We’re sorry if you’re doing this after losing someone. For everyday things, work out roughly what each would sell for, and GOV.UK suggests looking up similar items on online marketplaces; for anything that might be worth more than £1,500, such as jewellery, paintings or antiques, you can get a professional valuation.
Start with a list
Go room by room and write down anything that might have some value: furniture, jewellery, watches, paintings, china and glass, collections such as stamps or coins, electrical goods and any car. Photograph each item as you go, with any maker’s marks or labels. Leave everyday odds and ends as a single line, such as “kitchen contents”.
Put a sensible figure on each
For ordinary household goods and electrical items, an estimate is fine. GOV.UK’s advice for things like cars, jewellery and paintings is to work out how much you’d have got if you’d sold them, and searching online marketplaces for similar items is a quick way to do that. A professional, such as an auctioneer or a valuer, can give you a figure for the pieces that could be worth more.
If you’re the executor, the date that matters is the day the person died: that’s the value GOV.UK asks for when you work out the estate’s value for probate and Inheritance Tax. Keep your list, your photos and any valuations, as GOV.UK says you must keep records showing how you worked out the value of the estate’s assets.
Don’t let anything go until it’s valued
Before the clearance firm arrives, set aside everything on your “check” list, so nothing of value leaves in the van by mistake. If the house has to be empty before the valuations are done, furniture, pictures and china can wait in a storage unit while you get them seen.
A few things are better kept close. Cash, deeds and share certificates can’t go into a unit, so they belong with the executor or the solicitor, and a family ring or anything truly irreplaceable is best kept with the person who’ll treasure it.
The valuation helps with storage too. Everything stored with us needs cover, through our contents protection or your own insurance, and for things that can’t be bought new, such as antiques or works of art, the value you declare for your cover is their current market value. Our guide to how much contents cover you need shows how to add it up.
If you’d like a hand working out what size unit would hold the things waiting to be valued, call us on 0800 2545585, or get a price online.
Related questions
- Should I put things into storage before a house clearance?
- Can I store cash, jewellery or other valuables?
- Who pays for storage while an estate is being sorted out?
Further reading