How to Keep a Record of What Was Sold, Kept or Given Away

Three reasons this record exists

It is worth being honest about all three, because the log gets kept properly only when the person keeping it understands why they are bothering.

The first reason is your siblings. In most families, nobody says out loud that they wonder where the jewellery went. That is precisely the problem. An unasked question sits there for years. A dated log with photographs makes it unaskable, and it protects the person who did all the lifting, which is almost always the same person who ends up under quiet suspicion.

The second reason is the estate. At some point someone will have to account for what the house contained, and whoever handles that will be grateful for a list that already exists. You are not doing legal work here and you should not attempt to. A solicitor or attorney advises on what is required. You are simply making sure the facts are written down while they are still known, which is the part only you can do.

The third reason is you. Memory is far worse at this than people expect. Two hundred items over six weekends, and by the following spring you will genuinely not know whether the clock went to the auction house or to your cousin. Not knowing is uncomfortable in a way that is hard to describe until it happens.

The columns of the log

One row per item, or per group of identical items. A notebook works. A spreadsheet works better because it sorts and totals.

Item number. Description. Room. Photo reference. Decision, from a fixed list. Recipient or buyer. Date. Amount received. Where the money went. Proof reference. Who decided. Notes.

Two columns deserve particular attention.

"Who decided" is the one that ends arguments before they start. It records that your mum chose this, on that date, or that the three of you agreed on the phone on the fourth. It is one short entry and it removes the entire category of dispute about authority.

"Amount received" should never be blank. Write 0 for donated, 0 for disposed, 0 for given to family. A blank cell reads as something withheld, even when it is simply a cell nobody filled in. Zeroes are unambiguous and cost nothing.

Use a fixed vocabulary in the decision column so it can be totalled: KEPT, FAMILY, SOLD, DONATED, DISPOSED. Five words, no variations. "Went to Sue" and "gave to Sue" and "Sue took it" are three different entries to a spreadsheet and the same event to a human.

• Item no.
• Description, identifiable by someone who never saw it
• Room it came from
• Photo reference
• Decision: KEPT / FAMILY / SOLD / DONATED / DISPOSED
• Recipient or buyer name
• Date
• Amount received, with 0 where none
• Where the money went: which account, on what date
• Proof reference: receipt, slip, screenshot
• Who decided
• Notes

Photographs, and where the threshold sits

Photograph more than feels necessary and less than everything, and set the threshold before you start so you are not making a judgement about each item while tired.

A workable threshold is anything you would have to explain. In practice that means three categories.

Anything above an agreed value. Pick a round number and write it at the top of the log. Fifty is a common line and the exact figure matters far less than having one.

Anything anyone has ever mentioned wanting, at any point, however casually. This category is small and it is where every dispute comes from.

Anything going to a family member, without exception, regardless of value.

One photograph is enough. Either write the item number on a card and include it in the shot, or rename the file to the item number afterwards. The first method is faster and survives being copied between phones.

For anything handed to a family member, photograph the item with the person receiving it if they are comfortable with that. It is quicker than a signature, less formal, and completely unambiguous. A text message saying "collected the blue chair today, thanks" serves the same purpose, so screenshot it and file the reference.

The proof to keep, by route out

Each way an item leaves the house produces different paperwork. File it in one envelope per month, with the item numbers written on the outside, and reference the envelope in the proof column.

Sold privately: buyer's name, date, amount, and how it was paid. Screenshot the listing and the message thread before you delete the app.

Auction: the entry receipt with the lot numbers, the sale schedule, and the settlement statement showing commission and fees deducted. Reconcile the settlement against your log line by line, because lots get combined and withdrawn.

Consignment or dealer: the signed agreement, the agreed commission rate, and the payout statement.

Donated: the charity's receipt or collection note. Many issue a slip with a reference number, and some countries allow a tax benefit on donations, in which case an accountant tells you what documentation is required. Keep the slip either way.

House clearance: the written quote, the invoice, and the firm's waste carrier registration number.

Tip or transfer station: the receipt if one is issued.

One envelope per month, one line in the log, and the whole thing reconciles in an evening at the end.

• Screenshots of private sale listings and message threads
• Auction entry receipt, sale schedule, settlement statement
• Consignment agreement and payout statement
• Charity receipts and collection notes
• House clearance quote, invoice and waste carrier number
• Transfer station receipts
• Bank record of every amount received, matched to its item numbers

Things given to family

These are the rows that matter most and take the most care.

Record four things for every item: what it was, who received it, the date, and whether it was your parent's own decision. If your parent is present and able to say so, write "chosen by Margaret, 12 May" and, if they are willing, ask them to initial the bottom of the page. That initial takes a second and it settles the question permanently.

Do not turn the log into an agreement, and do not attempt to handle anything with tax or inheritance consequences yourself. Where value is involved, that is a conversation for a solicitor or attorney, and where tax may arise, for an accountant. Your role is only to ensure that nobody has to rely on memory.

The process that prevents almost all of the trouble is this. Before anything leaves the house, circulate a written list of the "to family" items, with photographs, and give a deadline for requests or objections. One week is enough.

Silence following a written, dated list is a completely different thing from silence following nothing at all. Send it by email so it has a timestamp, keep the sent message, and note the date in the log.

Closing the log and sharing it

When the house is empty, finish the document properly rather than letting it trail off, because a log that stops mid-sentence invites exactly the questions it was meant to prevent.

Total the amount column. Against each amount, note which account it went into and on what date, so the money has a visible path from the item to the bank.

Check for blanks. Every row needs a decision, a date and a figure, even if the figure is zero. Fill in anything missing now, while it is still recallable.

Print the whole thing. Sign and date the last page. Scan it, including the signature.

Send one copy to every sibling, together with a short covering note: this is the record of what happened to the contents of the house, here is the total raised and where it went, please tell me if anything looks wrong. Keep the paper copy with the property paperwork and the scan wherever your family files things.

Then stop. A closed log with a date and a signature is a finished piece of work. Finishing it is not a formality. It is the moment the whole business stops being an open question for everyone involved, including you.

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