This page is not legal advice, and we are a cleanout company, not lawyers. But we watch families get this sequence wrong every month, and the errors are expensive. Here is the order that works.
1. Secure before you sort
Change the locks. Redirect the mail. Take a photo of every room, from the doorway, before anyone touches anything. This takes twenty minutes and it is the single highest-value thing you can do. Cars, jewelry, firearms and cash go somewhere secure immediately.
2. Get appointed before you dispose
In Michigan, the personal representative’s authority comes from the letters of authority issued by the probate court. Washtenaw County’s probate court sits in Ann Arbor. Until that paper exists, disposing of estate property is not yours to do, however obvious the outcome seems and however much a realtor is pushing.
If the estate is small, Michigan has simplified procedures that move faster. Ask counsel which applies before you assume you are in a full probate.
3. Pull the paper before the crew comes
Before anything is hauled, walk the house specifically for documents. What you are looking for:
- Deeds, titles, and vehicle registrations
- Insurance policies, especially life
- Tax returns for the last three to seven years
- Bank and brokerage statements, savings bonds, stock certificates
- Safe deposit box keys and the bank they belong to
- Pension, annuity and benefit paperwork
- Anything handwritten that could be a will or a codicil
These hide in filing cabinets, but also in freezers, coat pockets, book pages and under mattresses. Any crew that has done this work knows to set them aside, but nobody looks as carefully as the person who has a reason to.
4. Value before you clear
If there is any chance of real value, an appraiser or estate sale company goes in before the cleanout crew, not after. The order is not negotiable if beneficiaries might disagree later. Once it is gone, its value becomes an argument.
5. Then clear
Now the cleanout is a straightforward job: everything not marked stays goes, the donations get receipted, and the photos document the end state.
Where the real deadlines are
| Pressure | What it actually forces |
|---|---|
| Accepted purchase agreement | House must be empty and broom-swept before closing. Work backward two weeks. |
| Listing photos scheduled | Everything out, or the listing shows a full house and sits. |
| Vacant-home insurance | Most policies restrict coverage once a house sits vacant past a set period. Check the policy early. |
| Michigan winter | An unheated vacant house risks frozen pipes. If the estate will run past November, either keep heat on or winterize. |
| Property taxes and utilities | They keep running. Every month the house sits full is a month the estate pays to store furniture. |
The advice we give most often
Do not wait for family consensus to start. Consensus on a house full of belongings usually arrives after everyone has seen the photos and had a month to think. Take the photos, get appointed, pull the documents, and let the sorting conversation happen on its own schedule while the legal work proceeds.
Common questions
Can I clear the house before I am formally appointed?
Generally no, and it is the mistake that causes the most trouble later. Until letters of authority are issued, nobody has authority over the estate's personal property. Secure the house, change the locks if you need to, and wait. Ask the estate's attorney before anything leaves.
What if a sibling objects after the fact?
This is exactly why the photo record matters. A full before-and-after photo set of every room, plus itemized donation receipts, turns a memory argument into a document argument. Do this even when everyone is getting along.