WorkflowTrusts, Estates & Probate

Probate Inventory

Probate inventory and appraisal that values each asset as of the date of death, cites the page each value came from and drafts the court form for counsel to approve.

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Walk the register, asset by asset ↓

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The problem

Each late statement reopens the total while the court’s clock runs

The executor owes the court a list of what the estate owned and what each thing was worth on the day the decedent died. A paralegal gathers statements from banks, brokers and insurers, looks up each stock’s high and low for that day, works out interest on each certificate and bond, finds guide values for the cars, and types the court form.

Statements come in one at a time over weeks, and each one moves the total. The costly errors surface later: a closing price where the mean belongs, interest left out, a beneficiary account put on the form, a policy whose beneficiary died left off it. Each carries into the accountings that follow and ends in an amended filing.

Built forEstate paralegalsEstate attorneysExecutorsFirm administrators

The Problem Today

A paralegal rebuilds the estate by hand from a dozen institutions, and the court wants it valued on a single day.

3 months: the most common deadline to file after appointment published
30 days: the shortest deadline some courts allow after appointment published

Gathered and typed, every estate

Statements
Day prices
Interest
Car values

Statements arrive one by oneEach late one means adding the totals up again
Hours the flat fee absorbsParalegal time on each estate eats the margin

The Solution

Each document readStatements, deeds, titles and policies, with a page for each figure
Valued on the date of deathMean of the day’s high and low; interest accrued to the day
Outside probate set apartBeneficiary and survivorship assets listed with their reason
Court form, approvedBuilt from the register; the attorney approves, the executor signs

Built-in controls

Only the attorney approves a value
Nothing is filed or signed by an agent
Account numbers masked; estate files never train models

What You Get

The attorney approves an inventory checked row by row, each value one click from its source page.

3 hours: per inventory for the paralegal, down from 15–25 our estimate

Appraisals asked for earlyWhat needs an appraiser is listed and requested at once
Fewer assets missedTax forms and unclaimed-funds searches read for accounts
Room before the deadlineThe form is drafted weeks before the court’s date

From the first statement to the signed form

Probate inventory and appraisal in nine screens, each value on its page

Each feature is one screen of the register: what it reads, how it values, and the role whose work it takes off the pile.

01Inventory register
A register laid out like the court form, with the filing deadline above it
How it works
- Assets grouped as tangible, intangible and real property, institutions beneath
- Each row: how titled, value at death, source page and running total
- The deadline bar reads 37 of 91 days used, 54 left
- A statement that just arrived waits as one row, not yet valued
Estate paralegalSees what the estate holds so far, what just came in and the one next step, without re-adding a spreadsheet after each mail run.
02Date-of-death coverage
A coverage line that shows which statements actually span the date of death
How it works
- Each account’s statement periods drawn on one calendar
- A vertical line marks the date of death across all of them
- 27 documents and 81 pages read, each figure cited
- An LLC statement that ends at year end is flagged, and a formal appraisal requested
Estate paralegalSpots a statement that stops short of the date of death before its balance lands on the inventory as the value at death.
03Statement valued
A late brokerage statement valued in one pass, every holding at once
How it works
- All 31 holdings priced at the mean of that day’s high and low
- Sweep interest and two dividends with ex-dates before death added
- The account adds $740,597.37
- The total moves from $1,863,520.63 to $2,604,118.00
Estate paralegalNo more pricing each holding one lookup at a time: the statement the inventory was waiting on is valued the day it lands.
04Mean of high and low
Listed stock valued at the day’s mean, with the close shown and set aside
How it works
- The day’s range drawn with its high, low, mean and close
- High 27.41 and low 26.50 give a mean of 26.955, times 370 shares
- $9,973.35 at death; the close, 27.32, would overstate it by $135.05
- Statement line and price record shown as read
Estate administration attorneyApproves each security value with the arithmetic and its source side by side, ready for a beneficiary who asks about the close.
05Interest to the day
Interest earned to the day of death, drawn on its accrual line
How it works
- Last interest date, date of death and next interest date on one line
- $100,000.00 at 4.10% for 117 days adds $1,314.25
- The certificate goes on the inventory at $101,314.25
Estate administration attorneyKeeps interest that was earned but not yet paid from dropping off the inventory and understating each accounting that follows.
06Vehicle guide value
Each car at guide value for its mileage and condition on the day
How it works
- Private-party guide value of $30,100.00 for the newer car
- Plus $650.00 for low mileage, less $1,300.00 for condition
- $29,450.00 at death, beside the title’s odometer reading of 18,420
Estate paralegalPuts a value on each car without waiting for a sale, because a later sale price does not replace the value at death.
07Outside probate
Assets sorted by how they were titled, non-probate assets set apart
How it works
- Sole name, payable to the estate and tenants in common stay in probate
- Beneficiary designations, survivorship and payable on death pass outside
- $998,441.02 in four assets kept off the form, each with its source page
Estate administration attorneyKeeps beneficiary and survivorship assets off the court form, and settles a title in doubt with the signature card or designation open.
08Appraisal requests
Formal appraisals requested, each with a provisional value and a letter
How it works
- The coins, the house and a 40% LLC interest need an appraiser
- Provisional values of $935,500.00 in all stay flagged until the reports arrive
- Each card names the appraiser, credentials, proposed fee and report date
- One approval sends all three letters, fees of $6,350.00 proposed to the court
Estate administration attorneyEngages each probate appraiser weeks before the deadline, instead of finding out late that the house or the business interest still has no value.
09Court form
The probate inventory form drafted from the register and approved to sign
How it works
- Caption, recapitulation, the estate-tax box and a schedule of 64 items
- Checks before sign-off: totals agree, no outside-probate asset, each line cited
- Approved by the attorney, then sent to the executor to sign
ExecutorReceives a form that says plainly what the estate owned and what it was worth, to sign as fiduciary once counsel has approved it.

