I have to go to probate court to qualify as an executor of my brother's estate. One of the things I have to do is put a value on his personal household belongings. How do I go about putting a value on used furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing and the like? My brother was a middle class blue collar worker...nothing fancy in regards household belongings, most of which will be given away.

Go to a yard sale and see the actual money people will spend on stuff.

It would be the fair market value.
So if it is collectible piece of art what would you get for it at auction. An appraiser you paid will tell you

For household and clothes best to use thrift shop value. You would pay a couple of bucks for that shirt at a thrift shop. Therefore that is its fair market value. You take your best guess.

Depending of the overall picture and values. You may want to “distribute” the property and then have the individuals heirs donate it. They can then take their charitable deductions.

Don’t forget he will need to file a final tax return for fed and state

Assuming from your facts their will probably not be a need to file an estate return

Ughh, I've been through this myself. IMHO, the value of personal belongings is almost nil vs what you think its worth. If you can devote some of your life having endless yard sales you'll get more money but basically if your personal time is worth anything, just make donations, take loads of it to the dump and move on. Sounds harsh but unless you have a lot of time on your hands and, he lived close by, its not worth it.

^^
That’s what we did when my grandmother was murdered.
A friend of my big brother learned of the death and he asked about the house. My dad sold it that day.
The contents:
Buyer was into old glass and whatnots- she had a lot of that and he paid cash for all of it.
Clothing was gone thru-she kept cash in all her pockets, then we called the church she went to-they didn’t want it-and my dad didn’t want to have a yard sale- we gave it all to the goodwill for a tax write off.
Her car was totaled because he stole it after the murder-insurance paid the estate.
All the other stuff, tools, dishes, books, everything else was sold at a two day estate sale hats we managed by ourselves and we sold stuff at prices to go=whatever they would offer.
Place was emptied by Monday’s trash day. If it hadn’t been sold or donated it went to the landfill.

Facebook marketplace may be a good source to see a number of like items to compare and get an idea of value.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
^^
That’s what we did when my grandmother was murdered.
A friend of my big brother learned of the death and he asked about the house. My dad sold it that day.
The contents:
Buyer was into old glass and whatnots- she had a lot of that and he paid cash for all of it.
Clothing was gone thru-she kept cash in all her pockets, then we called the church she went to-they didn’t want it-and my dad didn’t want to have a yard sale- we gave it all to the goodwill for a tax write off.
Her car was totaled because he stole it after the murder-insurance paid the estate.
All the other stuff, tools, dishes, books, everything else was sold at a two day estate sale hats we managed by ourselves and we sold stuff at prices to go=whatever they would offer.
Place was emptied by Monday’s trash day. If it hadn’t been sold or donated it went to the landfill.

we did basically the same when my Father passed,

we (brother and I , and wives, went thru the house room by room, kept what we wanted, and did a combo sale on Sat,

as in, put what we wanted in a room or 2, closed it off, and did a tag sale inside the house, and did a yard sale of the other bric a brack and BS outside,

sold a vast majority of it that day,

then the rest, packed in the van on a couple different weekends to the local flea market,
set up by 7, loaded up what did not sell and dropped it off at good will by noon,


we did sell a bunch of stuff on ebay, but my brother and his wifw used to have a booth at a local antique mall, and I have been selling on Gunborker and Ebay since the early 2000's, so w had an idea of what was valuable and what was not,


honestly, it can be a PITA to do, but if you can get a couple of friends or relatives to help out a day or so, it goes better

I didn't go that far. I just listed bank accounts, stocks, other funds and real estate, and a car. While cleaning out her house I found an old silver set. In the box it said it was appraised at 7,000 dollars in 1980. Today it was worth about 700. I think the 1980 appraisal was way high. I know probate seems like a pain in the as but my lawyer explained why he recommended it be done this way as if there is a suit against the estate, and the estate can't cover it if you lose the executor is on the hook for the rest.

I didn't look at furniture as being anything of value because I didn't plan to sell it. I donated the big stuff and tossed the rest. She had a piano and an organ. Again didn't sell them. I gave them to my brother. Also don't be in a hurry. My Mom passed over a year ago and her estate is still not closed.

maybe check with these guys:

https://www.caringtransitions.com/

its their bread and butter. have been to one of their 'events' it seemed pretty well organized

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Thanks, guys. I'm gonna go to my appointment and see if we can negotiate an approximate value of his personal belongings. Even if we end up overvaluing them...at $0.10 per $100.00...we're not talking a lot of money.

The tax software programs have deduction calculations for donations. Hundreds of items and 3 categories based on condition of item.
Do a quick look in that as it meets the IRS rules for valuation.

quote:

Originally posted by caribouhunter:
The tax software programs have deduction calculations for donations. Hundreds of items and 3 categories based on condition of item.
Do a quick look in that as it meets the IRS rules for valuation.

One of those is TurboTax ItsDeductible. You can use it online for free to get prices for most anything you would donate.

Do you have other beneficiaries or did he have creditors that would contest anything, or is this just a line on a form asking?

$800 is the value of salable items; everything else will either go to Goodwill or be discarded.

Why not bring in an auctioneer and pay for an appraisal. That's what we did when dad passed. Most of the stuff wasn't worth that much. My parents lived during the depression so they didn't spend much on items that weren't a necessity.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Go to a yard sale and see the actual money people will spend on stuff.

This is exactly correct. Personal goods are garage sale price. I deal with this all the time in my legal practice. Used personal property is mostly worth very little. A seven year old couch is worth $75, maybe.

Of course, if he owns anything of exceptional value, like a vintage Rolex, get it appraised.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: jhe888,

Going through this as we speak---several here are correct in that most personal property (clothes, furniture, appliances, and such) is pretty much worth nil but do be careful and take a good inventory of things that can be quickly pawned (tools, guns, coins, electronics, etc.) My friends attorney had his family and myself go through the house and secure "valuables" and other easily liquid items. After much of this we sat down and based his personal property value on these items and will be donating the rest. Take care and be diligent as most likely you will be bonded for the amount of these items less the house.