How Do I Inventory Estate Assets?

If you have just been appointed to settle a loved one's estate in Snohomish County, one of your first real jobs is to figure out exactly what the estate owns. That step is called the inventory, and Washington law expects you to take it seriously.

What an Inventory Actually Is

An inventory is a written, sworn list of everything the estate owns, along with what each item was worth on the day the person died. In Washington, the personal representative (the person the court appoints to handle the estate) prepares a true inventory and appraisement of the property that passes under the will or under the laws of intestacy. This is set out in RCW 11.44.015. The statute asks you to verify the list by affidavit, which means you are signing under oath that the list is accurate and complete to the best of your knowledge.

The inventory is not busywork. It becomes the baseline for everything that follows: paying valid debts, filing any tax returns, keeping beneficiaries informed, and eventually distributing what is left. If you skip it or do it carelessly, disputes tend to follow, because nobody can agree on what the estate held in the first place.

The Three Month Expectation

Washington sets a general timeline. Under RCW 11.44.015, the personal representative is expected to prepare the inventory within three months after appointment, unless the court grants more time. In practice, courts understand that some estates are complicated, and you can ask for additional time when the assets are hard to locate or value. The point of the deadline is to keep the process moving so that heirs and creditors are not left waiting indefinitely.

Do not treat the three months as a reason to panic on day one. Treat it as a prompt to start gathering documents early: bank statements, brokerage statements, deeds, vehicle titles, life insurance paperwork, and recent bills. The sooner you begin collecting these, the easier the inventory becomes.

How the Statute Wants You to Organize It

RCW 11.44.015 does more than tell you to make a list. It tells you how to classify what you find. The statute groups estate property into categories: real property described by its legal description, stocks and bonds, mortgages and notes and other written evidence of debt, bank accounts and money, furniture and household goods, and all other personal property that you can accurately identify.

For real estate, that means using the full legal description from the deed, not just the street address, so there is no confusion about which parcel you mean. For financial accounts, you list the institution and the value as of the date of death. For personal property like furniture, jewelry, tools, or a vehicle, you describe the item clearly enough that anyone reading the inventory later knows what it refers to.

The statute also asks you to note encumbrances. If a house carries a mortgage, or a car carries a loan, or a piece of property has a lien against it, you state that. RCW 11.44.015 directs the personal representative to determine the fair net value of each item as of the date of death after deducting those liens and secured charges. In plain terms, you are showing what the estate actually owns free and clear, not just the sticker value before debts.

Valuing the Property

Valuation is where new personal representatives often feel unsure. For cash and bank balances, the value is simply the statement figure on the date of death. For publicly traded stocks and bonds, you can usually pull the closing value for that date. Real estate, closely held business interests, and unusual personal property are harder, and this is where a professional appraisal becomes worth the cost. A defensible valuation protects you later if a beneficiary or a creditor questions your numbers. It matters again if the estate later sells that property, since the price you accept should line up with the value you reported.

One helpful detail in the statute: if the person owned a share of a partnership, you list the decedent's proportionate share in that partnership, but you are not required to inventory the partnership's own internal property. That keeps the task manageable when a business is involved.

Who Gets to See the Inventory

You do not have to file the inventory with the court in every case. RCW 11.44.015 says the inventory and appraisement may, but need not, be filed in the probate matter. What you cannot do is hide it from the people entitled to it. If an heir, a beneficiary named in the will, an unpaid creditor who has filed a claim, a beneficiary of a nonprobate asset from whom contribution is sought, or the Department of Revenue makes a written request for a copy, the statute requires you to furnish a true and correct copy within ten days of receiving that request.

That ten day window matters. Ignoring a proper request is the kind of thing that erodes trust and can invite court involvement. When someone with a right to the inventory asks, respond promptly and completely.

A Word on Nonprobate Assets

Not everything the person owned passes through probate. Accounts with a named beneficiary, property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and certain trust arrangements often pass outside the probate estate. The inventory under RCW 11.44.015 focuses on property passing under the will or by intestacy. Even so, it is wise to keep your own record of the nonprobate assets, because they can affect creditor claims, tax filings, and the overall picture of the estate. When you are unsure whether something belongs in the probate inventory or falls outside it, that is a good question to raise with counsel before you sign the affidavit.

Getting It Right the First Time

The inventory sets the tone for the whole administration. Done well, it protects you as the personal representative, reassures the beneficiaries, and gives creditors and the court an honest snapshot of the estate. Done poorly, it becomes the seed of every later argument. For families in Snohomish County working through this after a loss, careful attention here saves time and conflict down the road.

If you have been named to serve as a personal representative and you are not sure how to build a proper inventory or value a particular asset, the Law Office of Chad Foster is here to help you handle it correctly and confidently. Reach out to talk through your situation.