Six rows of one estate, with the method behind each value at death

How the register reached six of its figures, each with its statement, deed, title or schedule page.

Asset	How it was valued	Value at death
Listed stock, 370 shares	Mean of high 27.41 and low 26.50 is 26.955; the close, 27.32, is not used	$9,973.35
4.25% note, face $50,000	Mean price 101.0625, plus 22 days of accrued interest, $129.14	$50,660.39
Certificate of deposit at 4.10%	$100,000 plus 117 days of accrued interest, $1,314.25	$101,314.25
Newer car, 18,420 miles	Guide value, private party, condition good	$29,450.00
One half of a lake lot	County auditor value of $96,400, divided by two	$48,200.00
House, coins and LLC interest	Provisional, from the auditor value, the capital account and an insurance schedule	$935,500.00

What the register caught before the form went to the executor

Each would have left the form wrong; each now sits in the register with its page.

A beneficiary who died first

The only named beneficiary of one policy had died, and no contingent was named. The $50,000.00 policy pays the estate, so it goes on the inventory.

A certificate found on an interest form

An interest form from the year before named an account missing from the register. It turned out to be a payable-on-death certificate, set outside probate with its reason.

Dividends declared before death

Two dividends went ex-dividend days before death and were paid after it. Both, $273.00 and $140.25, are receivable at death and belong on the inventory.

A deposit sitting in unclaimed funds

A search of unclaimed funds turned up a utility deposit refund of $1,212.40. It was added to the register with the search result as its source.

Around the register

The proof, the approvals and the version trail behind one estate inventory

Six more screens the estate team opens between the last statement and the signature.

Statement passage behind a cited value: the holding of 370 shares, the day’s high 27.41 and low 26.50 highlighted, value $9,973.35 — **One holding’s statement line, opened**Each cited value opens its statement passage, with the share count and the day’s high and low highlighted.

Approval of 35 new values totaling $741,809.77, under the rule that whoever prepared a value cannot approve it — **Thirty-five values, one approval**The paralegal sends the new values and only the attorney may approve them: the holdings, the cash sweep, two dividends and the refund, $741,809.77.

The four assets outside probate with their reasons, above two that stay in: a $50,000.00 policy and one half of a lake lot held as tenants in common — **Two that stay in probate**A policy with no living beneficiary and a lake lot held in common stay on the inventory, each confirmed by the attorney with its page.

