"The Importance of Creating a Home Inventory."

You may be asking yourself, "Aren't we busy enough without having to tackle such a huge project as creating a home inventory?" I am here to suggest that you should make the time to do so.

In the pat several years, we have witnessed natural disasters that have left our fellow citizens with nothing. I am referring to hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, out of control fires, and mud slides, to name a few. Those of us who were lucky enough to avoid these catastrophic events sat back watching the horrific results on television and were first thankful we were spared and then settled into the assumption that it couldn't happen to us.

As the baby boomers are aging, we are faced with our immortality and are beginning to address such things as our Wills and the importance of making sure our material possessions are left to those we wish to inherit them.

Perhaps you are facing divorce or bankruptcy or contemplating marriage (again!) and are considering a pre-nuptual agreement so that, in the event of a divorce, you won't lose all of your earthly possessions to your ex-spouse.

Maybe you own a vacation home, an investment rental or a yacht. Or maybe you have inherited and amassed furnishings, art and collectibles over your lifetime and have little idea what everything is worth or amount to.

Now, picture the horrible possibility of a burglary at your home and the police ask for an itemized list of what was stolen.

For any claim you make with your insurance carrier for reibursement of your losses, it is fair to say that you will want to provide complete and accurate listings.

There are many software programs available now to allow you to prepare a home inventory beore you need it. Some insurance carriers even offer downloads of software programs to enable you to prepare your home inventory.

It can be a daunting undertaking and there are some steps you can do to prepare for the process.

It is my suggestion that you make a video of each room of your home. Then go room by room and make a list of everything and photograph it with a digital camera that you can upload to your computer. If you have good artwork, place a tag on the back of each painting identifying the artist, title of the work and the date it was made.

Any appraisals for furs, jewelry, sterling silver and other valuable items or collections should be collected and placed in a file folder.

If you do not complete a software program,

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