Cleaning Out a Parent's House in Orlando: Where to Start

Cleaning out a parent’s house in Orlando runs on three clocks. The hauling is the short one: once the decisions are made, the truck is the fast part, and our junk removal crew is priced by what fills it, from $145 for a single item to $795 for a full truck, and a whole house is usually more than one. The sorting is the long one, weeks of drawers and closets, which is what our 14 yard dumpster on the driveway is for: $495 for a week with two tons of disposal, or $895 for 30 days when the sort runs longer. The legal clock is the longest, about five or six months for a simple probate estate according to the Florida Bar, and it starts before either of the others. The first step is not to start throwing things away. It is to know who has the authority to.

This guide describes Florida law and cites it. It is not legal or tax advice, and it does not apply the law to your family's case. For that, talk to a Florida probate attorney.

Before you throw anything away: who has the authority

Florida law gives control of a deceased person’s property to the personal representative, the term the state uses instead of executor. The statute says every personal representative has a right to, and shall take possession or control of, the decedent’s property, except the protected homestead, and shall take all steps reasonably necessary for its management, protection and preservation. The court’s Letters of Administration are the proof of that authority, in the Florida Bar’s words. Unless the will or a court says otherwise, and acting reasonably for the people with an interest in the estate, the personal representative may sell the estate’s personal property and abandon what is valueless without a court order.

Being a son or a daughter is not, by itself, the same authority. Families do clear houses before any of this is settled. But where there are debts, more than one heir, or a will nobody has read, the safe order is: the papers first, the attorney second, the truck third.

The $20,000 rule for furniture and appliances

One statute matters more than any other on the day the truck comes. Florida’s exempt property law protects household furniture, furnishings and appliances in the decedent’s usual home up to a net value of $20,000, plus two motor vehicles, from all claims against the estate except perfected security interests. That protection belongs to the surviving spouse, or to the children if there is no surviving spouse, and it is waived unless a petition is filed in time, by the later of four months after the notice of administration is served and the other dates the statute lists.

In plain terms, the dining table, the bedroom set and the washer may be the part of the estate that creditors cannot touch, and a cleanout that hauls them away before anyone has claimed them can throw away exactly the part of the inheritance the law set aside. The photos and the inventory come before the loading.

Does the estate even need probate? The number doubled in July

Florida has three routes and the choice between them is the attorney’s, not ours. Summary administration, the shorter court process, is available when the estate subject to administration, less the property that is exempt from creditors’ claims, does not exceed $150,000, or the person has been dead more than two years, and, if there is a will, the will does not direct a formal administration. That figure was $75,000 until a 2026 law took effect on July 1, 2026, so a pamphlet or a blog that still says $75,000 is out of date. Disposition without administration, the route with no formal proceeding, has no dollar figure: it applies when the estate leaves only exempt personal property plus nonexempt personal property worth no more than the funeral expenses and the medical bills of the last 60 days. Everything else is formal administration. Which one fits your parent’s estate depends on facts a guide cannot see.

Find these papers first, and know how long to keep them

Before any sorting, walk the house for paper and put it in one box that stays with the family.

The IRS periods above are written for the taxpayer, and the estate’s attorney or accountant will tell you which apply. The car has its own shortcut: Florida’s title statute lets the heirs of someone who died without a will transfer the title without a probate order, if they file an affidavit that the estate has no debts and they have agreed on who gets it.

What Orlando charities will and won’t take

Once the papers are out and the authority is settled, the furniture that is still good has three free rides, each with its own service area.

Goodwill of Central Florida takes drop offs but its pickups are run by a partner that charges by the number of pieces and the time on site, and it does not take large appliances or mattresses. Two of those rejected categories, the china cabinet and the armoire, are in almost every parent’s house, which is why sorting a whole house takes weeks, and why our crew separates what can be donated or recycled before anything goes to the landfill.

The things no charity and no dumpster will take

Paint, chemicals, propane and old gasoline go to the county household hazardous waste sites, free for residents, and we listed them in paint, chemicals and appliances with refrigerant. Medicines are the estate specific one. The Winter Park Police Department takes them at 500 N. Virginia Avenue, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except holidays, and the Orlando Police Department at 1250 W. South Street, weekdays from 7 to 7; the county’s list takes no needles, nothing hazardous and nothing illicit. The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office keeps drop boxes at its Sanford, Oviedo, Altamonte Springs and Lake Mary offices, weekdays 8 to 5, free and with no questions asked. For what cannot be dropped off, the FDA’s method for almost everything is to mix the pills with coffee grounds or cat litter, seal them in a bag, and scratch all the personal information off the packaging before it goes in the trash. The exception is the short list of medicines the FDA says to flush instead.

