Draft Estate Inventory And Appraisal

Skill: Draft Formal Estate Inventory and Appraisal for Probate Court Filing Under Oregon Law

1. Subject-matter triage

• Confirm the filing is for an Oregon probate estate and identify the court, decedent, personal representative, and valuation date from the source set before drafting.
• Separate the court filing from the advisory memo: the inventory/appraisal is the primary deliverable; the issues memo is secondary and should not displace completion of the filing.
• If the source materials contain multiple assets, accountings, or ownership interests, enumerate them first and then classify each one individually rather than drafting from a generalized summary.
• If only one asset class or one ownership interest is in scope, say so explicitly and explain why no broader classification pass is needed.

2. Failure modes the skill is correcting

• Using aggregate or lump-sum values for asset categories that require item-by-item listing with individual descriptions and values.
• Misclassifying assets as non-probate because they were located in a non-probate property; personal property inside a residence held in survivorship tenancy is still individually owned and probate-subject if titled to the decedent individually.
• Omitting required court document elements: caption, decedent identification, personal representative oath, and appraiser certification.
• Failing to flag business-entity agreement provisions that affect both the value and transferability of the decedent's interest.
• Failing to distinguish probate assets from assets that pass outside probate but still need to be identified for context or tracing.
• Treating valuation as generic market description instead of a date-specific probate appraisal tied to a disclosed source or method.
• Writing the issues memo as a narrative without clear severities, recommendations, and filing implications.
• Stating legal conclusions without naming the Oregon authority or probate rule supporting the classification or filing requirement.

3. Legal frameworks / domain conventions that apply

• Oregon probate inventory practice: prepare a verified inventory and appraisal suitable for filing in the probate proceeding under the governing Oregon probate statutes and court rules.
• Probate versus non-probate classification: identify assets owned solely by the decedent and distinguish them from assets passing by survivorship, beneficiary designation, trust ownership, or other non-probate mechanisms; list non-probate items separately when useful for context.
• Personal property location rule: furniture, art, tools, jewelry, firearms, and similar items are classified by title and ownership, not by the residence in which they were found.
• Valuation date rule: values should be stated as of the date of death unless the governing authority or a disclosed valuation method requires another point in time.
• Securities convention: each holding should be listed individually with enough identifying detail to permit court review; brokerage accounts should not be reduced to a single undifferentiated total when underlying positions are available.
• High-value personalty convention: significant art, firearms, jewelry, and similar items should be identified item by item with a description adequate for probate administration.
• Real property convention: include street address plus legal description, parcel identifier, or deed reference when available.
• Business-interest convention: governing agreements may impose transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, buy-sell terms, consent rights, or defined valuation methods; those provisions can affect both transferability and appraisal.
• Verification and certification convention: the personal representative verification and appraiser certification are separate formal components and should each be complete on their own terms.
• Authority citation convention: when a legal proposition is relied on, identify the controlling statute, rule, regulation, or generally recognized probate authority by name and section where available.

4. Analytical scaffolds

1. Inventory the source set and list each asset, account, entity interest, and ownership document before drafting the filing.
2. For each item, classify it as probate or non-probate, and state the basis for the classification in a concise note.
3. For each probate asset, supply a description, ownership status, valuation date, and appraised or stated value drawn from the source materials or a disclosed valuation method.
4. For securities, list each position separately and avoid collapsing multiple holdings into one entry unless the source materials truly provide only an aggregate holding.
5. For personal property of meaningful value, itemize individually and do not rely on generic category labels where the source documents allow more precision.
6. For real property, include the full property identifier and identify the valuation source or appraisal basis.
7. For business interests, read the governing documents for transfer restrictions, valuation mechanics, and any events that could alter the decedent’s percentage interest or economic rights.
8. For each legal or valuation issue, cite the controlling Oregon probate rule or other controlling authority supporting the concern.
9. For each issue identified, state why it matters to filing, administration, or distributive value.
10. Draft the issues memo as a decision-use document: the point is to isolate filing risks, valuation gaps, and ownership questions before the inventory goes to court.

5. Vertical / structural / temporal relationships

• Structural relationship: the inventory/appraisal is the operative court filing; the issues memo is a companion advisory document that should track but not duplicate the filing.
• Vertical relationship: title, ownership, and transfer provisions sit above valuation mechanics; classify first, then value, then flag restrictions that may alter the value conclusion.
• Temporal relationship: use the date of death as the anchor unless the governing source requires a different date or the appraisal source expressly uses another legally relevant date.
• Cross-document relationship: reconcile the inventory against deeds, account statements, operating agreements, beneficiary designations, and any schedules or exhibits that explain ownership or value.
• If a listed asset appears in more than one source document, resolve the hierarchy of evidence rather than blending the sources into an unexplained composite.
• If a business interest changed hands before death, distinguish the current estate-owned percentage from any prior or gifted interest reflected in the records.

6. Output structure conventions

• Produce two separate files: a court-ready inventory/appraisal document and a separate attorney issues memo.
• The inventory/appraisal should read like a formal probate filing, with caption, decedent identification, verification by the personal representative, itemized schedules, and appraiser certification.
• Use schedule-based organization for asset categories, with probate assets separated from non-probate or informational assets as appropriate.
• Keep item descriptions specific enough for court administration and appraisal review, especially for securities, tangible personal property, real property, and entity interests.
• The issues memo should use numbered entries, each with a clear severity label on an ordinal scale stated once at the top of the memo.
• Each issue entry should include: the issue, the supporting authority or governing document reference, the filing or valuation impact, and a recommended fix or follow-up.
• End the issues memo with a concise Recommended Actions section that assigns the task to the appropriate role and ties it to the filing deadline or the next procedural milestone.
• Use plain-text change markers only if an actual redline is being prepared; otherwise draft clean operative text suitable for .docx export.
• Before finalizing, confirm that the inventory/appraisal is complete, non-empty, and contains operative filing content rather than a summary of what would be filed.