A complete record of the property in your care.

In Short

What this appraisal is for

A guardian or conservator managing someone else's property is accountable to the court for what that property is worth. We prepare the inventory and valuation that accounting depends on, so the record of your stewardship is complete and defensible from the outset.

When You Need One

Who this is for

A guardian or a conservator is accountable to the court for property that is not their own, and that accounting starts with knowing what is there and what it is worth. Clients reach us at these points.

• A newly appointed guardian or conservator has to file an initial inventory with the court.
• An annual accounting is due and the personal property has never been valued.
• The ward's home is being sold or cleared, and its contents must be accounted for first.
• An item of real value has turned up among ordinary household goods.
• A family member has questioned how the property is being managed.

The Report

What the report is used for

The purpose here is a defensible record, made early. An inventory and valuation taken at the start of an appointment protects the ward, and it protects the guardian: it establishes what existed, and what it was worth, before anything was sold, given away, or lost.

Reports are prepared under USPAP at fair market value, unless the court has specified another standard. They are itemised to the level an accounting needs, rather than summarised into a single figure.

• An itemised inventory, with a description of each item or lot
• The value of each item, and the total for the inventory
• The standard of value applied, and the effective date
• The market data behind each figure
• The appraiser's certification, qualifications, and signature

How It Works

Four steps, start to signed report

Most assignments are prepared remotely, from photographs and documents. Where an item genuinely has to be seen in person, we say so before you pay rather than issue an opinion we cannot stand behind.

1. You send photographs and an inventory of the items, with any provenance, receipts, or certificates you have
2. We reply with a fixed quote, before any work starts
3. We research comparable sales and market data for each item or asset
4. You receive a signed, USPAP-compliant report you can file

Your Part

What we need from you

• The date of your appointment, or the date the court's inventory runs to
• A wide photograph of each room before anything is moved, then close photographs of the items
• The inventory in the order you photographed it, so the record follows the house
• For any vehicle or machine: the VIN or serial number, the mileage or hours, and the title
• Whatever the court's inventory form requires, if you have been given it

Photograph the property room by room before anything is moved, and keep the inventory in the order you photographed it. An accounting is easier to defend when the record follows the house. If the court has told you what its inventory form requires, send that as well, and we will match the report to it.

Price

What this costs

Contents are quoted on the per-item schedule, from $10 an item, with a $150 minimum. Low-value goods are grouped into lots at that tier; anything of real value is listed on its own. A car, a boat, or a machine in the ward's care is an asset line from $250, not another $10 item.

You get a fixed quote before any work starts, and the fee follows the research the assignment takes, not the value we find. If photographs cannot support the value, we say so before you pay — and if the fee would exceed what the property is likely worth, we say that too.

See the full pricing →