The Complete Home Inventory

How a Professional Service Helps NH Families, Executors, and Attorneys Settle an Estate Faster

When a parent passes away or a loved one moves into assisted living, the family’s first task is also one of the hardest: figuring out what is actually in the house. Decades of belongings, furniture, papers, jewelry, collectibles, tools, and the small irreplaceable items that hold a life’s memory all need to be identified, organized, and accounted for. For executors, attorneys, and conservators in New Hampshire, that work is not optional. It is required by law.

This guide explains how a professional home inventory works, what the New Hampshire probate process requires, what Caring Transitions of Manchester NH delivers, and how the same inventory file can carry the family forward into estate sales, online auctions, donations, and final cleanouts when the time comes.

What this article covers

• Why New Hampshire executors and conservators need a home inventory
• What a professional home inventory includes — and what it does not
• Our process at Caring Transitions of Manchester NH
• Typical timelines and what to expect
• The deliverables: what you receive at the end
• Working with attorneys and probate fiduciaries
• How the inventory becomes the foundation for an estate sale or online auction
• How families decide what to keep, sell, donate, or distribute
• Frequently asked questions

Why Executors and Families Need a Home Inventory in New Hampshire

Under New Hampshire law (RSA 554:1), an executor or administrator must file an Inventory of Fiduciary with the Probate Division of the Circuit Court within 90 days of being appointed. The inventory must list every probate asset, describe it, and assign a value as of the date of death. Real estate, bank accounts, and investment portfolios are usually straightforward to document. Personal property — the contents of the home — is where most executors get stuck.

A typical New Hampshire home contains thousands of individual items. Furniture, kitchenware, electronics, books, art, jewelry, tools, clothing, holiday decorations, garage contents, attic boxes, basement storage. Even when most items are not individually valuable, they must be accounted for so that the executor can document what was in the home, what was distributed to which heirs, what was donated, and what was sold. Without that record, an executor exposes themselves to claims from beneficiaries, audits from the IRS on estate tax returns, and challenges from the probate court on the accounting.

Conservators — individuals appointed by the court to manage the affairs of a living protected person — have a similar obligation. Court-supervised conservatorships in New Hampshire require careful documentation of the conservatee’s personal property, particularly when items will be sold to fund care, distributed to family, or otherwise removed from the home.

Attorneys representing executors and conservators frequently recommend a professional home inventory for the same reason they recommend professional appraisers: documentation prepared by an independent third party is more defensible than documentation prepared by a beneficiary who stands to gain from how the assets are listed.

What a Professional Home Inventory Includes

A professional home inventory is not the same as a household appraisal, and it is not the same as the formal court inventory form. The professional inventory is the underlying record from which the formal documents are built. It typically includes:

• Room-by-room cataloging of every significant item in the home, with location, count, and description.
• Photographs of each item or grouping, including close-ups of maker’s marks, signatures, hallmarks, serial numbers, and condition issues.
• Condition notes describing wear, damage, missing parts, working/non-working status, and any restoration history.
• Estimated fair market value ranges for higher-value items, based on recent comparable sales on auction platforms, dealer markets, and online marketplaces.
• Identification of items that warrant a formal appraisal by a certified personal property appraiser — typically jewelry, fine art, antiques, firearms, and collectibles above certain thresholds.
• Flagging of items of particular sentimental, historical, or family significance so the family can make informed decisions about distribution.
• A digital inventory file delivered as a searchable spreadsheet and PDF, with photos linked to each line item.

Our Process at Caring Transitions of Manchester NH

Every engagement is unique, but the core process is consistent. Here is what families and attorneys can expect when they hire us to inventory a New Hampshire home.

Step 1 — Initial Consultation

We start with a no-cost, no-obligation phone or in-person consultation. We listen to your situation: what stage of probate or conservatorship you are in, what deadlines you face, who the decision-makers are, what concerns you most. Many families come to us through their probate attorney; others find us during the difficult weeks after a loved one’s death. There is no wrong way to start.

Step 2 — Walk-Through and Engagement Letter

We walk through the home with you, scope the work, and provide a written engagement letter outlining the inventory deliverables, timeline, and pricing. For executors and conservators, we require a copy of the Letters Testamentary, Letters of Administration, or Letters of Conservatorship before we begin work. This protects everyone involved and confirms that the person engaging us has legal authority to do so.

Step 3 — On-Site Inventory Work

Our team works through the home room by room. We photograph, catalog, and describe each significant item. For collections (china, glassware, books, tools), we group by type and count, photographing the group plus representative examples. For valuable or unusual items, we research comparable recent sales to establish a fair market value range. We document items already promised to specific heirs, items the family wants to keep, and items the family knows it will let go.

