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Personal property appraisals for estate tax, prepared in accordance with IRS estate tax requirements (Form 706). AppraiseItNow appraises jewelry, fine art, antiques, silver, coins, and whole household contents at date-of-death fair market value, in the form Schedule F asks for.
IRS Form 706 Qualified…made the process simple for us to have more than 35 firearms appraised
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, PROBATE COURTS, AND ESTATE ATTORNEYS.
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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 standardsIRS Form 706
An estate that files Form 706 reports personal property at fair market value as of the date of death, on Schedule F alongside the rest of the household goods, art, and collections. We prepare the appraisal that schedule rests on.
Did the decedent own any works of art, items, or any collections whose artistic or collectible value at date of death exceeded $3,000? If “Yes,” you must also complete line 4 and attach appraisals.
Executors are usually told about Form 706 and the nine-month deadline. The regulation that decides what the schedule has to contain, and when an appraisal is not optional, gets mentioned far less often.
The itemization rule
The regulation asks for household and personal effects to be set out room by room, naming articles separately, and allows articles in a room with a total value under $100 to be grouped. That is what separates a usable schedule from a single line reading 'contents of residence'.
The $3,000 trigger
Where the household and personal effects include articles of marked artistic or intrinsic value totalling more than $3,000, jewelry, furs, silverware, paintings, antiques, books, statuary, rugs, and coin or stamp collections among them, the regulation requires an expert appraisal filed with the return under oath, with the appraiser's qualifications set out.
What that asks of the report
Because the appraisal is filed rather than merely relied on, it has to stand up as a document in its own right: who prepared it and on what basis, what was valued, in which market, against which sales, and as of which date.
Some of an estate's contents are furniture and some of it is the reason the return is being reviewed. The difference is not what the family paid, it is whether there is a specialist market that prices the piece.
Jewelry, watches, and silver
Signed pieces, gemstone jewelry, luxury watches, and sterling services trade in markets with published results, so the value is checkable and a round figure invites a question.
Art, antiques, and decorative arts
A painting, a period cabinet, or a rug is priced by maker, date, and condition, and the comparable set has to be for that artist or workshop rather than for the category it sits in.
Collections and general contents
A collection is valued as the market buys it, in whole or in parts, whichever the evidence supports. The remaining furnishings are grouped by category and valued at what the contents would actually bring.
What clients say we are known for
Across 80+ published AppraiseItNow reviews the picture is consistent: every one is from a client who paid us for an appraisal, and the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how quickly we answer, and how much research is visible in the report.
The estate appraisal for our car and rugs was handled quickly and efficiently. The process was smooth and hassle-free.
Personal Property Appraisal for Estate Tax
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
Fast and friendly service. I will definitely use their services again!
Personal Property Appraisal
From the start they were very responsive, price competitive, and had a quick turn around time. Thank you so much to Joe who was very sweet in responding to my emails; I am looking forward to utilizing AppraiseItNow for many years to come.
Very thorough and professional — great communication and outstanding service. Highly impressed with their work!
At fair market value on the date of death under Treasury Regulation 20.2031-6: the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, both reasonably informed and neither compelled to act. Replacement cost, sentimental value, and the original purchase price are not the measure, and confusing any of them for it is where most disputed personal property values go wrong.
No. The filing threshold applies to the entire gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts, and many estates that owe nothing still file to elect portability of the deceased spouse's unused exclusion. Once a return is due, though, the personal property has to be reported at a supported fair market value like every other asset, per IRS estate tax guidance.
Because Internal Revenue Code § 1014 generally sets an heir's income tax basis at the date-of-death value. An understated appraisal does not save the family anything overall: it moves the tax from the estate to the beneficiary, who reports a larger gain whenever the item is sold. An overstated one has the opposite effect and the estate pays for it now.
Often, yes, and the regulation is built for it. Ordinary furnishings are grouped by room, with articles in a room worth under $100 in total able to be listed together. The appraisal requirement attaches where articles of marked artistic or intrinsic value exceed $3,000 in total, which is why the first task is identifying which pieces are in that group rather than valuing everything in the house.