Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.
The essentials
- Since 2022, the commissaire de justice has combined the former judicial bailiffs (huissiers) and auctioneer-appraisers (commissaires-priseurs).
- A family that arrives with a photographed and documented inventory makes the visit faster and more reliable.
- This pre-inventory can be exported as PDF and Excel; it replaces neither the professional’s inventory nor their valuation.
The estate inventory by a commissaire de justice is often prepared in a hurry: a deadline running, scattered heirs, a house full of objects whose history no one knows. This page is addressed to commissaires de justice and their clerks, as well as to families preparing for their visit. It explains what a client can give you before the inventory and the valuation.
Commissaire de justice, commissaire-priseur, huissier: who does what?
The profession of commissaire de justice has existed since 1 July 2022 (ordinance no. 2016-728). It brings together judicial bailiffs (huissiers de justice) and court auctioneer-appraisers (commissaires-priseurs judiciaires). The general public still speaks of the commissaire-priseur (now a commissaire de justice) for the inventory of an estate, and of the huissier for a report of findings.
Commissaires de justice carry out inventories, valuations and auction sales of movable property prescribed by law or by court decision. For inventories and valuations outside a judicial sale, they do not have exclusivity: a notary (notaire) or a commissaire-priseur from a voluntary auction house may also act. Our guide commissaire-priseur and estates presents this role to families.
The problem: an inventory that starts from zero
On the day of the visit, everything has to be discovered: opening cupboards, finding the jewellery, identifying signatures, searching for invoices that cannot be found. Heirs do not always know what has been sold, given away or lent. Some pieces are elsewhere: in the safe, in a second home, with a picture framer. Every omission is a source of later dispute between heirs or with the tax authorities.
For jewellery, works of art and collectables, supporting documents are particularly important: their tax value cannot be lower than the valuation in theft or fire insurance policies taken out less than ten years before the death, unless proven otherwise. The policies still have to be found.
What a prepared family can give you
- The list of items, one entry per object, with description, dimensions, signature, hallmarks, serial numbers.
- High-resolution photos: overall view, details, marks, flaws.
- Documents stored with each object: invoices, certificates, earlier valuations, successive estimates.
- Provenance: purchase, inheritance, gift, with dates when known.
- The location of each piece: room of the house, safe, storage unit, loan in progress.
- Insurance policies and the items they designate.
This file can be exported as PDF and Excel. The spreadsheet is easily imported into your own tools; the PDF can be read and annotated during the visit. Families starting from scratch can begin with our estate inventory template.
How to work together
- The family keeps the inventory in Collectalia, or the deceased kept it during their lifetime. The “Succession” module produces a PDF or Excel pre-inventory: a declaratory document that does not replace the inventory drawn up by a notary or a commissaire de justice.
- They give you this document before the visit, or invite you with free read-only access to view the entries, photos and documents.
- They can also share a selection through a private showroom: the items to examine, on a password-protected link with an expiry date.
A practice that wishes to open spaces itself and document files in them can do so with the Pro plan (see Collectalia pricing). Collectalia plays no part in your valuation or your fees.
Confidentiality and security
An estate inventory contains sensitive information: values, addresses, places of storage. Data is hosted in France and backed up daily. Values can be hidden from a reader; two-factor authentication can be required; the log of changes and access shows who has viewed or changed an entry, which is useful when several heirs take part.
With Collectalia
Families arrive with a photographed, documented and located inventory, exportable as PDF and Excel. You devote the visit to what is your profession: describing, valuing, advising. The notary in charge of the estate can receive the same file (see our page for notaries).
Disclaimer. Collectalia is not a legal, tax or insurance advice site. The information on this page is general and based on French legislation in force as of 09/11/2026: it may change, does not necessarily apply outside France and does not take your situation into account. Always have it checked by a notary, a lawyer, an accountant or your insurer before acting on it.