The box of photos: not in the garage

The one thing every family regrets is the box of photographs that went to the garage “for now.” The State Archives of Florida puts it in one sentence: never store important papers in uncontrolled environments or ones vulnerable to water, such as basements, garages or attics. The Library of Congress adds the numbers for photographs, 30 to 50 percent humidity and 70 degrees or below, which in Central Florida means an air conditioned closet, no paper clips, no tape, and if you have to label them, the name on the sleeve rather than the photo, or a soft pencil near the edge of the back. Take that box home the first day.

What it costs in Orlando

Our price is by the space the load fills, and the price ladder is public: $145 for a single item, $295 for a quarter truck, $395 for a half, $595 for three quarters and $795 for a full truck, labor, loading, hauling and disposal included, with working furniture donated and metal recycled whenever we can. A whole house is usually more than one truck and every house is different, so estate cleanouts are quoted after we see them, and the number you hear is the number you pay.

For a family doing the sorting itself, the 14 yard container is the other tool: $495 on the driveway for a week with two tons of disposal, filled at your own pace, or $895 for 30 days if the sorting will take longer, and picked up when you call. We wrote up crew or container for the choice, and what happens to what we haul for where it all goes.

The statutes, agency pages and charity policies above were read in September 2026 and are linked below. This is general information, not legal or tax advice; a Florida probate attorney can tell you which of it applies to your family.

When you are ready, or just want to know what it would cost, call (407) 904-5577 or send us a few photos. We will tell you the price and what to set aside before the truck comes.

Sources consulted

• Florida Legislature, Fla. Stat. § 733.607, possession of estate, § 732.402, exempt property, § 735.201, summary administration, § 735.301, disposition without administration and § 319.28, transfer of ownership by operation of law
• The Florida Bar, Probate in Florida
• Internal Revenue Service, How long should I keep records?
• Orange County Government, Prescription Drug Disposal Locations (PDF) and Household Hazardous Waste; Seminole County Government, Hazardous and Special Waste; Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Prescription Drug Drop Off Points; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Where and How to Dispose of Unused Medicines
• State Archives of Florida, General Preservation Practices; Library of Congress, Care, Handling and Storage of Photographs
• Habitat for Humanity of Seminole County and Greater Apopka, Donation pickup; West Orange Habitat for Humanity, ReStore; The Salvation Army, Donation FAQ; Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, FAQs

Eco Haul Services hauls junk and rents dumpsters in Winter Park, Orlando and 22 other Central Florida communities. Our prices are the ones on our pricing page. The laws and policies above are theirs, read in September 2026; confirm on the linked pages, and take the legal questions to an attorney.

Questions we get about this

How long does it take to clean out a house after someone dies?

Three clocks run at once. The hauling is the short one: once the decisions are made, the truck is the fast part, and we quote estate cleanouts after we see the house. The sorting is the long one, usually weeks, because every drawer has to be opened. And the legal clock is the longest: the Florida Bar says a simple probate estate takes about five or six months, and until the person with authority says so, nothing should leave the house.

How much does it cost to clean out a house after someone dies?

With our crew the price is by the space it fills in the truck, from $145 for a single item to $795 for a full truck, and a whole house is usually more than one truck, so we quote estate cleanouts after we see them. For a family sorting over weeks, our 14 yard dumpster on the driveway is $495 for a week with two tons of disposal, or $895 for 30 days with one ton if the sort runs longer. What you donate costs nothing, and three charities will come to the house free, each with its own service area and its own list of what it takes.

Who has the right to clean out my parent's house?

Under Florida law it is the personal representative, the term Florida uses instead of executor, and the court's Letters of Administration are the proof of that authority. Being the son or the daughter is not, by itself, the same thing. Whether your parent's estate needs a full probate, a summary administration or no administration at all is a question for a Florida probate attorney, and this guide describes the law without applying it to your case.

What should I not throw away?

The will, the deed, insurance policies, bank and brokerage statements, tax returns, vehicle titles and anything with an account number, until whoever is handling the estate has copied what they need. The IRS's own rule of thumb keeps tax records at least three years and property records until the property is sold and that year's return is settled. And the box of photographs, which should never go into the garage.

Can I sell the house right away?

Selling the house is the estate's decision, not the cleanout crew's, and the order of events is set by the probate process and the attorney handling it. What the cleanout changes is only that an empty, swept house can be shown and photographed. Ask the attorney before listing, and ask a title company what the county will need to record the sale.