Guardianship inventory (inventaire de tutelle)
Under French law, the inventaire de tutelle lists a protected person's property: its texts, its contents, and what Marto prepares.
The texts that provide for it
The texts are linked on Légifrance, in French. The guardian has an inventory of the protected person's property made, in the presence of the deputy guardian if one has been appointed. It is sent to the judge within three months of the opening of the guardianship for tangible movables, and within six months for other property, with the projected budget. The guardian keeps it up to date during the measure (Civil Code, art. 503).
The same article adds that, when the judge considers it necessary, the judge may appoint a commissaire-priseur judiciaire, a huissier de justice or a notaire, from the opening of the measure and at the protected person's expense, to inventory the tangible movables within the same time limit.
Ordinance No. 2016-728 of 2 June 2016 provides that, in all legislative texts, a reference to huissiers de justice or huissiers designates the commissaires de justice, and a reference to commissaires-priseurs judiciaires designates the commissaires de justice (Ordinance No. 2016-728, art. 23).
What the inventory contains
The Code of Civil Procedure sets out how it is made (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 1253):
- it is made in the presence of the protected person, if their health or age allows, of their lawyer where applicable and, if the inventory is not made by a public or ministerial officer, of two adult witnesses who are in the service neither of the protected person nor of the person exercising the protective measure;
- it contains a description of the household furniture, a valuation of the real property and of the movables with a realisable value above 1,500 euros, the cash, and a statement of the bank accounts, investments and other securities;
- it is dated and signed by the people present.
With Marto
Lots are grouped by section: a room or a group (living room, bedroom, jewellery). Each lot gets its description and photos. Its valuation is optional: a lot without an amount prints as having no estimate, and a label such as "pour mémoire" (for the record) can replace the amount.
You dictate the lot to the assistant, which records it; you review and correct it. Without it, you type the record in. The assistant stays off until you accept it.
On iPhone, the app photographs lots in bursts.
The preview shows the official record and its totals before you download it. The official record comes out as a PDF: a ruled frame, black on white apart from the photos, and no added mark. It carries the firm, the place, the date, the numbered sections and lots with their main photo and valuation, the totals and the judicial officer's signature block. The list of lots also comes out as Excel.
See also estate inventory and appraisal.