TA10 Fittings and Contents Form as an Executor (2026)

How do I fill in the TA10 fittings and contents form as an executor?

1The TA10 records, room by room, what is included in the sale: curtains, carpets, light fittings, white goods and garden items are each marked included, excluded, or none at the property.
2It becomes part of the contract. Removing something you listed as included, or leaving behind items you listed as excluded, is a breach of contract.
3Speak to the beneficiaries before you complete it. Items may be left to someone in the will, or wanted by family, and nothing should be promised to the buyer first.
4Align the TA10 with your house clearance plan. If the house will be cleared before completion, most answers are simply 'none at the property'.
5Buyers of probate properties often ask for items to be left, which can cut your clearance bill. That is negotiable, and whatever you agree should be recorded on the TA10.

You walk the house room by room, marking each item as included in the sale, excluded, or not at the property, and the completed form becomes part of the sale contract. As an executor the form itself is simple. The part that needs care is the order you do things in: beneficiaries first, clearance plan second, TA10 third. This guide explains why, and how to use the form to save the estate money.

What the TA10 is

The TA10 is the Fittings and Contents Form, part of the Law Society's suite of transaction forms used in residential sales in England and Wales. Where the TA6 describes the property itself, the TA10 describes what is physically in it and what the buyer will get.

It works room by room. For the kitchen, the bedrooms, the garden and so on, you record items such as curtains and blinds, carpets, light fittings, white goods (the fridge, freezer, washing machine and similar appliances), sheds and garden furniture. Against each item you tick one of three answers: included in the sale, excluded from the sale, or none at the property.

There is no trick to any individual answer. The form simply asks you to say, clearly and in writing, what stays and what goes, so that neither side is surprised on completion day.

On versions: the TA10 is periodically updated as part of the Law Society's transaction forms suite. You do not need to track editions yourself. Use the version your conveyancer supplies, which will be the right one for your sale. If you have not read it yet, our companion guide to the TA6 form for executors covers the bigger of the two seller forms.

Why a form about curtains carries legal weight

It is easy to treat the TA10 as an afterthought, a checklist about lampshades sandwiched between more serious paperwork. Resist that instinct, because the TA10 becomes part of the contract when contracts are exchanged.

That has two practical consequences:

If something is listed as included and it is not there on completion day, the estate is in breach of contract. A family member taking the washing machine after the form was signed, however innocently, creates a genuine legal problem.
If items are listed as excluded, or as none at the property, and the buyer arrives to find rooms full of furniture and belongings, that is also a breach. Buyers can and do claim the cost of clearing what was left behind.

The form must match reality on completion day

The single test the TA10 has to pass is this: on the day the buyer gets the keys, the house should contain exactly what the form says it contains. Nothing listed as included may be removed, and nothing described as gone may be left behind. If plans change after you have signed, tell your conveyancer straight away so the form can be updated before exchange.

Step one for an executor: talk to the beneficiaries first

For an ordinary seller, the contents of the house are theirs to promise. For you, they are not. The contents belong to the estate, and other people may have claims on them.

Before you complete the TA10, check two things:

The will. Specific items may be bequeathed, which means left to a named person. A grandfather clock left to a grandchild cannot be included in the sale, however much the buyer admires it.
The family. Even where the will says nothing, beneficiaries and close family often want particular items: furniture, garden tools, the pictures on the walls. These conversations can be tender, and they are far easier to have before anything has been promised to a buyer than after.

Only once everyone has had their say do you know what is genuinely available to include in the sale. Getting this order right avoids the worst version of events: an item promised to the buyer on a signed TA10 that a grieving relative believed was theirs.

Step two: align the TA10 with your clearance plan

Most probate sales involve a house clearance at some point, whether done by family over several weekends or by a professional clearance firm. The TA10 and the clearance plan need to tell the same story.

If the house will be fully cleared before completion, the form is quick: most answers will be "none at the property", perhaps with carpets and light fittings included. If the clearance is partial, be precise about what will remain. Our guide to clearing a house after a death covers the clearance itself, including timing it around the sale.

