Who you are · Beneficiaries
You Are Worried About the House
If you are a beneficiary reading this, something has probably already worried you — about the house, about who has keys, or about what has already gone.
No fee to talk it through, and no client details needed to start. If the timing is urgent, call rather than email.
Witnessed
Inventory signed by two attendants and by you
Named
Access limited to individuals you name in writing
1983
Operating on the Galt Ocean Mile since
Honoured
Valid legal process, and we publish that
You cannot instruct us, and here is what you can do
We take instruction from the personal representative or on court authority. A beneficiary cannot direct a collection or ask us to hold property. That may be frustrating, and it is the same rule that protects your interest against anybody else doing it either.
What is actually available to you
- Ask the representative to arrange a witnessed inventory. Most will.
- Ask to be named to receive the inventory and movement records.
- Raise it with your own attorney if the representative declines.
- A court can direct custody where circumstances warrant it.
- You may attend a release of property to you and sign for it.
Waiting, without much power
Beneficiaries occupy the most frustrating position in an estate: real interest in the outcome, very little control over the process, and usually the least information. The recurring anxiety is not about value. It is about whether the things still exist — whether a parent's jewelry, a collection, or a specific item promised years ago is still there and still accounted for.
Be clear about what a custodian can and cannot do for you. We hold property deposited by an authorized party and we keep a record of it. We cannot release property to a beneficiary who is not authorized, we cannot tell one beneficiary what another has deposited, and we do not decide who is entitled to what — that is for the personal representative and, where it is disputed, the court. What documented custody does give you is the thing that most reduces family conflict: an inventory taken at intake, so the question of what existed is answered by a record rather than by memory.
How we handle it
- 01We can explain what we do and what a collection involves.
- 02We cannot discuss a specific estate without the representative's authority.
- 03We can be named by the representative to receive records.
- 04We comply with court direction.
The most effective thing a worried beneficiary can do is ask, early and in writing, for an inventory to be made. It is a reasonable request, it costs the estate little, and a representative with nothing to hide usually welcomes it.
Said plainly
Where we stop
We cannot tell you whether an estate holds anything with us, or what. Confirming or denying that to a non-instructing party would be a breach of the arrangement that makes us worth using.
Common questions
- Can I ask you to secure the property?
- No. We take instruction from the personal representative or on court authority.
- Can you tell me what is stored?
- No, not without the representative's authority. That confidentiality protects your interest too.
- What can I actually do?
- Ask the representative in writing for an inventory and to be named on the records. Speak to your own attorney if they decline.
- Can a court order it?
- A court can direct custody where circumstances warrant. That is a question for your attorney.
What we do
Securing Estate Contents
secure estate contents probate florida
Read more →
Witnessed Inventory
estate inventory witnessed florida probate
Read more →
Custody Through Probate
estate property storage during probate florida
Read more →
Bank Box Transfer
deceased safe deposit box florida probate
Read more →
Contested Estates
contested estate property custody florida
Read more →
Release & Distribution
releasing estate property beneficiaries florida
Read more →
Tell us what needs to move.
What, from where, and roughly when. You do not need an inventory to start the conversation, and if the job belongs with an armored carrier we will say so on the call.