For most probate cases, the Inventory and Appraisal form (DE-160) is filed in probate court once. For a simple estate, administrated by someone who is representing themselves IN PRO PER, it is not hard to prepare the form with a complete and correct itemization of the assets for the probate referee to use and for the court to file. These instructions are for a decedent’s simple estate, where this form will be filed once with a complete list of assets to that make up the estate.

The Inventory and Appraisal is comprised of no less than 2 pages. In the top left corner of the first page, the caption of the form is filled out by providing the name, address and phone number of the Petitioner. If the Petitioner is self-represented, fill in “In Pro Per’ where it asks for the name of the attorney. It is best to use black ink for the courts. In the block below that, fill in the County the document is being filed in, with the address of the probate court below that. In the box below, write in the name of the decedent, along with all known names that person used where the form says “Estate Of (Name)”. If this is a complete and final list of the assets in the estate, mark the box that says “Final” in the box entitled “Inventory And Appraisal”.

In the section to the right of the box entitled “Inventory And Appraisal”, fill in the case number and the date of decedent’s death where indicated.  The large box above this is left blank for the court to stamp in the filing date. This completes the caption of the document.

The sections below the caption will be completed by the Petitioner and the probate referee.  If a probate referee appraises items, they will fill in the dollar amounts for Item 1, 2 and the total. The probate referee will also complete and sign page 2 of the document. If there are only assets that don’t need an appraisal, such as cash or bank accounts, the Petitioner will fill in the total value of the assets listed on Attachment 1, the total again below and Item 2 will be left blank.

In the next section entitled “Declaration of Representative, Guardian, Conservator, or Small Estate Claimant”, check the box that says “all” for Item 3 if this is a complete list of all the items on this form. The other boxes indicating “Partial”, “Supplemental”, “Corrected” or “Reappraisal for Sale” are not as commonly used and are not being used for this explanation.

Check Box 4 if a probate referee is not being used.

If real estate is one of the assets to be listed, check Item 5b. Make sure that you do file the Change of Ownership with County Assessor. If there is no real estate, check Item 5a.  Date, print the name of the Petitioner and sign.

In the section entitled “Statement About The Bond”, date and sign again after checking box 6, 7 or 8.   Most of the time, the bond is waived, so check the box in Item 6. If a bond was required, check Item 7 and fill in the amount of the bond, as ordered by the court. Box 8 is used when a deposit has been made in a blocked bank account in lieu of a bond.

The form DE-161 is used to attach the list(s) to DE-160. Attachment 1 is for the Petitioner to complete and does not require the assistance of the probate referee. Fill in the number 1 at the top of the page. If there is more than 1 page of Attachment 1, fill in the page number and the total number of pages. List the items to be probated that do not require an appraisal such as cash, checks payable to the decedent or financial accounts with a fixed value. Number each item and indicate on the document that the items are the separate property of the decedent. At the end of the list, write down the total.

The Petitioner will list the items to be appraised on Attachment 2.  This will be everything that is not to be listed on Attachment 1, such as real estate, vehicles, or stocks. Itemize the list clearly and number the items as in Attachment 1. Add details, such as legal descriptions and parcel numbers for real estate, and VIN numbers for vehicles. It is not necessary to itemize common everyday household goods. It is sufficient to have one item named “Miscellaneous household goods”. Tell the probate referee in a cover letter what the value is believed to be if sold at a garage sale. Leave the section on the left, entitled “Appraised value” blank for the probate referee to use. The probate referee will fill in the values, the total and they will complete the amount for Attachment 1, Attachment 2 and the total on page 1 of the DE-160. If all the items to be probated are listed, the Inventory And Appraisal is complete and ready to be sent to the probate referee if applicable, and filed at the court.