When an elderly or vulnerable person is placed under administration of property, the justice of the peace requires an inventory of their estate, and their jewellery is part of it. The appointed administrator, a lawyer or a family member, then finds themselves facing a drawer of rings, necklaces and pieces whose metal, weight and value they do not know, with the obligation to answer for them before the judge. Buildings have their notary, accounts have their bank. For jewellery, no one is provided for.
What the judge asks, and why
An administrator’s mission begins with a statement of affairs: Belgian law requires them to draw up the inventory of the protected person’s estate at the start of their mission. The intention is simple: to fix a starting photograph, enforceable against everyone, to prevent any later dispute. Years later, when the succession opens, that photograph will protect everyone: the administrator, who will prove that nothing disappeared under their management, the family, who will know what existed, and the protected person themselves, whose estate will have been treated with the seriousness it deserves.
For a portfolio or a house, the exercise is well marked out. For a box of jewellery, it is not. Writing “a lot of various jewellery” in an inventory protects no one: the day a ring goes missing or an heir raises a question, that vagueness turns against the person who wrote it.
What a jewellery inventory must contain to hold up
From our field experience at Gold & Silver Company, an inventory that holds up before a justice of the peace brings together four elements: a photograph of each piece, its exact weight on a certified scale, the nature and fineness of its metal, verified and never assumed, and a description that allows it to be recognised unambiguously. All of it dated, signed, and drawn up by a third party with no interest in the succession.
This is exactly the daily work of a refinery. At the Dottignies (Mouscron) branch, each piece is photographed, weighed line by line with the scale display turned towards the depositor, its metal tested and its fineness established in the laboratory. The administrator leaves with a dated and signed inventory sheet, piece by piece, ready to be used as is in their report to the justice of the peace.
What is worth more than its weight is flagged, never melted
An inventory is not a sale. Nothing is melted, nothing is negotiated: the inventory is an act of measurement, not a transaction. And this is where the Gold & Silver Company college of experts makes the difference: if a signed ring, a collector’s watch or a rare coin is hidden in the lot, it is identified before being reduced to its weight. The sheet mentions it, and the family will decide one day in full knowledge. This discernment protects the administrator from a reproach no one ever makes in time: having let a value sleep that a weight-based inventory could not see.
And if the lot must be kept in a neutral place
Sometimes the inventory raises another question: where to keep the lot for the duration of the administration, or during the co-ownership period that follows? Gold & Silver Company opened the co-ownership safe for this: the inventoried lot is sealed and kept in the vault rooms, and a convention signed by all parties sets the restitution rule. Inventory and safekeeping answer each other: the same sheet documents both.
Frequently asked questions
Who can request a jewellery inventory for a protected person?
Anyone responsible for answering for someone else’s estate: the administrator appointed by the justice of the peace, the lawyer carrying out that mission, a notary preparing a succession, or the family itself before a move into a care home. The request requires no special mandate towards the company: simply come in with the lot, by appointment for administration missions, so that the necessary time is set aside. The inventory is drawn up in the applicant’s name, with the date, the detail of each piece and the signature of the expert who carried out the measurements.
How long does the inventory take, and what does the administrator receive?
An ordinary box of jewellery is handled in a single visit: each piece is photographed, weighed on a certified scale and tested, all of it in front of the depositor. The administrator leaves the same day with a dated and signed inventory sheet listing each piece with its photograph, weight, metal and verified fineness. This document attaches directly to the report intended for the justice of the peace. For large lots or pieces requiring the auctioneer’s opinion, a dedicated appointment is set and the sheet is completed with the appraisal of the college of experts, piece by piece.
Does the inventory oblige you to sell to Gold & Silver Company afterwards?
No, and the distinction is a point of doctrine for the company: the inventory is an act of measurement, not a transaction. Nothing is melted, nothing is negotiated, nothing is committed. The sheet belongs to the applicant, who uses it as their mission requires: report to the justice of the peace, notarial appendix, information for the family. If, years later, the heirs or the judge decide on a sale, the sheet keeps its full value: each piece is already identified at its true fineness, and those worth more than their weight are flagged. The decision to sell always belongs to the family or to justice.
What happens if a sale is then ordered by the judge?
When the justice of the peace authorises or orders the realisation of a protected person’s jewellery, the inventory already drawn up becomes the backbone of the operation: each piece is identified, weighed and assayed, and all that remains is to apply the day’s rate, at the branch, with the scale display turned towards the attending representative. Pieces flagged by the college of experts as worth more than their weight are directed towards the path that respects them, that of the object rather than the metal. Settlement is made by bank transfer to the administration’s account, with a detailed nominal statement, line by line, for the report to the judge.