In this section:
Make an inventory
Personal Property
Joint Property
Debts and Net Values
What you can't leave
Tips on identifying property

Make an inventory

It is usually recommended that as part of the Will preparation process, you prepare a written inventory of your property.

A property inventory can be helpful because it helps you ensure that you have dealt with all property in your Will, have made provision for payment of debts and obligations of your Estate, have identified any property owned jointly, have identified other property which may not be transferred by Will and have some idea of the current net value of your Estate as an aid to other possible estate planning methods.

To prepare an informal property inventory, you simply list all of your assets -- all the property you own.

Personal Property

Begin by listing all property which you alone own.

Identify each item with sufficient detail so there can be no question what it includes.

List all liquid assets which include cash, savings, checking and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, etc.

List all other personal property excluding business interests and real estate. This may include stocks, mutual fund shares, other securities, bonds, automobiles, jewelry, art work, antiques, tools, furniture, life insurance, etc.

Most people have all sorts of minor personal possessions and you don’t need to itemize each one specifically.

You can group a number of items in one category such as “all my household furniture” or “my baseball card collection”.

Some items without significant value may have great emotional value to you. You can list those items individually as you wish.

You can also conclude your list of other personal property with a general catch-all phrase such as “all my other personal possessions”.

Next list business personal property including business interests such as businesses that you own, interests in a partnership, interests in copyright property, patents, etc.

Next list all real estate that you own including business real estate, houses, condominiums, vacant land, etc.

To describe real estate, simply list its address or location. This is normally the street address.

If there is no street address or post office address, as is often the case with respect to vacant undeveloped land, simply describe the land in normal language such as “my five acre plot of land in Jefferson County near the City of Johnson”.

It is not necessary to use the specific legal description for the land.

Joint Property

Next you should list the property which is owned with someone else.

If you own all your property out-right, you need not worry about listing any property of this type.

If, however, you have personal or business relationships in which you have shared ownership of property, it is important that you clearly understand what you own and therefore have the power to leave via your Will.

If you are uncertain as to how you own an item of property, you should investigate the situation and take the time to find out.

There is no point in dealing with a piece of property in your Will if it is ultimately determined that you did not own that property as you thought, and accordingly, your attempt to leave the property to someone will fail.

Where you do own property shared with others, you should identify the percentage of each item that you own.

It may be necessary for you to check through your important papers to properly identify shared property and the portion of your ownership.

Debts and Net Values

Beside each item of property that you own, you should indicate a “net value” of each item.

Net value refers to your equity being the market value of your share less your share of any debts on it such as a mortgage, secured loan, etc.

You do not have to obtain exact figures or appraisals. Rough approximate figures are sufficient for this informal property inventory.

For example, if you believe that your home is worth approximately $150,000.00, and there is a mortgage on the house in the amount of $50,000.00, the net value would be shown as $100,000.00.

To complete your property inventory, you should list any debts or liabilities you have not already taken into account above in determining the net value of assets listed.

You should list out any other significant personal debts such as bank loans, credit card debts, lines of credit, tax liabilities, etc.

You should have already taken into account mortgages on your real estate and loans owned on your motor vehicle, etc. above so those items do not need to be listed again.

To finalize your property inventory, you estimate your current net-worth by subtracting your total liabilities from your total assets.

As indicated, this type of analysis can be very helpful and a valuable aid in the Will preparation process.

What you can't leave

As discussed above, there are certain types of property that cannot be transferred through your Will. This includes property in a living Trust, joint-tenancy property, life insurance proceeds payable to a named Beneficiary or Beneficiaries, funds in retirement plans, pensions, profit sharing plans, etc. payable to named Beneficiaries, etc.

Tips on identifying property

In structuring your Will, you should deal first with specific Bequests of property -- gifts of specific items to specific people or organizations. Example: “I leave my diamond necklace to my niece, Clarice Douglas”. “I leave the sum of $5,000.00 to the St. Mary’s Health care Center”.

After dealing with specific Bequests, you should then deal with your Residue of the Estate, i.e. the balance of your Estate that is left after payment of taxes, debts and other liabilities and the distribution of specific gifts you have already indicated.

You should consider alternate Beneficiaries, particularly with respect to the Residue of your Estate. An alternate Beneficiary receives the Residue in the event that the first Residual Beneficiary dies before you or for some other reason is unable to receive your gift.

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