You’ve planned for your home, your investments, and your financial assets. But what about everything inside your home?
Who gets the artwork? The antiques? The family heirlooms? Grandma’s rocking chair? The things with significant financial value—and the things that may be priceless only to the people who love them?
Personal property can be one of the most emotional parts of settling an estate. Making decisions in advance can clarify your wishes, reduce uncertainty, and help preserve family harmony when it matters most.
AVI offers two ways to document tangible personal property for estate planning and settlement, depending on the size and complexity of the estate and how the information will be used.
All-Inclusive may be your best solution if you:
You’re planning your own estate and want to decide what happens to your personal property rather than leaving those difficult decisions to your family.
You’re settling an estate and need to identify, document, value, or distribute personal property among heirs.
You’re an estate planning attorney, executor, trustee, family office, or advisor looking for a more organized way to manage tangible personal property for a client.
You’re going through a divorce and need to document, value, and divide personal property assets in a clear and organized way.
For each of these situations, AVI can recommend the level of documentation that fits your circumstances and the decisions that need to be made.
The record you create today can serve you for years to come. It can help you make informed insurance decisions, document a future claim, and give you a clear foundation for estate planning and settlement.
The best time to create that record is while you can still identify what you own, explain what matters to you, and decide what should happen to it.
After a death or major loss, your family may be left trying to piece together a lifetime of possessions at a time when they are already dealing with grief and difficult decisions.
Document it now. Give your family clarity later.
Wills and trusts typically address homes, investments, and financial assets. But the possessions accumulated over a lifetime can be harder to document, value, and divide—and they can carry both financial and emotional value.
Estate Planning & Settlement turns those possessions into a clear, organized record of what you own, what it’s worth, and what you want to happen to it.
AVI’s online tools allow you to assign items to beneficiaries, involve heirs in the selection process, and compare values when a more equitable distribution is important.
Instead of leaving a property full of possessions and difficult decisions, you can leave your family clarity, direction, and peace of mind.
Not every estate needs a complete inventory and valuation.
If your priority is creating a visual record of the property and recording your wishes, 3D HomeScan may provide all the documentation you need.
Your interactive online account allows you to tag individual items, add descriptions or notes about intended recipients, and order professional appraisals separately when needed.
It can be a practical choice for a smaller or less complex estate, or when financially balancing the distribution isn’t a priority.
For larger or more complex estates—or when knowing the value of personal property is important to creating a more equitable distribution—Estate Planning & Settlement provides the additional detail and structure.
Document your tangible personal property with descriptions, digital images, values, and the exact location of each item.
Assign specific items to beneficiaries yourself or invite your heirs to participate in the selection process.
Use valuations and certified appraisals to compare allocations when a more financially balanced distribution is important.
Give your family, executor, attorney, or advisor an organized record to work from instead of relying on memory, guesswork, or a house full of possessions.
Every family is different. Every estate is different. And not everyone needs the same level of documentation.
If you’re not sure whether Estate Planning & Settlement or 3D HomeScan is the better fit, let’s talk. We’ll answer your questions, explain your options, and help you choose the approach that best fits your family, your estate, and your goals.
Personal property can be one of the most time-consuming and emotional parts of estate planning and settlement.
AVI provides the professional inventory, valuations, certified appraisals, and online tools needed to organize tangible personal property assets—giving you and your clients a clearer, more efficient way to plan ahead or settle an estate.
Tangible personal property is physical property that can be seen and touched and that is not real estate. It includes things such as jewelry, artwork, antiques, furniture, collectibles, silver, china, crystal, rugs, musical instruments, and other personal possessions. For estate planning purposes, tangible personal property can include both items of significant monetary value and possessions that have particular importance to the family.
AVI specializes in documenting and valuing these tangible personal property assets so families have reliable information when making estate decisions.
Tangible personal property can represent significant financial and sentimental value, yet it is often one of the least clearly addressed parts of an estate plan.
Jewelry, artwork, antiques, collections, furniture, family heirlooms, and other personal possessions may have substantial value—or simply be deeply meaningful to individual family members. Without a clear record of what exists, what it is worth, and who is intended to receive it, decisions about personal property can become difficult after someone is no longer able to make them.
Documenting and valuing personal property while you’re able to communicate your wishes gives your family a clear record to work from and allows you to make your intentions known.
Personal property can be one of the most emotional parts of settling an estate. Family members may have strong feelings about sentimental belongings, one-of-a-kind items, or property with significant monetary value.
A documented inventory gives everyone a clear record of what exists, where it is, and what it is worth. AVI’s Estate Planning & Settlement platform also allows the owner to designate beneficiaries, invite family members to participate, and adjust allocations as decisions are made.
The goal isn’t to eliminate difficult family decisions. It’s to give the family a clearer, more transparent way to make them.
For estate planning and settlement, AVI generally uses fair market value when an appraisal is required.
Fair market value represents the value of the property in the appropriate market as of the relevant valuation date. AVI’s professional appraisers research and evaluate each asset using appropriate appraisal methods and standards, with appraisal work performed in accordance with USPAP and applicable IRS reporting guidelines.
The appropriate valuation can depend on the purpose of the appraisal and the requirements of the estate. AVI can help determine the appropriate appraisal scope and valuation approach for the situation.
Yes. AVI can provide personal property inventory, documentation, valuation, and appraisal services as part of estate settlement after someone has died.
The completed inventory and certified appraisals can give the estate, executor, attorney, and beneficiaries reliable information about the personal property that needs to be distributed.
AVI’s Estate Planning & Settlement platform can also be used to organize possessions and document beneficiary allocations after death. The family’s decisions can be made using the same clear record of the property’s identity, location, description, and value.
Estate planning doesn’t have to happen before death for AVI to help. We can work with the family and their advisors when the estate is being settled, too.
