How to Complete a Probate Inventory - YouTube

I've been appointed the personal representative  and a deceased probate estate in Michigan and now  

it's time to present the inventory hi I'm Darren  Findling of The Probate Pro. We're gonna walk  

step-by-step through form PC five seven seven  that is a state court administrator form for the  

preparation of the required inventory this form  is required under both Michigan statute as well  

as Michigan Court Rule we strongly urge you to  use an experienced competent probate lawyer when  

completing this form and to refer to the statutes  and court rules that identify how to complete the  

form we're going to explain how this form works  specifically how you complete it and then what  

the rules are relating to service this form must  be presented to the probate court within 91 days  

of the appointment of the personal representative  now notice I didn't say the word filed because in  

Michigan the presentation of the inventory in an  unsupervised administration is the requirement  

what does that mean it means that you bring the  inventory down to the probate court the probate  

court looks at it and calculates the gross  inventory fee it does not require the filing  

of the inventory unless the estate is supervised  or ordered by the probate court that it must be  

filed it's an important consideration because  the idea in Michigan is that unless it's a  

supervised administration the inventory and the  assets identified within the inventory are kept  

private private among those that are interested  within the estate so after the farm is presented  

to the probate court and the inventory fee is  identified or determined then it must be served  

upon the interested persons as defined under the  Michigan Court rules now this particular form gets  

completed and then served among the interested  parties and that gross inventory fee must be paid  

either before the sworn story statement closes  filed the the order for complete administration  

or petition for the filing for the closing or  within one year failure to do this or any of  

these steps subjects the personal representative  to a deficiency which could cause removal or  

sanction now at the top of this form in the red  box you'll you'll see that there's a little check  

box for whether this is an amended inventory or  the original inventory that box would be only  

checked if you're amending this and it had already  been presented below and that red box identifies  

the court rules and statutes as well as the form  let's work our way through this document these are  

pretty intuitive areas to fill out top left corner  identifies the county in which the probate court  

is filed and then the file number is identified  in the top right corner moving further through  

the document identifies the name of the deceased  estate as well as the personal representative that  

is completing the inventory in addition the  date of death is identified because it is the  

fair market value of the asset like a snapshot  taken as of the date of death that's relevant  

now really the crux of this document is in this  larger section that we highlighted in red your  

to identify assets of the decedent now let's  talk about what that means that means an asset  

that has no joint owner an asset that has no named  beneficiary and an asset that is in the individual  

name of the decedent so for example the asset was  in a trust that wouldn't go on this if an asset  

was jointly held with another person it wouldn't  go in this form as well as a life insurance policy  

with a name that officiate but any asset in the  individual name that doesn't meet those criteria  

would be listed here you identify the nature of  the asset as well as its value and then if there's  

any liens so for example with a house in real with  real estate you identify the value of that house  

either by using the state eagle-eyes value or  an appraisal or and sale you get to subtract the  

liens mortgages and encumbrances that have been  recorded or that are attached to that particular  

asset to come out with that inventory value on the  far right in addition you get to identify or you  

should identify any other assets of the decedent  these could include bank accounts financial  

institutions and so on we generally don't go  down to the nitty-gritty like you know little  

personal items within a property unless there's  a dispute among the family now of course it is  

incumbent upon the personal representative to use  a valuation but there's no guidelines other than  

real estate as to how the valuation should occur  you can use an appraisal especially if there's a  

fight going on but otherwise it's dependent upon  the personal representative to use a reasonable  

valuation so that the court can calculate that  inventory now this document really serves two  

purposes one it is for the court to be able to  assess that inventory fee and second to give the  

other interested parties an understanding of what  assets are flowing through the probate process to  

understand the various aspects of this permit  process of course you can rely on other videos  

that I've put together or follow the statutes to  understand the timeline of process now below the  

line is also a pretty intuitive self-explanatory  section this is where you identified who's signing  

the document as well as whether there's an  attorney of record above that is a really  

critical sentence though it is a declaration that  that document is being signed under the penalties  

of perjury so again I think everyone has a  general sense of what that means you got to  

tell the truth or you subject yourselves to the  penalties that perjury provide now this process  

of completing an inventory you're presenting  it and serving it for some it's quite easy  

and for others quite complicated and difficult  if you've got questions about this particular  

filing or any aspects of the probate process  give us a call at (877) YOUR-FIRM or visit us  

at the TheProbatePro.com. We're happy to talk to  you and walk you through and explain the process