When a family member passes away or a household needs to be settled, creating an estate inventory is one of the most practical first steps you can take. It gives everyone involved — family, executors, attorneys — a shared reference point for what exists and where it is. Retinelle helps you build that record room by room, directly from your iPhone, without needing spreadsheets or complex software.

Core workflow

Create one project per property. Estates sometimes involve more than one location — a house, a storage unit, a vacation home. Keeping each property in its own project prevents confusion and makes it easy to share only what is relevant with different people.
Walk through each room and photograph items. Capture furniture, artwork, jewelry, documents, electronics, and anything else of potential value or significance. Doing this systematically, room by room, ensures nothing is overlooked during an already stressful time.
Add notes for context that photos alone cannot convey. Record who originally owned a piece, whether it was promised to someone, if there is a known appraisal value, or if it requires special handling. These details matter months later when memories are less fresh.
Export a PDF snapshot for coordination. Share the report with family members, the estate attorney, or the executor. A single dated document reduces back-and-forth and gives everyone the same information to work from.

What to document for probate

Probate requirements vary by jurisdiction, but most courts expect an inventory that covers the following categories:

Real property and large assets — homes, vehicles, boats. Photograph title documents if accessible.
Financial documents — bank statements, stock certificates, insurance policies, deeds. A photo of the document cover or first page is usually enough to confirm existence.
Valuables — jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles. Include close-ups and any existing appraisals.
Household contents — furniture, appliances, electronics. These are easy to forget but often need to be accounted for.
Sentimental items — family photos, letters, heirlooms. These may not have financial value but often matter most during family discussions.

You do not need to assign exact values to everything yourself. The goal is to create a thorough visual record so that appraisers, attorneys, or family members can reference it when needed. Retinelle’s custom fields can simplify this further — add a currency field for “Appraised Value,” an enum for “Disposition” (Keep, Sell, Donate, Undecided), and a text field for “Intended Recipient.” You can then filter items by disposition and export separate PDFs — one for the auction house, one for the family, one for the attorney — each sorted by the fields that matter most to that audience.

Why a visual record helps families

Estate settlement is rarely just a legal process. It is personal, and it often involves multiple people with different memories, expectations, and levels of involvement.

A photo-based inventory helps in several ways. It reduces disputes by giving everyone the same view of what exists. It allows remote family members to participate in decisions without needing to visit the property. And it creates a reference that persists after the house has been cleared — something families often wish they had made before items were donated or discarded.

Retinelle keeps everything on your device, which matters when you are documenting sensitive personal belongings. There is no cloud upload, no account to manage, and no risk of private family information appearing somewhere unexpected.

Common mistakes to avoid

Starting too late. If a house clearing is scheduled, begin the inventory well before that date. Rushing through a property in a single afternoon leads to gaps.

Skipping “low-value” rooms. Garages, attics, and closets often contain documents, tools, or keepsakes that turn out to be important. Photograph these spaces even if they seem unremarkable.

Relying on memory instead of notes. A photo of a wooden desk looks the same in six months. A note that says “Dad’s writing desk, handmade by Uncle Tom, promised to Sarah” tells the full story.

Not sharing the inventory early. Waiting until probate to reveal the list can create tension. Sharing a PDF with family members early gives people time to raise questions or flag items they know about.

Frequently asked questions

How do I inventory an estate efficiently?

Start with the rooms that contain the most valuable or contested items — typically the living areas, office, and primary bedroom. Work outward from there. In Retinelle, you can photograph items quickly and add notes in the same step, which keeps the process moving without needing to switch between apps or paper lists. Most people find that a typical home takes two to four sessions to document thoroughly.

What goes in a probate inventory?

A probate inventory generally includes all assets owned by the deceased at the time of passing. This covers real estate, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, personal property of meaningful value, and sometimes household contents. The exact requirements depend on your local court, but having a comprehensive photo record with notes gives your attorney or executor a strong starting point. Export a dated PDF from Retinelle and keep a copy for your own records as well.

Can multiple family members contribute to the same inventory?

Retinelle is designed for individual use on a single device, which keeps the process simple and private. If multiple family members are helping, one approach is to assign different rooms or properties to different people, then combine the exported PDFs into a single package. This avoids confusion over who documented what and ensures each person can work at their own pace.

Estate and Inheritance Inventory