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Personal property appraisals in Maryland for donations, estate tax, divorce, and probate, prepared in accordance with USPAP and IRS requirements. AppraiseItNow appraises antiques, jewelry, fine art, collectibles, and furniture across Maryland, including Baltimore, Annapolis, and Rockville.
DEFENSIBLE, USPAP-COMPLIANT PERSONAL PROPERTY APPRAISAL REPORTS — QUALIFIED FOR THE IRS, MARYLAND COURTS, LENDERS, INSURERS, AND MORE.
Maryland's proximity to Washington, D.C. and its concentration of federal employees, defense contractors, and established old-money families mean estates here frequently hold diverse, high-value property, from Baltimore's Mount Vernon galleries to Annapolis waterfront estates. Two of the assets below link to a page written for Maryland; the rest link to the appraisers who cover them nationwide.
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Owner & CEO
Joe founded AppraiseItNow to make a certified, USPAP-compliant appraisal as simple to order as anything else online. A former Bain & Company strategy consultant, Joe leads the entire team and specializes in strategy, growth, and the firm's tech capabilities.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member with 30 years in the trade, from running estate sales and an auction gallery to appraising luxury apparel, furniture, artwork, antiques, and business assets, primarily for IRS tax filings.
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
Third-generation auctioneer and CAGA Certified Appraiser with more than 20 years valuing machinery, equipment, vehicles, business assets, and estates for banks, attorneys, and trustees across the Carolinas.
Personal Property Appraiser
ISA Accredited Member specializing in Asian art, with a Master's from SOAS and a Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art. Ashley chairs the ISA's Antiques, Furnishings, and Decorative Arts committee and appraises for charitable donation, insurance, and equitable distribution.
Client Success Manager
Manages each engagement from the first enquiry to the delivered report, and keeps you posted at every step along the way.
International Society of AppraisersAccredited Member
Certified Appraisers Guild of AmericaCertified Appraiser
The Appraisal FoundationAuthorized by Congress as the source of appraisal standardsAppraiseItNow appraises household contents, antiques, porcelain, silver, and art in Maryland for estate administration, charitable deductions, divorce, and insurance claims. The purpose picks the standard of value, and completed sales supply the evidence behind every figure we write. Most of this work arrives as photographs and a list, and leaves as a report a personal representative or a tax preparer can file without translating it first.
Estates and probate
An estate inventory asks for fair market value on the day of death, item by item, in enough detail that a reader can tell what was valued. We write to that, and we keep the reasoning with the file so it survives a later question from a beneficiary or an auditor.
Charitable deductions
A donation is worth what a willing buyer pays in the market the property actually trades in, on the date it was given. Resale prices, not the price the donor paid, carry that number, and the report says which market was used. Where a household goes out to a charity in several loads, each load gets its own date rather than one convenient average.
Silver, porcelain, and art
Figurine collections, flatware services, framed pictures, and the odd bronze are where estimates diverge most, so those get named and researched individually rather than swept into a household total. Marks, makers and condition decide which sold results are fair comparisons, and the report says which ones were used.
Three Maryland households we were asked to value, and what each value was for. Owners, addresses, and the figures we concluded stay out of it.
Estate distribution
Porcelain figurines, paintings, brass and bronze pieces, lamps and furniture from a four bedroom home, valued so the family could divide them evenly.
Owner's records
A double pedestal mahogany table, shield back chairs, a serpentine front sideboard and a half moon console, valued together as the suite they were bought as.
Probate
Lamps, shelving, kitchenware and small appliances headed for donation or disposal, valued for the probate record before any of it moved.
Three Maryland rules reach household property directly: one says who may value it, one takes an allowance off the top before anyone inherits, and one taxes what passes to the wrong side of the family tree.
Who appraises
Everything else
needs an appraisal by someone disinterested
Maryland lets a personal representative appraise a short list of assets without help: listed corporate stocks and over the counter securities, debts owed to the decedent, bank accounts and money. Real property may be taken at its full cash value for assessment purposes or at an arm's length sale price within a year of the death, and a motor vehicle may be taken from a recognized used car guide. For items in all of the other categories, the statute says the personal representative shall secure an independent appraisal, and it allows reasonable appraisal fees as an expense of administration. Household contents, antiques, art, silver and collections sit squarely in that remainder.
