As promptly after death as possible, the fiduciary of a will or trust, should inventory the personal property. This guards the estate against disappearance of rings and specific items by one family member. The risk is a dispute over non-valuable property because of sentimental reasons or the transfer of valuable property, like art and coin collections. Normally the family member who is point of contact with probate counsel knows what personalty the estate owns. This comes up because most personal property does not have title showing ownership. | Estate personal property must be secured. Valuable property should be removed and safely stored. Some items like jewelry can be kept in the safe deposit box. Contact insurer to determine which assets at time of death were insured, such as jewelry, and make the estate the insured. |