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Gun appraisals in Montana for donations, estate tax, divorce, and probate, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises rifles, shotguns, handguns, antique firearms, and collectible guns across Montana, including Billings, Missoula, and Great Falls.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT FIREARMS APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, MONTANA COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow appraises hunting rifles, shotguns, handguns, muzzleloaders, and whole collections in Montana for probate inventories, charitable gifts, divorce, and insurance schedules. Most of it is finished from the owner's photographs, the markings and configuration details, and whatever paperwork came with the guns, with an appraiser coming out where a large collection needs handling in person.
Estates and probate
A rifle that has hung on a wall for four decades and a handgun bought last spring do not move the same way in the market, and an inventory that lumps them into one line is the first thing a beneficiary asks about.
Divorce
Where a collection is being split, both sides need to be arguing from the same figures. We value each gun to the standard the court is working to and show the completed sales under every number.
Insurance
A contents limit rarely reflects what a collection would cost to replace. A schedule built gun by gun gives the insurer something specific to cover, and it sits alongside the household's other Montana personal property on the same policy.
What a Montana gun is worth depends on who is asking and why. One rifle can support a date of death figure on an estate inventory, a replacement cost on a policy schedule, and a fair market value on a donor's return, and those three are rarely the same number. The report names which one it develops and why that is the one the file needed.
Ranch and field guns
Plenty of Montana firearms have spent their lives outdoors. Weather, honest wear, and a stock that was replaced somewhere along the way all belong in the value, and so does the fact that a plain working rifle still has a ready market here.
Donations
A donated gun is deducted at fair market value, and that figure cannot come from the person claiming it. We value the guns as they are, which is what the appraisal attached to a Form 8283 has to rest on.
Two Montana rules decide when a collection's value has to be in writing, and how much of it a surviving spouse takes before anyone else.
Deadline
9 months
after appointment, for the inventory that carries the values
Within 9 months after appointment, a Montana personal representative who is not a special administrator must prepare an inventory of the probate property, listing it in reasonable detail and indicating for each item its fair market value as of the date of death, together with any encumbrance on it. The inventory must also state the value of the decedent's interest in every item listed.
Where a value is open to reasonable doubt, the representative may employ a qualified and disinterested appraiser, different people may be employed for different kinds of assets, and the appraiser's name and address go on the inventory beside the items appraised. A collection is exactly the asset that provision exists for, because its date of death value is a market question rather than a shelf count.
Threshold
$15,000
of personal effects and furnishings, ahead of every claim against the estate
On top of the homestead allowance, Montana entitles a surviving spouse to a value not exceeding $15,000, in excess of any security interests, in household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects. If there is no surviving spouse, the decedent's children take the same value jointly, and the right has priority over all claims against the estate.
The statute names categories rather than items. Where firearms are counted among the personal effects, written values are what decide how much of a collection the allowance absorbs and how much of it stays in the estate for everybody else.
What Montana clients say we are known for
Across 23 published Montana appraisal reviews, every one from a client who paid AppraiseItNow for an appraisal, the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how much research is visible in the report, and how quickly we answer.
It is a pleasure to work with Joe and his team. They communicate every step along the way and made the process simple for us to have more than 35 firearms appraised. It was all done in a timely manner and the final report is easy to understand. I highly recommend their services.
Gun Appraisal for Probate
I was skeptical at first, but the company exceeded all of my expectations. The team responded quickly to every question, and the service was excellent. They’re now my go to source for my collection. I’ve used them twice already, and I plan to use them several more times.
Firearms Appraisal for Personal Use
AppraiseItNow Inc. is the best company I was lucky to find by accident. I was looking for someone to appraise cabinets for a donation to charity. I asked for multiple referrals, called multiple appraisal services, etc., and no one could help me. I found AppraiseItNow and from the moment I started working with them, they were wonderful! Joe guided me on what I needed to send him, what needed to be done and stayed in touch with me the entire time. Their customer service is OUTSTANDING and a welcome surprise in today’s world where good customer service is an anomaly! They returned an appraisal in a timely manner, it was clear, concise, cost-effective and exactly what I needed. They followed up with me multiple times to ensure that I received it and everything was OK. My CPA is also thrilled to have them as an accredited appraisal service he can use for other clients. I rarely leave reviews, but I could not pass giving them 5 stars and I’d give 10 if possible! THANK YOU JOE AND ALL AT APPRAISEITNOW!!👊🏼
Personal Property Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I used AppraiseItNow for the first time last month and I was extremely pleased with the results. I needed an appraisal done for insurance purposes and the level of detail about each of my antique furniture pieces was thorough and very helpful in my being able to get the highest amount possible from my insurance company for the antique items that were damaged. I could see that they spent time making sure that the information she included was correct and current for my antique furniture items in the current market. The team responded to my emails timely to answer any questions I had. I would highly recommend Appraise It Now to get a thorough and professional appraisal done on antique items. I do intend to use them again for other antique furniture and jewelry that I have. Job well done! 😃🤗
Antique Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Claim
Joe made the process to have my piece of furniture appraised extremely easy, efficient and quick. My experience was great and I'd recommend AppraiseItNow to anyone looking for an appraisal.
Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
I asked AppraiseItNow to value a piece of sports memorabilia for purposes of a charitable donation. The item is rarely sold. Their research unearthed an important recent sale of a similar item, which I had not found previously, and which the first appraiser I used had not found either. AppraiseItNow was a good deal more expensive than the first service, but they crafted a detailed report in which I have much more confidence. They also helped me make sure the correct tax forms are used. Thank you!
Sports Memorabilia Appraisal for Charitable Donation
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
From market evidence layered together: the Blue Book of Gun Values as a condition-based baseline, corroborated against recent completed auction and dealer sales for the same model and grade. Because the Blue Book can lag active market prices, an appraisal that stops at the book figure without checking real transactions is incomplete.
Almost always. Collectors pay for original finish and factory configuration, so a refinished firearm typically trades at a substantial discount to an original example in the same apparent condition. Appraisers assess finish originality, matching serial numbers, and period-correct markings before placing a gun against its comparables.
No. Montana imposes no state estate or inheritance tax, so inherited firearms are valued under federal fair market value standards as of the date of death, using the willing buyer and willing seller test, and only estates above the federal exclusion face any transfer tax at all.
Yes, through a small estate affidavit. Under 72-3-1101 MCA, starting 30 days after death a successor can collect tangible personal property, firearms included, when the entire estate is worth less than $50,000 net of liens and no personal representative has been appointed. Documented values are what establish that the estate actually fits under the cap.
Yes. Firearms used in a business fall under Class Eight personal property, assessed on statewide aggregate market value, and reportable property must be filed with the Department of Revenue by February 15 each year to avoid a valuation-based penalty. Personally held guns sit outside that reporting system entirely.