For a typical three-bedroom home with a full basement and garage, on-site inventory work usually takes between two and five working days, depending on the volume of belongings and the depth of documentation required. Larger estates or homes with significant collections can take longer.

Step 4 — Inventory Compilation and Delivery

After on-site work is complete, we compile the photographs, descriptions, conditions, and values into a structured digital inventory file. You receive the file as both a searchable spreadsheet (Excel or Google Sheets) and a formatted PDF report suitable for sharing with attorneys, accountants, and beneficiaries. Photographs are linked to each line item.

Step 5 — Family Decision Support

With the inventory in hand, the family is in a position to make informed decisions. We can facilitate family meetings to discuss what to keep, sell, donate, or distribute. We do not replace the family’s decision-making — we equip it with clear information so decisions are easier to make and easier to document.

Typical Timelines

Most New Hampshire executors face the 90-day inventory deadline from the date the court issues Letters Testamentary. Working backward from that date, here is a realistic timeline:

• Days 1–10: Initial consultation, walk-through, engagement letter signed.
• Days 10–25: On-site inventory work completed.
• Days 25–40: Inventory file compiled and delivered.
• Days 40–60: Family review, attorney review, and any follow-up appraisals on flagged items.
• Day 60+: Attorney prepares the formal Inventory of Fiduciary for filing with the Probate Division.

This timeline assumes a single home of typical size and one decision-making executor. Estates with multiple properties, multiple decision-makers, or complex collections require more time and earlier engagement.

What You Receive: The Inventory Deliverables

At the conclusion of our inventory engagement, you receive a comprehensive package designed to serve multiple downstream purposes. Specifically:

• Inventory spreadsheet (Excel and Google Sheets compatible) with one row per item or grouping. Columns include: room location, item description, quantity, condition, photograph reference, estimated fair market value range, suggested disposition (keep / sell / donate / distribute), and notes.
• Photo library with every photograph numbered and linked to the corresponding spreadsheet row. Delivered as an organized cloud folder you can share with attorneys, beneficiaries, and family members.
• Formatted PDF report summarizing the inventory by room, highlighting items of significant value, and listing items recommended for further appraisal. Suitable for sharing with the probate attorney and accountant.
• Recommended next steps memo noting any items that need appraisal, any items with sale potential, and any items that may have donation tax value.
• Working copy you can edit, annotate, and update as the estate progresses.

Every file is yours. You own the inventory and can use it however you choose — to support the formal court filing, to inform an estate tax return, to communicate with beneficiaries, to plan an estate sale, or simply to preserve a record of what your loved one owned.

Working with Probate Attorneys and Estate Fiduciaries

New Hampshire probate attorneys, estate planning attorneys, and fiduciary trust officers refer clients to Caring Transitions of Manchester NH because the inventory work supports their legal work. A clear, defensible, professionally documented inventory:

• Reduces the time an attorney spends building the formal court inventory.
• Provides a defensible record of date-of-death values for the estate tax return.
• Prevents disputes between beneficiaries about what was in the home and what it was worth.
• Documents items that have been distributed, sold, donated, or discarded.
• Supports later accountings filed with the court if the estate remains open beyond twelve months.
• Provides an audit trail for the executor’s reasonable compensation, which under New Hampshire law must be justified by the work performed.

We work directly with attorneys when families ask us to. We can deliver files in the format the attorney prefers, attend family meetings, and provide written summaries the attorney can include in the estate file. For attorneys who would like to develop an ongoing referral relationship with us, we are happy to schedule a brief introductory meeting.

How the Inventory Becomes the Foundation for an Estate Sale or Online Auction

For most families, the inventory is just the beginning. Once the executor and beneficiaries have decided what to keep and what to distribute, attention turns to what to do with what remains. New Hampshire homes typically contain thousands of dollars of saleable personal property even when no single item is exceptional — furniture, kitchen goods, tools, sporting equipment, holiday items, lawn and garden, collectibles, books.

Because we have already inventoried, photographed, and described every item, we can move directly from inventory to disposition without the family having to start over. Specifically:

Online Auctions through CTBids

Caring Transitions of Manchester NH operates as part of the national Caring Transitions network, which means we can list eligible items on CTBids — the national online auction platform with hundreds of thousands of registered buyers across the country. Items already in the inventory — with photographs, descriptions, and condition notes — can transition to a CTBids auction with minimal additional work. The same buyer pool that bids on antiques in Texas will bid on a New Hampshire estate, which often produces better results than a local-only sale. Most items can be shipped nationally; larger items remain local pickup.

Traditional Estate Sales

For estates with significant furniture and household contents, a traditional on-site estate sale held over a weekend can be the right path. The inventory tells us in advance what we have, how to price it, and how to market it. We handle pricing, signage, marketing, staffing, and cleanup.

