House Contents Valuation For Probate In Hampstead, London NW3
In late June I was instructed by a private client to carry out an open market valuation for probate purposes at a quiet detached property in Hampstead. A delightful property with mature well kept gardens hich contained some interesting garden statuory and antique garden furniture which needed to be included as part of the total chattels valuation.
This four bedroom house had plenty of quality Georgian and Victorian antique furniture and collectables, which included some fine jewellery, ten full gold sovereigs, good quality German and British ceramics from Meissen, Sitzendorf, Royal Crown Derby, Staffordshire as well as a few pieces of interesting studio pottery.
Georgian Campaign Decanter Box
One item that I found was this very nice late 18th century Campaign Decanter Box which I chose to highlight because of the very interesting but conflicting stories reported by the Mail online and a website called adventures in history land the latter version to me seeming more likely and believable, so I have provided the links to take you to some very interesting reading if you have some spare time one quiet evening.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2112824/Duke-Wellingtons-decanters-Battle-Waterloo-cheque-pay-mistress-box-locked-75-YEARS-owner-didnt-key.html
https://adventuresinhistoryland.com/2012/03/28/wellingtons-decanters/
Remaining House Contents Valued For Probate
Further to the items above some 1st and 2nd world war medals were noted and photographed for valuing by our in house coin and medal expert. Some pieces of Silver and plate were straightforward to value and the residual contents of personal property and possessions were grouped up to wind up the valuation. It normal practice to identify the higher value items and list them individually along with book, stamp, wine and other such collections so as to satisfy not only the executors but more importantly HMRC. Section 160 actually states that items and collections having a value of £50 and over should be listed separately but we find it can make the report look somewhat sparse so we tend to make a more detailed inventory of items starting at say £100 which will also make things easier for the beneficiaries especially if there is family division. We also feel that we have done our job carefully and thoroughly which has kept us continually on good terms with the Probate Office.
Our probate contents valuation work takes us all over the UK and together with our very experienced team of experts we can value all types of fine art, antiques, collectables and valuable jewellery safeguarding executors from HMRC scrutiny and questions.
For further information feel free to call Jeffrey Avery directly on 07967 646499 alternatively you can call our head office number 02088888 640 0044
Author – Jeffrey Avery