Alaska Court System Self-Help

An Inventory is a list of all property owned by the person who died and the value of each item of property at the time of the person's death. The Personal Representative must prepare this list within three months of the date of their appointment.

To prepare an inventory, you can file:

Inventory of Property, P-370

For each item of property owned by the person who died, you must include the following:

• A description of the property.
• The "fair market value" of the property on the date of the person's death.
• The amount and type of any encumbrance (lien) against the property.

It is also helpful if you do the following:

• Sort the items into real property and personal property.
• List how the person held title to the property, such as jointly or with a right of survivorship. This will also help you decide whether the property is probate property or nonprobate property.
• Include the name of each joint owner or payable on death beneficiary of the property.

If you hired a professional appraiser to value any property, you must list the appraiser's name and address next to the item that was appraised.

You must send a copy to any interested person who asks for it.

You must use the fair market value for each item of estate property. This means the reasonable price that an unrelated person would pay for the property in its "as is" condition at the date of the person's death. You can hire a professional appraiser to help you decide what something is worth.

Below are guidelines to help you decide on a value for common types of property:

There are many other types of property and some can be hard to value. You may want to talk to a probate lawyer if you have questions about how to value property.

You must send a copy to any interested person who asks for it. You can also file the original with the court.

It can be hard to find all of the property owned by the person who died. Below are helpful steps that you can take:

• Look through the person's home, office, safe and file cabinets. Collect deeds, life insurance policies, stocks, cash, jewelry or other valuable property. Collect and review all legal, tax and financial documents.
• Review the person's mail, including bank and loan statements.
• Review the person's email, electronic accounts and computer hard drive, if appropriate.
• Search government records for real property in places where the person lived.
• Walk through all real property and list all personal property you find.
• Take a copy of your Letters Testamentary to the bank, open safe deposit boxes and collect the contents when you are ready to distribute them.
• Search court records for judgments or liens in locations where the person lived or did business.
• Talk to the person's family members and advisors, such as lawyers, accountants, investment brokers, life insurance agents and business partners.
• You may want to talk to a probate lawyer. They may have access to confidential databases (such as DMV records) or contracts with asset search companies.

You must gather the property owned by the person who died by taking possession or control of it. However, you can leave the property with the person who is supposed to receive it if you do not need it for the probate. You must carefully manage and protect all estate property for the benefit of interested persons, including creditors, beneficiaries and heirs.

For more information on how to manage the most common types of property, see:

• Financial accounts and cash
• Real property
• Personal property

You will need to close or transfer bank and investment accounts owned by the person who died. You may want to talk to an accountant or probate lawyer first. You must also collect all cash benefits from life insurance policies and other sources if they are payable to the estate. You may want to open an estate checking account to combine all of these funds in one place. It is also easier to prepare an Accounting if you pay claims and probate expenses from a single account.

*Important: Do not deposit anything into the estate bank account other than estate property. Use the account only for probate purposes. You must keep all estate funds separate from your own personal funds.

If the estate has a large amount of money, you can also open an estate savings account or an estate investment account. You can choose to keep the person's investment accounts with the same brokerage company but you will need to change the owner of the accounts to the estate.

When you open any new estate account, you will need a certified copy of the Letters and the estate EIN. You should never use the social security number of the person who died or your own social security number to identify an estate account.

The Personal Representative should do the following things, when appropriate:

• Pay all taxes and assessments when due.
• Review all leases, deeds, liens and other contracts that affect the property. Renew, end or enter into new arrangements.
• Review all existing policies of insurance covering the property. Keep the property insured against casualty and liability by obtaining or renewing homeowners or commercial policies.
• Contact any company which holds a mortgage or deed of trust on the property and arrange to continue paying the loan. If you do not make arrangements to keep the loan current, there is a risk that the company will foreclose on the property.
• Keep the property in good repair.
• Arrange to collect rent from tenants or evict tenants.
• Change the locks.
• Clean up the property for sale.
• Hire any agents needed to help manage or sell the property, including real estate agents, appraisers and property caretakers.

In most cases, you can leave title to real property in the name of the person who died until you are ready to transfer it to the right persons. For more information on changing the title of real property, see Transferring Assets.

The Personal Representative should do the following things, when appropriate:

• Pay all taxes and fees when due.
• Safeguard valuable items such as jewelry and firearms. Open an estate safe deposit box or buy firearm locks.
• Place miscellaneous property in a storage unit or other secure facility.
• Contact any company which holds a lien on the property and arrange to continue paying the loan.
• Insure the property against casualty, loss and liability.
• Do not drive any vehicle owned by the person who died until it is insured.
• Keep the property in good repair.
• Guard against identity theft. Destroy credit cards and be careful when throwing out financial records. Change electronic passwords and personal questions to online accounts.

In most cases, you can leave title to personal property (if any) in the name of the person who died until you are ready to transfer it to the right persons. You can also leave personal property with the real property or with the rightful heir or beneficiary, if convenient. For more information on changing the title of personal property, see Transferring Assets.

Yes, if the property has so little value that it does not benefit the estate. For example, you can give away or throw out old furniture, clothing or household items in poor shape. But you can only donate valuable items to charity, such as expensive paintings or jewelry, if the person who died pledged to do this in writing before their death.

If you find new property or need to change something on the original Inventory, you must prepare a "supplementary inventory." You must send the supplementary inventory to those persons who received the original Inventory and file it with the court if you filed the original with the court.

For information on when and how to transfer property to beneficiaries or heirs, see Distribution of Estate Assets and Transferring Assets.

You can learn more about the:

• Personal Representative Responsibilities
• Accounting Requirements
• Debts & Creditors
• Distribution of Estate Assets
• Federal Taxes
• Transferring Ownership/Title of Assets