Issue pretaining to insuring something from any estate?

Question

My Grandmother resently passed aways & left my brother & I each life insurance policies while her estate went to my mother. My question is that going through her possession to sell the house since it's in Illionois & no one lives there. My mom asked if there was anything my brother or I wanted like furniture, pictures, etc. My question is that if I take a rug or bed frame or dresser, whatever, is there something I will to valid the item for appraisal or sale in the even it became necassarily? I put my name as did my brother on a few items each like dressers or rugs what have you & some are quite old & it's been recommended that I get insurance in case of theft or more likely accidential damage say by a flood or fire so that in that event all would not be lost & my grandmothers wish to "benefit" us would still go on. Just wondering.

One of the items I "put" my name on was a dresser & desk, & a persian rug. I don't know anything about any of them but have the dresser desk set is from before my mom's time & I think was something given to her mom long ago. The rug is quite old & supposably was a few grand when it was purchased traveling in India or something. Don't know if that helps get idea as to what if anything I might need to get them appraised or if I should even bother let alone insure them. Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

Until you move the furniture out of her house, it's still in the posession of her estate, and covered under HER homeowners policy, if she had one. If she DIDN'T have one, the executor of her estate (your mother?) can put one on the premises until the house sells and everything is moved out of it.

Once you "take posession" of it (which means, load it into a moving van, putting your name on it doesn't count for taking posession), then it's covered under YOUR homeowners or rental policy, but NOT for Flood, unless you buy a seperate flood insurance policy. It's also not covered for damage by insects such as termites, rot, mold, or other neglect type issue.

Answer 2

If they are antique items I would definitely look into getting them appraised and price quote some personal articles policies (insures your valuable items at their appraised value, not deprecated) most insurance policies have a clause where your antique chair worth $1000 would only be replaced with a chair - not recognizing it's uniqueness. If you are inheriting something of value, you should take steps to insure it remains valuable.

Answer 3

Separate policies for individual property isn't cost effective. Your mother should have a homeowners policy on the house and it's contents. If individual items are of a known high dollar value then they should be documented and listed in the policy application.

If your mother doesn't have a policy then you should pick up the items and include them on your policy or your renter's policy.

Answer 4

When you inherit items (rather than cash), the items pass to you at their fair market value at the time of death. They are taxable based on that value, and they become yours as if you had purchased them for that value.

(Right now, the only estates that are actually getting hit with the estate tax are somewhere north of $3 million in total value.)

Whether or not you insure them is up to you; they're yours now, as if you had gone to an antique store and purchased them. Your grandmother's wishes end with the transfer of her property.