One of the key issues that confronts a new Executor is knowing the value of the personal property. This is important because the Executor needs to be able to make wise decisions about the best way to transfer the ownership of the items. Will the tangible assets be sold, donated, distributed among heirs and friends? If items will be sold, considering their value, does it make more sense to sell items at an estate sale, auction, classified ad, to a collector, dealer, or the general public? How can the Executor ensure that the estate will receive a fair price for the items?

For houses and other real estate, it is relatively simple to find out the value. It’s the same with cars, trucks, and even boats. It’s when you get into the smaller items that it becomes a lot more complicated. Who knows the value of paintings, lamps, jewelry, coins, antiques, collectibles, and ephemera (paper goods like old advertisements, letters, and postcards)?

That’s where Estate-Prep can step in. We have the contacts and resources to find out what is worth looking at further without any appreciable cost to the estate. We can arrange for an “assessment” of the contents by a qualified appraiser, who will quickly review the home’s contents to find those items that might be rare, valuable, or collectible – before someone brings in the big trash container and goes crazy “cleaning out the mess.” Once the assessment is completed, Estate-Prep can also complete a full appraisal on select items, if needed.

The family dynamics aspect of estate settlement can’t be ignored. An otherwise harmonious relationship can quickly sour when struggles arise concerning how to accomplish a particular aspect of the settlement, how much money should be spent on property repairs prior to sale, or which person will receive a particularly treasured item. If these struggles are left to fester, they can quickly turn into control issues that cause temporary or permanent family rifts.

Estate-Prep’s Executor coaching services can be utilized early in the process to provide strategies that get the tangible asset distribution effort and other settlement-related decisions and communication off on the right foot to promote open settlement communication, equitable distributions, and long-term family harmony.

Even with the expert help of estate professionals (lawyers and tax accountants), the Executor is faced with a myriad of paperwork and settlement details that need to be collected, compiled, categorized, handled, and systematically controlled. Inherent issues in the organization process are that the collection sources and types of information are widespread and diverse, including companies your loved one did business with, sources of income and obligations, benefit and beneficiary information, planning specifics, titles, deeds, asset disposition actions and status details to name a few. Timing also poses an obstacle to getting and staying organized, since settlement details are collected over the long timeframe of a year or more. There’s a lot to keep up with.

Not having a specific organizational structure for the settlement process can cause delays in asset disposition; failure to settle or collect on asset that may be missed; frustration, confusion, and setbacks or rejected claims due to omitted information, improper signatures, or missing support documentation.

Estate-Prep’s Settlement Project Book organization method, questionnaires, and help documents promote an efficient, effective settlement process and facilitates the Executor’s interactions with estate professionals and others.

One of the strategies that can be used to “keep the peace” is to maintain accurate financial records to show that the settlement is being handled with precision. A second strategy is to conserve estate resources, so saving estate resources is a logical goal for the Executor. Resource “leaks” can come in the form of over-zealous home repairs that don’t provide a good return on investment, rushed screening of trade professionals and others engaged to perform services for the estate, professional costs that exceed the budget. Some of these things occur because the Executor is trying to cram too many duties into days that were filled even before their “Executorship” began.

Estate-Prep has the time and the resources to help. Whether it’s in the form of mentoring the Executor on key interview questions to ask, ways to reduce professional costs, or providing hands-on home inspections with a qualified contractor to assess “needed” versus “extra” repairs, our goal is helping the Executor maximize his/her resources, contributing to a successful settlement.

An Executor can’t do it alone… He or she needs to find the “right” people who can advise, complete the work, and mentor the Executor or his/her unique settlement situation. The Executor also needs tools and processes that facilitate the efficient, effective collection, processing, and control of settlement paperwork and details.

Through its workshop, Executor coaching service, and resource network, Estate-Prep can help the Executor find the people and tools to make the difference.