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

For days we’ve been hearing and reading about new year’s resolutions. Personal resolutions. But what about your house? Is there such a thing as a home resolution? There is when it comes to things to do around the home. Lorene Bartos states in her blog, Resolutions around the home, that there are some key things that should be listed as a new year resolution.

As I often recommend, she says, ”…take or update your home inventory. Do you know what is in each room and the value of each item? You might be surprised when you add it all up — what you have and what it is worth if you would have to replace it because of fire or other disaster.”
Any time is a good time to create your home inventory, so why not now? Make it a resolution. You’ll be glad you did when you’re struggling to remember everything you USED to own after a major loss.

It’s as easy as putting it on your list of resolutions. Be sure to determine a deadline. If you haven’t done it by your assigned date, contact a nationally certified inventory professional to do it for you. Then next December, you can look back over the year, and realize how much peace of mind you created for yourself.

Cindy Hartman
Hartman Inventory, LLC
317-501-6818
cindy@hartmaninventory.com

In 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

One of the most common misunderstandings about recovering from a disaster and receiving a proper settlement is that if you have insurance, you’ll just get a check in the mail for the amount of your coverage. Far too many people are unaware of the fact that it is not that easy – it is a long, painstaking process to file a claim if you aren’t prepared ahead of time.

No matter what disaster happens, from a few items stolen or every single item destroyed by a fire or tornado, you will need to provide a business or home inventory to your insurance company. This list is how they know how much to pay you. If you don’t include an item, you won’t receive settlement funds to replace it. This is a daunting task that can take months and months to complete.

A recent article on WSOC TV’s website, titled Items found miles away from tornado’s path, shows how complicated and difficult this can be. The recent tornado in York County, South Carolina, dropped household items miles away. People are recovering them and turning the items into the local fire department. OK, that seems easy enough – you’re thinking … just go over to the fire station and pick up your stuff, right?

The problem is, how do the firemen know who to give the items to? How do they know the items are really yours? “The storage area is being kept locked to keep the items safe. However, as courts get involved in disputes over the ownership of some things, firefighters can’t let anything be taken until legal decisions are made.”

How much easier it would be if these homeowners had an inventory! They could take their photographs and written report (which would include serial numbers and model numbers) to the local authorities to prove it’s theirs.

The term “burden of proof” is often brought up in the court system. It’s also a huge piece of the insurance settlement process. Compiling this information is worth the time and effort now, rather than when you’re sitting on a pile of timber, wondering if you’ll ever recover well enough to replace all that you owned.

Cindy Hartman
Hartman Inventory, LLC
317-501-6818
cindy@hartmaninventory.com