Real property means land and anything permanently attached to that land, such as a home or other building.
The court is interested in knowing the value at the time your ward's estate received the property. For example, if your ward purchased the property, the purchase price is the value you should use. Based on the "cash accounting" method used in this inventory report, the purchase value remains the same until the property is disposed of (for example, until it's sold).
This means that even though the property was purchased years before the date of your appointment, the purchase value is still the preferred value. Any increase or decrease in the value of the property will be reported at the time the property is disposed.
If your ward received the property by gift or inheritance and you don't have any idea how much the property is worth, you may have to have an appraisal done.
The judge who reviews your report will determine if your method of valuation is sufficient. For example, if you use the tax notice for the property, or a drive by appraisal by your bank as a method of valuation, your particular judge may or may not feel that this is an accurate value for the property.
Here are some examples of how you might write the method of valuation. These are only examples. Your judge may not approve of them even though we list them here. You should write what you actually used for the valuation. If your judge finds that the method does not show an accurate value, the judge may ask that you use a different method.