All of us neglected to mention that in some of the colonies in a testate death the "inventory" was only that, and the values of those entries were not required when the list was first written.  In other states and colonies - VA, NC, TN, for examples - that activity was known as "inventory and appraisement", the appointed men listing both all the assets and, in their best and agreed estimate, the value of those items as is, where is.

It is interesting that very often by noting the order of the items listed, one may draw an approximate picture of the interior rooms of the home.  In that regard, note that the first items listed in that inventory likely will be those in the parlor, main room, or kitchen, whichever had the door through which the appraisers were admitted. Thereafter, one will often find that those men went room to room until they were done, making it easy to see what was in the parlor, the main "living room", the bedrooms (chambers), and the pantry and accessory buildings. Some inventories start in the barn or outdoor building housing tools, wagons, etc.  Try that with the inventory of some ancestor; it might surprise you what you can envision thereby.  Paul   
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Paul Drake 
  To: [log in to unmask] 
  Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 12:47 PM
  Subject: Fw: [VAROOTS] Fw: Inventories


  >From Joe Drake of S'hampton Co, VA, and of interest to all
  ***....    Question: What was the purpose of the estate inventories when
  someone died.  Did they have estate or death taxes in the 1700 and 1800's?
  Educate me if you would be so kind.
       Thank-you
  Joe
  ***
  Hi, Joe. In answering your question, it will be helpful to speak of the
  whole matter of intestate proceedings. The overriding purpose of such
  activity is to once and for all resolve all debts owing by and those payable
  to the dead person, to learn of everything he/she owned at the moment of
  death and of the value of those assets, to determine who of the survivors is
  to have what share of those assets, and then to conclude and close forever
  the worldly affairs of that deceased.

  For about 800 years the power to determine who and in what percentage the
  assets of a person who died intestate are to be divided among those who
  survived has come to rest in the court.  Before then, it was largely up to the
  family.  The legislatures have over the same period established the order of
  priority among the survivors in intestate deaths. Those statutes are loosely
  known as "Statutes Of Descent and Distribution". Land "descends" and
  personal property (including intangibles) is "distributed", thus the name
  given to those statutes.

  In addition to the taxes that from time to time and in varying amounts have
  been levied on estate property, both real and personal, it is the division
  of those assets that has been and is most significant to the family.

  The inventory is ordered by the court to be done by reputable/honest people
  who quite usually must also be deemed acceptable by the family. Those folks
  are to list EVERY asset, in order that sometime long after the settlement of
  the last affairs of the dead person no one can spring up out of the bushes
  and say that the inventory was not complete.

  Across those centuries, those appointed appraisers - usually three - take
  the inventory by visiting the premises (almost always), and then after
  swearing to the truth of their findings and lists, they file that summary
  with the court as part of the permanent estate file. It is from that list of
  sums of money and all other funds deducted from the estate as expenses, paid as debts, or derived from the sale of any or all those
  assets that the court ultimately divides the total value between the heirs.

  When someone family member wants some particular piece of personal property
  or asset, the court will usually approve that IF - IF - no other heir
  objects. The value of that item to be taken "in kind" by an heir, as shown
  in the inventory entry of that piece, is then deducted from the total sum to
  which that heir otherwise would have received.  It is this process that has caused myriad fights among families where one of the heirs enters the house and carries off what he/she want before the appraisers come by.

  An estate ends with a final order by the court stating what he did with the
  totality of the assets. That document is usually known as an "order of
  distribution", a "final account", or a "final settlement", depending largely upon the
  local practice.

  Hope this answers your questions.

  Paul



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