Though not a favorite topic for anyone to discuss, we wanted to share the importance of preparing a home inventory now rather than leaving that task to your executor.
Estate Settlement
Being an executor of an estate is a time-consuming, emotionally draining experience. Most people choose an adult child to take on those responsibilties. Have you considered what you can do to make this easier for him or her?
One required task will be to compile an inventory of the estate’s assets. Consider how difficult this will be for your executor as he or she prepares this document. Emotions aside, they will also need to find the time to document the items and assign a market value to each. One executor stated that he sat for hours staring at a blank piece of paper. He didn’t know where to begin, what he should list, or how to know what value to place on each item. Most prominent was the sadness he felt when thinking about looking through everything in the house. Additionally, he was from out of state and knew it would require him to be absent from his job for a few more days. Having the inventory professionally prepared addressed all of these issues.
How can you prevent this from happening to your adult children/executor?
Estate Planning
Creating an inventory of your personal property now will ease the estate settlement process for your executor. At your death, the inventory proces will have already been taken care of it. The only changes necessary will be making any recent updates and changing the replacement value of each item to the fair market value. That will be a very small task compared to compiling the entire inventory.
Whether you are elderly or just entering your adult life, an inventory is a living document that is extremely important to have prepared. For now, to ensure a maximized insurance claim after a loss. And for later, to ease the stress your executor will face.
Cindy Hartman
Hartman Inventory, LLC
317-501-6818
cindy@hartmaninventory.com
PROMOTING WITHOUT BREACHING CONFIDENTIALITY
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011In my previous post, I talked about how important it is in the home inventory sector to maintain confidentiality with your customers. This is tough, because referrals are a huge part of this business. So, how do we create a balance talking about our work AND keep the integrity of our Confidentiality Agreement?
One way, as mentioned in that post, is that we are fortunate enough to have customers provide testimonials for our website and offer to tell their story in our blog posts and newsletters. When people offer, that’s a great opportunity and we seize that immediately!
However, there are two other very easy ways to maintain that trust and still be able to discuss your work.
Don’t reveal their names
We often say “one of our customers…” or “during a recent inventory …” when giving examples, answering a question, etc. By not stating a name, address or even the city, you aren’t revealing any information that would give that person’s identity away.
Ask for permission
We recently provided an inventory for a heating and air conditioning company. We signed and discussed our Confidentiality Agreement with the owner. Then we also asked if we could post comments on Facebook about his new-found peace of mind and ability to prove ownership of his assets. He was more than happy to say yes, because he realizes the value of others talking about his company. He, in turn, thanked us on Facebook. You can do this on Twitter and all other social media sites as long as you have obtained permission of your client.
Obviously, it’s less of a confidentiality issue with a company, since people are in public buildings more than a person’s home, and a company’s information is already “out there”. But the need to ensure this level of professionalism is important, nonetheless.
When asking for permission, it’s important to state exactly what you plan to do and stay within those restrictions (notice I didn’t include his company’s name since I didn’t have permission to do so).
These are simple ways to preserve the promised confidentiality, to not disclose your clients’ names, and still be able to tell others about your work, your process and answer specific questions that can be best answered with an example.
Cindy Hartman
Hartman Inventory, LLC
317-501-6818
cindy@hartmaninventory.com
Tags: Business inventory, Business promotion, Home inventory, indianapolis small business
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