A quiet opportunity to save the estate money

Buyers of probate properties quite often ask for items to be left: the white goods, the curtains and carpets, sometimes the garden shed and its contents. Saying yes can genuinely help both sides. The buyer furnishes a house cheaply, and the estate's clearance bill shrinks because there is less to remove. This is entirely negotiable. Agree it with the buyer through the agent or the solicitors, then make sure every item you have agreed to leave is recorded as included on the TA10.

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Filling it in: a practical room-by-room approach

The easiest way to complete the TA10 accurately is to do it in the house, not from memory at your kitchen table. Take the form, walk each room and mark items as you see them.

Work systematically: hallway, each room in turn, then the loft, garage, shed and garden.
Take photographs of each room as you go. If a question ever arises later about what was there when the form was completed, you will be glad of them.
Where an item will be removed by family or in the clearance, mark it excluded, or "none at the property" if it will already be gone by completion.
Do not overpromise. If you are unsure whether the beneficiaries will want the sideboard, resolve that question before you mark it included.

Once done, return the form to your conveyancer, who sends it to the buyer's solicitor alongside the TA6. Both forms usually go out together, and both feed into the contract your conveyancer prepares. For how the forms fit into the wider legal process, see our guide to conveyancing for a probate sale, or step back to the full journey in selling an inherited house.

A word on what things are worth, because it shapes the negotiation. Second-hand furniture and appliances generally fetch far less than families expect, and buyers know it. That is worth remembering when a buyer offers a modest sum for the contents, or asks for them free: the realistic alternative is often paying a clearance firm to take the same items away. Unless something appears genuinely valuable, in which case have it looked at before the sale, treating leftover contents as a cost to avoid rather than an asset to monetise usually serves the estate best.

Common pitfalls for executors

A handful of avoidable mistakes account for most TA10 trouble in probate sales. Watch for these.

Family removing items after the form is signed. The most common problem by far. Once the TA10 is completed, tell everyone with a key that nothing else leaves the house without checking with you first.
The clearance firm taking too much. If carpets, curtains or appliances are listed as included, brief the clearance firm in writing about exactly what must stay. A conscientious crew will otherwise strip the house bare.
Completing the form from memory. If you last visited the house weeks ago, your recollection of which rooms have curtains will be wrong somewhere. Do it on site.
Forgetting the garden and outbuildings. Sheds, greenhouses, garden furniture, pots and tools all belong on the form, and are exactly the items buyers most often ask to keep.
Not updating the form when plans change. If a beneficiary changes their mind about an item after you have returned the TA10, tell your conveyancer immediately so the form can be amended before exchange.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the TA10 form legally binding?

Yes. The TA10 becomes part of the contract when contracts are exchanged. If an item listed as included is removed before completion, or if the buyer finds belongings left behind that the form said would be gone, the estate is in breach of contract and the buyer may claim compensation, such as the cost of clearing what was left.

What should an executor do before completing the TA10?

Two things. First, check the will for items left to named people, and ask beneficiaries and close family what they want from the house. Second, settle the house clearance plan, because the form must describe what will actually be in the house on completion day. Only then complete the TA10.

Can the buyer ask for furniture and appliances to be left in a probate sale?

Yes, and it happens often. Buyers of probate properties frequently ask for white goods, carpets, curtains or garden items to be left. Agreeing can reduce the estate's clearance costs, so it is often worth saying yes. It is entirely negotiable, and whatever you agree should be recorded on the TA10 so both sides are protected.

What if the house will be completely cleared before the sale?

Then the TA10 is quick to complete: most answers will be "none at the property". Just make sure the clearance genuinely happens before completion, and that anything you have marked as included, such as carpets or light fittings, is not swept up in the clearance by mistake.

Which version of the TA10 should I use?

Use the edition your conveyancer supplies. The TA10 is part of the Law Society's transaction forms suite and is updated from time to time, but unlike the TA6 there is no special deadline you need to track. Your conveyancer will always send the correct current version for your sale.