Allowance
$10,000
the family allowance a surviving spouse takes
A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner is entitled to an allowance of $10,000 for personal use, with a further $5,000 for each unmarried child of the decedent under the age of 18. It comes out of the estate ahead of the heirs, so the values recorded for the household property decide what is left to divide once the allowance is paid.
Tax
10%
inheritance tax on the clear value of what passes
Maryland's inheritance tax is 10% of the clear value of property passing from a decedent, clear value being fair market value less expenses. Property passing to a spouse, child or other lineal descendant, parent, grandparent, sibling, or the spouse of a child is exempt, and so is property worth no more than $1,000 passing to any one person. A collection left to a niece, a friend, or a nephew therefore needs a supportable value, because the value is the tax base.
What Maryland clients say we are known for
Across 23 published Maryland appraisal reviews, every one from a client who paid AppraiseItNow for an appraisal, the three things they raise most often are that they would hire us again, how much research is visible in the report, and how quickly we answer.
I’d have given them 10 stars if it were possible. After weeks of frustration awaiting four different appraisers to return my calls I stumbled across AppraiseItNow. They were quick to reply, incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, professional and managed to make it fairly simple. I highly recommend them!
Furniture Appraisal for Charitable Donation
I used AppraiseItNow for the first time last month and I was extremely pleased with the results. I needed an appraisal done for insurance purposes and the level of detail about each of my antique furniture pieces was thorough and very helpful in my being able to get the highest amount possible from my insurance company for the antique items that were damaged. I could see that they spent time making sure that the information she included was correct and current for my antique furniture items in the current market. The team responded to my emails timely to answer any questions I had. I would highly recommend Appraise It Now to get a thorough and professional appraisal done on antique items. I do intend to use them again for other antique furniture and jewelry that I have. Job well done! 😃🤗
Antique Furniture Appraisal for Insurance Claim
It is a pleasure to work with Joe and his team. They communicate every step along the way and made the process simple for us to have more than 35 firearms appraised. It was all done in a timely manner and the final report is easy to understand. I highly recommend their services.
Gun Appraisal for Probate
I was skeptical at first, but the company exceeded all of my expectations. The team responded quickly to every question, and the service was excellent. They’re now my go to source for my collection. I’ve used them twice already, and I plan to use them several more times.
Firearms Appraisal for Personal Use
AppraiseItNow's service was expeditious and professional. The report was thorough with plenty of examples and rationale for the valuations. Good service comes at a cost, but for me it was well worth it. Highly recommended!
Personal Property Appraisal for Insurance Coverage
I asked AppraiseItNow to value a piece of sports memorabilia for purposes of a charitable donation. The item is rarely sold. Their research unearthed an important recent sale of a similar item, which I had not found previously, and which the first appraiser I used had not found either. AppraiseItNow was a good deal more expensive than the first service, but they crafted a detailed report in which I have much more confidence. They also helped me make sure the correct tax forms are used. Thank you!
Sports Memorabilia Appraisal for Charitable Donation
Given the USPAP-compliant nature of AppraiseItNow’s appraisal reports, we prepare our deliverables for major legal, tax, and financial reporting purposes for individual and commercial clients.
Popular uses of our appraisal reports include:
Usually not. Maryland's estate inventory does not have to list wearing apparel at all, other than furs and jewelry, so everyday clothing stays off it entirely. Furs, fine jewelry, and designer pieces are treated differently: they go on the inventory with the rest of the tangible personal property, described in reasonable detail and valued as of the date of death, which is where an appraisal comes in.
Brand and designer, condition, rarity and age, fabric and craftsmanship, provenance, and current resale demand. Those factors set the secondary market price, which is why two garments with similar retail prices can appraise very differently once demand and condition are examined.
Only at higher values. When the claimed deduction for donated property exceeds $5,000, the IRS requires a qualified appraisal with Section B of Form 8283. Large wardrobe or vintage collection donations reach that line more often than donors expect.
No. Asking prices and insurance replacement figures often overstate fair market value because they reflect different markets. Fair market value rests on what a willing buyer actually pays in the relevant secondary market, so completed sales, not listings, anchor a defensible conclusion.