For executors · Records & Accounting
You Will Have to Explain This Later
An executor accounts to beneficiaries and to the court. A receipt that says "assorted jewelry" is not an account.
Unhurried, itemized, and with a written record. Bring the co-executor, the attorney, or whoever else needs to see it.
2004
Buying precious metals in South Florida since
Itemized
Every item weighed and priced separately, in front of you
Written
A record the estate can put in the file
No pressure
Take the offer away. It will still be there
The question comes months later
A beneficiary asks what happened to a particular piece, or why a total was what it was, six months after the transaction. Without an itemized record, the executor is relying on memory against somebody else's memory — and that is how estate disputes start over items that were handled entirely properly.
The record also protects the executor personally. A personal representative accounts to beneficiaries and, in some circumstances, to a court, and doing so from an itemized record is a different position from doing so from recollection and a folder of receipts.
What a usable record contains
- Each item listed separately, with a description.
- Weight and purity where relevant.
- The price paid for each item.
- The date, and the market reference used.
- Photographs taken before the sale.
Photographing before anything moves
Lay items out on a plain surface, photograph them in groups so nothing is missed, then photograph anything individually distinctive. Ten minutes with a phone, before the first item leaves the house.
It answers the question a beneficiary asks a year later about a piece they half remember, and it cannot be created afterwards. It is the single highest-value thing anybody does in this process.
How we handle it
- 01Itemize every transaction, one line per piece.
- 02Weigh and price in front of you, not in a back room.
- 03Provide a written record you can put in the estate file.
- 04Keep our own copy, available if the estate needs it later.
Photograph everything before it leaves the house. It takes ten minutes with a phone, it costs nothing, and it answers almost every question a beneficiary will ask afterwards.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We provide a record of what we bought and paid. We are not accountants and we do not prepare estate accountings — that is your attorney and your accountant.
FAQ
Common questions
- What record do we get?
- A written itemized list — each piece, its weight and purity, and the price paid.
- Is a lump-sum receipt acceptable?
- It is not an account, and an executor may need one.
- Should we photograph first?
- Always. Ten minutes answers almost every later question.
- Do you keep a copy?
- Yes, available if the estate needs it later.
What we buy
Gold Jewelry
Most inherited gold jewelry is worth its metal content. A meaningful minority is worth considerably more, and telling them apart is the whole job.
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Sterling Flatware & Hollowware
The canteen nobody wants and nobody wants to throw away. Usually worth real money as metal, occasionally worth more as a set.
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Coins & Bullion
An inherited coin box usually contains bullion, which is worth its metal, and collectible coins, which are worth whatever a collector will pay.
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Watches
A watch is worth what the watch market says, which usually has nothing to do with the gold in the case.
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Diamonds & Stones
Stones are valued on quality, not weight, and the resale market bears very little relation to what the piece cost when it was bought.
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Costume & the Rest
Most of what is in an estate jewelry box is not precious metal, and some of it is still worth something to somebody.
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More for executors
Authority to Sell
Being named in a will is not the same as being appointed, and selling before appointment can create a genuine problem.
Explore →
Beneficiaries
Most estate arguments about jewelry are not about money. They are about somebody finding out afterwards.
Explore →
Timing
Executors frequently feel pressure to resolve things quickly. On jewelry, very little of that pressure is real.
Explore →
Next step
Run it both ways before you decide.
No credit check and no obligation. Tell us what you hold and what the money is for, and if selling is the better answer for your situation you will be told that first.