Post-death practical support

When someone dies in the South Wales area, there are a lot of practical tasks that have to be undertaken both at the time of the death and afterwards, everything from registering the death through organising the funeral to selling a house.

But what happens if you’ll have no one to do this for you when your time comes? Or what if you’re a son or daughter who has lost a parent and you live a few hundred miles away, with a busy life of your own, and organising the sale of your parent’s home is going to involve lots of motorway travel and several weekends away from your family sorting through your parent’s belongings, organising decorators and/or builders in an area with which you’re unfamiliar, trying to keep on top of progress from a distance and then liaising with and managing an estate agent in order to sell the property? Or maybe you’re just the executor of the will and not even a family member. Why put yourself through all that?

Whatever your reasons for wanting or needing to offload some or all of the unavoidable practicalities following a death, Lovingly Managed is here to provide as much or as little assistance as you need in the South Wales area.

Examples of some of the jobs we can undertake on your behalf include:

Urgent domestic tasks following a death – immediately after a death, when it might be difficult for grieving relatives to cope with entering the deceased person’s home, or there are no family members, we can visit the house to clear out perishable foodstuffs and do other tasks that need immediate attention such as watering plants, feeding or removing a pet, stripping a bed, washing dishes, dealing with laundry and general cleaning and tidying

Liaison with utility companies, financial institutions etc. regarding the death – we can handle all the communication, both by telephone and letter, to inform of the death, provide copies of the death certificate and undertake any follow-up required to finalise the deceased’s dealings with these and other types of organisations

Comprehensive and careful property searches for valuables, cash and key documents to provide to the executor – we will look in all the usual hiding places and, more importantly, in all the unusual ones, to ensure that all items of value or importance are found and delivered to the executor and not accidentally discarded in a general house clearance

Arranging the valuation of specific items – we can arrange for specified items to be valued for the estate. This can involve photographing items and emailing the digital images to a professional valuer, arranging for the delivery of items to a valuer, or taking them there ourselves, or for the valuation of an item to take place in situ.

Organising final house clearances – we will organise the final clearance of the deceased’s property, ensuring that whatever is meant for family members and friends is either delivered to them directly with the permission of the executor or delivered to the executor to be passed on. We arrange for the remainder of the deceased’s possessions to be donated to charities and community projects where possible and then for a house clearance company to remove anything remaining

Inventories of property contents – we will undertake room-by-room, comprehensive inventories of the entire contents of a property to be held by a solicitor or other trusted third party, either prior to someone’s going into long-term care or passing on, or immediately afterwards. Recording the exact contents of a property helps to minimise the likelihood of items being removed from the property without the permission of the executor or relevant person.

Managing the preparation of a property for rent/sale – we will co-ordinate and supervise whatever needs to be done to bring a property up to an acceptable standard for renting or sale. This may include scene of crime cleaning, deep cleaning, basic cleaning, decorating, garden clearance/tidying.

Managing the sale of a property – we can liaise with the estate agent and/or solicitor instructed on the sale if required. We can also arrange to pop round to clear mail and give a brief dusting and freshening to the property between viewings and turn on the heating for a few hours prior to a viewing if necessary. We can also arrange to keep the lawn mowed and window exteriors cleaned during the sales process.

Managing the sale of a car – we can negotiate the sale of a car to a garage or arrange for a private sale through relevant auto and local media, newspapers and online

Organising the delivery of personal effects to the right people and organisations including shipping items abroad – we can make local deliveries in person or arrange for packing and posting of items, either through the Post Office or courier companies, and the completion of Customs and Excise forms for goods being shipped abroad

Arranging the secure decommissioning and recycling of computer equipment – if a computer is no longer needed, we can arrange for the computer to be decommissioned via an approved company that will destroy it in a secure environment to ensure total protection of personal data and information, significantly reducing the potential of identity theft, and ensure the parts are recycled or disposed of with due consideration to environmental impact

Pet re-homing – we can arrange for a pet to be re-homed into a suitable environment if it is the wish of the deceased.

Organisation of memorial service/scattering ceremonies – either immediately after the funeral or whenever the family of the deceased is ready, we will undertake the entire organisation of a memorial service and/or scattering ceremony for the deceased’s ashes

Cancelling junk mail – we can register with the appropriate organisations to minimise the amount of junk mail which is sent to the deceased

Cancelling subscriptions to clubs and publications – we will ensure all subscriptions to clubs and magazines are cancelled with immediate effect and arrange for any refunds that are due to be paid back to the estate

Safe disposal of prescribed drugs and other medicines – we will ensure any medicines left in the property are disposed of safely via an approved handler

Return of mobility aids to relevant organisations – we will arrange for any mobility aids and furniture that may have been on loan to the deceased to be returned to the relevant organisation

This list is not meant to be exhaustive. Anything not listed here that you need us to do, just ask.