Estate & Trust Settlement Services
We can handle as much or as little as your process requires — cleanout, inventory, appraisal coordination, disposition, and preparation for sale — and where you want us producing the record, we deliver documentation built to feed a Rule 5.340 inventory or a trust accounting. You set the scope; we work within your process. Our full reference guide for estate counsel and trustees, covering documentation standards, fees, credentials, and insurance, is available to download below.
Every engagement is led by a Transition Concierge, a senior professional who is your single point of contact and handles all coordination and documentation. Property Specialists perform the hands-on work under that supervision, backed by a vetted network of appraisers, auction houses, movers, and trades.
We bill the estate hourly and itemize every line. The estate never pays us a commission or a percentage of sale, auction, or estate value. Because we do not sell estate property on our own account, we coordinate appraisers and auction houses rather than compete with them for the same consignment.
Nothing of value leaves the property without written approval, item by item. Verbal approval is never accepted. The personal representative or trustee decides what is kept, sold, donated, or disposed of.
Our principals are licensed agents with Douglas Elliman Palm Beach and may have an interest in listing the estate's real property. Brokerage is always a separate agreement and no estate engagement is conditioned on the listing. If you engage another agent, the estate work is unaffected in scope or price.
Transparent estimate first - A fully itemized written estimate before any agreement is signed. No estimate is issued sight-unseen.
No percentage charged to the estate - We bill hourly and disclose every fee in writing. The estate never pays Havellin a commission or a percentage of sale, auction, or estate value.
Change orders in writing - A 15% variance threshold triggers written notice, and no additional work proceeds without a signed change order.
Documented handoff - Whatever the engagement scope, anything we move, sell, donate, or dispose of is recorded and receipted, and that record goes to you.
Confidentiality - All Havellin personnel, whether owners or contract staff, are bound by a written confidentiality obligation as a condition of engagement. Third-party vendors are supervised on site by a Transition Concierge and are never left with unaccompanied access. Nothing shared without written consent.
Record retention - All project files retained for seven years from close.
Our Core Commitments
Every engagement is governed by the same standards
What You Can Receive and When
Documentation scope is set with you at engagement. Some fiduciaries want the complete record produced by us; others keep the inventory in-house and engage us for the physical work alone. The estimate reflects the scope you choose.
01 · At Engagement
A scope memo covering the property, the rooms, and the asset categories identified on walkthrough. An itemized written estimate before any agreement is signed, and the executed agreement for your file. A deadline map: in probate, the statutory inventory date calculated from issuance of Letters with our milestones set backward from it; in a trust, our schedule aligned to your accounting cycle. Certificates of insurance and bonding where your institution requires them.
02 · After Inventory
When we are engaged to document, a categorized asset schedule with description, location, quantity, condition, date-of-death fair market value, and the valuation source stated. The full photography set, reference-numbered and linked to the corresponding line. An appraisal flag list showing which categories are flagged for formal valuation, which appraiser is engaged for each, and expected turnaround. Homestead, exempt, and non-probate property identified.
03 · During Disposition
Written approval requests, itemized item by item, before anything of value leaves the property. Verbal approval is never accepted. A running disposition log updated as items are distributed, sold, donated, or disposed of, available at any point in the engagement rather than only at close. Donation receipts from verified charities and disposal manifests from licensed vendors as each handoff occurs.
04 · At Close
Your file, delivered directly: the disposition audit trail, donation receipts, disposal manifests, signed family distribution receipts, chain of custody on high-value items, the property condition report with final walkthrough photography, and the itemized hours log supporting the invoice. Where we are engaged to document, the final inventory with values and sources and the full photography set are included. Retained seven years and reproducible on request.