Targeted Consignment to Local Dealers

Certain categories of items — high-end furniture, fine jewelry, certain antiques — may perform better in a curated consignment shop than at auction. Because we know the New Hampshire estate market, we can route specific items to the right dealer relationships when that makes sense.

Charitable Donation with Documented Value

Items the family chooses to donate can carry a documented fair market value from the inventory — useful for the donor’s tax return and useful for the receiving charity. We coordinate pickup with local donation partners.

Clean-Out Services

Once everything that can be sold, donated, or distributed has been handled, we coordinate with cleanout partners to remove the remainder and prepare the home for sale or transfer. The home is left broom-clean and ready for the next phase.

Throughout this process, the inventory remains the central record. Every item that leaves the home — whether sold, donated, distributed, or discarded — is noted on the inventory. The executor ends the process with a complete record of how every category of personal property was handled. That record protects the executor against challenges and supports the closing of the estate.

Helping Families Decide What to Keep, Sell, Donate, or Distribute

The hardest part of an estate is rarely the paperwork. It is the family conversations about who gets what, what should be kept in the family, and what should be released. We do not make those decisions for families. We do support them with clear information and a calm, neutral presence.

Our team is trained in working with seniors and grieving families. We hold national certifications including the Certified Relocation & Transition Specialist (CRTS®) and the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES®) designations. We follow protocols that protect vulnerable adults, encourage independent attorney and financial review of major decisions, and never apply pressure. We do not accept appointment as Power of Attorney, executor, trustee, or beneficiary for any client, and we never accept gifts or favors from estate sellers beyond ordinary courtesies.

Where family conflict exists — and it often does — we recommend the attorney facilitate decisions about disputed items. The inventory itself becomes a neutral starting point: everyone is looking at the same list, the same photographs, the same values.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does a home inventory cost?

Pricing varies based on the size of the home, the volume of belongings, the depth of documentation required, and the timeline. We provide a written estimate after the initial walk-through. For most three-bedroom homes in the Manchester NH area, inventory costs are a small fraction of the total estate value and well below the cost of the disputes that disorganized records can produce.

Is a Caring Transitions inventory the same as a formal appraisal?

No. We provide estimated fair market value ranges as part of our inventory. For items above approximately $5,000 in value, we recommend the family engage an independent certified personal property appraiser. We can refer you to qualified appraisers in New Hampshire who hold credentials from the International Society of Appraisers (ISA), the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), or the Appraisers Association of America (AAA).

Who actually files the inventory with the New Hampshire Probate Court?

The executor or administrator files the formal Inventory of Fiduciary (form NHJB-2125-Pe) with the Probate Division of the Circuit Court, typically with the assistance of their probate attorney. Our professional inventory is the underlying record that supports the formal court filing. We do not file court documents.

Can you work with an out-of-state executor?

Yes. Many families have an executor who lives in another state. We work with out-of-state executors regularly, coordinating by phone, email, and video walkthroughs. We can be the executor’s eyes and hands in the New Hampshire home.

What if the home has hoarding conditions, mold, or hazardous materials?

We are experienced with difficult home conditions. For situations involving significant hoarding, biohazards, or hazardous materials, we coordinate with specialized cleaning and remediation partners before our inventory team enters the home. Safety always comes first.

How quickly can you start?

We can typically schedule a walk-through within three to seven business days of your first call. On-site inventory work usually begins within two weeks of the signed engagement letter. For executors facing the 90-day filing deadline, the sooner we start, the more comfortable the timeline.

Do you serve all of New Hampshire?

Caring Transitions of Manchester NH primarily serves the Greater Manchester area, including Manchester, Bedford, Goffstown, Hooksett, Londonderry, Derry, Concord, and surrounding towns in Hillsborough, Rockingham, and Merrimack counties. We accept engagements throughout central and southern New Hampshire on a case-by-case basis.

How to Schedule a No-Cost Consultation

If you are facing the work of inventorying a loved one’s home, you do not have to do it alone. Whether the home belongs to a parent who has passed away, a grandparent moving into assisted living, or someone under a court-supervised conservatorship, we are here to help.

Caring Transitions of Manchester NH offers no-cost, no-obligation consultations. We will listen, walk through the home with you, and give you a clear written estimate. There is no pressure to engage us — our goal in the first conversation is to make sure you have the information you need to make a good decision.

Call or text: 1-603-660-7320

Email: Emoreau@caringtransitions.com

Website: www.CaringTransitionsofManchesterNH.com

 

Caring Transitions of Manchester NH is a locally owned franchise of the national Caring Transitions network, operated by Granite Key Estate Solutions LLC. We provide home inventory, senior relocation, estate cleanout, online auction, and downsizing services throughout the Greater Manchester area. Owner Elizabeth Moreau is a U.S. Army veteran, former Manchester alderman, and holds the PMP, SRES®, and CRTS® professional credentials.