Engagement letter to the residential appraiser for the house, fair market value as of the date of death and a fee subject to the court’s approval — **An engagement letter, drafted**The letter asks the residential appraiser for fair market value as of the date of death, proposes a $650.00 fee for the court, and asks for a signed certificate.

Inventory versions from the first draft of 29 assets to 64 assets at $2,604,118.00, each change named, and an empty supplemental inventory — **Each version, and what changed**A first draft of 29 assets, then the unclaimed refund, then the brokerage account: $2,604,118.00. A find after filing becomes a supplemental inventory.

Audit of the estate: asset classes with their valuer, method and approver, and a log of the day’s valuations, approvals and appraisal requests — **Who valued, who approved**Each class of asset shows who valued it, by what method, and the attorney’s approval, above a log of each read, run and signature.

The paralegal prepares, the attorney approves each value, the executor signs

Agents read and value. People decide what goes on the form and who appraises the rest.

Estate paralegal

Sees: The register, the coverage line and the one next step for each estate
Signs: Prepares values and sends document requests; cannot approve a value

Estate administration attorney

Sees: Each value beside its passage, and each title decision with its deed, card or designation
Signs: Approves each value, each outside-probate call, the appraiser engagements and the form

Executor

Sees: The court form drafted from the approved register
Signs: The inventory, as fiduciary

Court-approved appraiser

Sees: The letter of engagement and the documents for the asset in question
Signs: A certificate for each appraised value

Firm administrator

Sees: Valuation rules, appraisal thresholds, roles and retention
Signs: Proposes rule changes for a partner to approve; makes no estate decision

Probate inventory and appraisal: values at death, titles and appraisers

What is probate inventory and appraisal?

Probate inventory and appraisal is the filing that tells the court what the estate owned and what each asset was worth on the date of death. Here, agents read the statements, deeds, titles and policies, value each asset as of that day with its page, set aside what passes outside probate and draft the court form for counsel’s approval.

How is stock valued on the date of death?

At the mean of the highest and lowest selling prices that day, read from the daily price record and multiplied by the shares held. The close is shown and set aside. If the market was closed that day, the firm’s setting takes the weighted average of the nearest trading days before and after.

How are non-probate assets kept off the form?

Each asset is sorted by how it was titled: the deed, signature card, policy schedule or beneficiary designation. Survivorship, payable-on-death and beneficiary assets are listed apart with their reason and page. A disputed title goes to the attorney to decide.

Which assets still need a probate appraiser?

Real estate, tangible property above the court’s threshold in aggregate, and closely held interests, as the firm’s settings define them. Each carries a provisional value and its basis until the report arrives, and the attorney approves each appraiser first.

Does it find accounts the family did not mention?

It reads tax forms, the estate’s mail and prior returns for income from accounts not yet in the register, and searches unclaimed funds. After filing it keeps watching; a late find is valued, cited and drafted as a supplemental inventory.

Can an agent file or sign the inventory?

No. The attorney approves each value and the form, the executor signs as fiduciary, and the appraiser certifies appraised values. Agents prepare the register and drafts; they file and sign nothing.

Trusts, Estates & Probate

Every value at death, cited to its page
before the court’s date comes due.

Send us the statements of a closed estate; we rebuild its register and court form to set beside the inventory you filed.

Book a walkthrough Browse solutions

Probate Inventory

Each late statement reopens the total while the court’s clock runs

The Problem Today

The Solution

What You Get

Probate inventory and appraisal in nine screens, each value on its page

A register laid out like the court form, with the filing deadline above it

A coverage line that shows which statements actually span the date of death

A late brokerage statement valued in one pass, every holding at once

Listed stock valued at the day’s mean, with the close shown and set aside

Interest earned to the day of death, drawn on its accrual line

Each car at guide value for its mileage and condition on the day

Assets sorted by how they were titled, non-probate assets set apart

Formal appraisals requested, each with a provisional value and a letter

The probate inventory form drafted from the register and approved to sign