Appraisals

Deborah Miller offers legal appraisal documents required by the IRS and suitable for all legal and court needs. She also offers also full insurance appraisals and has been selected as a Chubb Preferred Service Provider. Ms. Miller can provide more informal appraisal consultations suitable for the initial assessment of a collection or estate. Both options review relevant market trends and result in a value conclusion. Information on the latter can be found here.

Each written appraisal is a scholarly, legal document. Ms. Miller provides a full description of the specified article using the Getty ID, including provenance, condition, photographs of the article, and discusses its place within the market, comparable items and, where appropriate, biographical information of the maker or designer.

Every appraisal is conducted, researched and written exclusively by Deborah Miller. These are fully contained appraisals and are appropriate for use in insurance and all situations involving legal matters.
All appraisals conform to the professional guidelines of:

- Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)
- The Code of Ethics of the American Society of Appraisers.
- The Internal Revenue Service

Estate Appraisals: Fair Market Value
Estate Appraisals are required when an owner or a collector dies. The estate must be given a cost basis for federal tax purposes .

Donation Appraisals: Fair Market Value
Donation Appraisals are required by the Internal Revenue Service when a donation of one or more like items (i.e. a number of pieces of clothing) is worth more than $5,000

Insurance Coverage Appraisals: Replacement Value
Many umbrella policies have exclusions for fine art, antiques, silver and collectibles, and will only cover these items if they are scheduled separately. Ms. Miller will document and value those clothing and textiles items of high monetary value, helping the client to avoid complications with the insurance company should future damages or losses occur.

Insurance Values for Damage and Loss: Fair Market or Replacement Value
If damage or loss does occur, and items have not been specifically scheduled on an insurance policy, a specialist is needed to appropriately access the pre-loss value of items for insurance claims, determining whether conservation or restoration is possible or advisable, and ultimately suggesting appropriate replacement sources. Ms. Miller can also suggest ways to liquidate damaged items which may retain some market value.

Preferred Service Provider to the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies