the unit is empty.
You don’t have to work any of this out alone. Call us on 0800 2545585 and we’ll take it step by step with you. If you need somewhere to store things now, you can get a price online.
Related questions
- What happens to a storage unit when the person renting it dies?
- Clearing an inherited house: a self storage guide for executors
This page explains how storage with us works. It isn’t legal or tax advice.
Further reading
- GOV.UK: Dealing with the estate of someone who’s died
- legislation.gov.uk: Trustee Act 2000, section 31 (trustees’ expenses)