Where to Look for Assets When Inventorying a House in the Orlando, Florida Area
- March 30, 2022
- ontarget
- Elder Law
- 0 Comments
You may be the caregiver or guardian of a loved one. As part of your duties, you may have to inventory their house. This may also apply if you are the personal representative of a deceased loved one. There was a remarkably interesting article in the AARP THE MAGAZINE titled “Where Grandma Hid Her Cash.” It was an excerpt from Keep the Memories, Lose the Stuff, by Matt Paxton with Jordan Michael Smith, which was published by Portfolio/Penguin and AARP.
The article goes on to say that the new AARP book says to check the following spots when cleaning out a house:
- Toilet tanks. Toilet tanks have plenty of room for a jar stuffed with jewelry or cash. The article recommends checking to make sure nothing is taped inside the lid.
- Freezers. Some people have found credit cards and gold coins frozen in blocks of ice and plastic zipper bags filled with cash.
- Pantries. Look inside cereal boxes, flour bags, and coffee cans.
- Bookshelves. Check for those hollowed-out Bibles and dictionaries that you can buy online. Then, shake out every book on the shelf, where everything from $100 bills to dividend checks from Fortune 500 companies has been found stashed between the pages.
- Under the floorboards. Check for loose boards under throw rugs, new nails that look out of place and loose edges around wall-to-wall carpets.
- Old trunks. Steamer trunks from World War II had special compartments built into them for wives to pack mementos for their husbands. Check under the lining, and look for a false bottom. The secret compartment is usually on the right-hand side of the back of the trunk, near the bottom.
- Closets. Go through every piece of closing and every box. Money has been found in shoeboxes and cigar boxes and inside the pockets and lining of old jackets.
- Drawers. Chests of drawers offer unique hiding places. Women’s vanities usually have at least one drawer with a false bottom to hide the good jewelry.
You learn something new every day. Would you have thought to look in all these places? I hope you learned something new from this article. Happy hunting.
If you have more questions regarding an Elder Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not form an attorney client privilege.