Hi (Heirs) Names:
As (Executor / Trustee) we needed a way to list and share all of the personal property of (Mom and Dad’s Estate) and then divide it fairly. We found www.FairSplit.com that has been providing these services for thousands of families for more than a decade, and the nice thing is, it is online, so we can do from our homes or work and our own schedules. The system allows us to photograph, upload and share everything transparently in a private family account, so everyone can be sure all that should be listed is listed and things are not duplicated, etc.
There is then a system of rounds used to determine what is wanted, The Asset Review Round (Yes or No, interested or not), then an Emotional Value Round that gives everyone points they use to bid on a limited number of things most wanted. It works much like a silent auction, with blind bidding and highest bidder wins. Finally, the remaining items are divided using rounds of choosing the items wanted from the list, then arranging them in top to bottom order of interest. They are awarded in a “snake” ordering system of top item remaining on each person’s list when their number in the random order is up. It is easiest to understand on the video https://youtu.be/HgDoSjqWlmk
OPTIONAL
Also, we have asked David, the founder of FairSplit to serve as Administrator for the rounds and to help guide us through the process. By having David as the independent third party I am recusing myself as Administrator to ensure there is no real or perceived advantage and all heirs (or Divisees as FairSplit calls them) all have a blind fair system of being awarded things from the estate.
OPTIONAL – EDIT TO MATCH DECISIONS OF ESTATE
David has recommended that we decide in advance who bears the costs of packing and shipping awarded items. Also, to determine if market values are of importance to equalize the estate. He indicates that many families are fine as long as percentages are fairly close, within 5-10 percent of each other and others would like it to simply be a fair process and if some get more or less, that is fine. He also indicates that it is normal to discount any appraised values when doing equalization to get closer to real cash value by discounting things by 40-50% to better reflect the costs of an estate sale, auction or consignment costs. Exceptions to that may be KBB or Edmonds blue book values on vehicles, or melt down values on jewelry or silver.
You will receive an emailed invitation to the family account, and to each round. The emails will include instructions for each step in the process. We hope everyone will be glad for the blind fair system, and for being able to get this part of the estate settlement done with the least time and cost to everyone.
All the best,
NAME
It is best to get high value jewelry appraised by a jeweler for what they will pay you for it, not what it should be insured for. Cars, you can look up on KBB or Edmonds. Silver is usually worth melt down, weight times value of silver. A jeweler can help if needed. Many families don’t choose to value things valued under $100. Some families get furniture appraisers and art appraisers if they feel there is enough value there to be divided equally. Some do equalization by writing checks to the estate for the part received above their share and some put items back into the pool for others to choose to help get more equal.