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Divorce Asset Inventory Template: What to List and How to Value It

Before you can negotiate a settlement, fill out a financial affidavit, or run a single scenario, you need a complete picture of what the marital estate actually contains. That picture is the asset inventory — a working document that lists every asset and debt, with values, characterization, and supporting documentation. The financial affidavit you file with the court is downstream of it. The settlement proposal you'll eventually accept or counter is downstream of it. The accuracy of every later decision depends on getting this list right.

Most people build the inventory the wrong way: a hurried spreadsheet pulled together the week before the first attorney meeting, with round-number guesses on the big items and nothing at all for the small ones. The result is a document that looks complete but quietly omits 5–15% of the estate — enough to materially change the division.

This guide walks through the categories that belong in a full inventory, what to capture for each asset, which valuation method applies to each asset class, and how to turn the finished inventory into a financial affidavit and a settlement model.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Disclosure rules, valuation conventions, and characterization tests vary by state. Use a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.

What a Complete Inventory Includes

A divorce asset inventory has two halves: assets (anything of value) and debts (anything owed). Both halves are needed — net worth, not gross value, is what gets divided.

The asset side has roughly ten categories. Skip any that don't apply, but read every one before you decide it doesn't apply — most people forget at least one.

  1. Real estate — primary residence, vacation homes, rental properties, undeveloped land, timeshares, fractional ownership.
  2. Bank and cash accounts — checking, savings, money market, CDs, prepaid cards with meaningful balances, cash held outside a bank.
  3. Brokerage and investment accounts — taxable brokerage, ESPP, individual stocks held in certificate form, mutual fund accounts outside a retirement plan.
  4. Retirement accounts — 401(k), 403(b), 457, IRA, Roth IRA, SEP, SIMPLE, TSP, defined-benefit pensions (vested and unvested), cash balance plans, deferred compensation.
  5. Stock options, RSUs, and equity compensation — granted, vested, unvested, exercised-but-unsold, ISO vs. NSO, performance-based grants, private company equity.
  6. Business interests — sole proprietorships, partnerships, LLCs, S-corp shares, C-corp shares, professional practice equity, partnership capital accounts, profits interests.
  7. Vehicles — cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, recreational vehicles, trailers, aircraft.
  8. Personal property — household furnishings, jewelry, art, antiques, collectibles, firearms, musical instruments, electronics, tools, appliances.
  9. Insurance with cash value — whole life, universal life, variable life policies. Term life has no cash value and goes on the disclosure list but not the asset inventory.
  10. Contingent and miscellaneous assets — anticipated tax refunds, accounts receivable, intellectual property, royalties, lawsuit recoveries, frequent flyer miles and credit card points of meaningful value, cryptocurrency and digital assets, NFTs, club memberships with transfer value, season tickets, burial plots.

The debt side is shorter but just as important: mortgages and HELOCs, auto loans and leases, credit cards, student loans, personal loans, family loans (with documentation), tax liens and back taxes, judgments, business debt personally guaranteed, margin loans, 401(k) loans, contingent liabilities like co-signed obligations.

What to Capture for Each Asset

Per-asset data is what separates a useful inventory from a useless one. For every line item, capture the following — even when it feels like overkill, because anything missing now will be missing again at the affidavit stage and again at the settlement stage.

  • Type and description. What it is, in enough detail to identify it uniquely (e.g., "Fidelity Brokerage *3421" not "brokerage account").
  • Title / ownership. Sole (husband / wife) or joint. For business interests, percent ownership and entity type.
  • Date acquired. Before or after the marriage. Before or after the date of separation. For inherited or gifted property, the date received.
  • Source of funds. Where the money to acquire it came from — paychecks during the marriage, an inheritance, a pre-marital savings account, a gift from a parent. Source determines whether the asset is marital, separate, or mixed. See the marital vs. separate property guide for how courts trace funds.
  • Current value. Fair market value as of the disclosure date, with the valuation method noted (see the next section).
  • Cost basis. What you paid plus capital improvements or reinvested dividends. For investment accounts and real estate, cost basis is essential — gross value overstates what the asset is actually worth net of capital gains tax. The divorce settlement calculator guide explains why after-tax value, not face value, drives a fair division.
  • Liens or encumbrances. Mortgages on real estate, margin loans on brokerage, loans against retirement accounts, pledged collateral.
  • Characterization. Marital, separate, or mixed/commingled. Mark this even if you're unsure — uncertainty itself is useful information for your attorney.
  • Verification status. Whether the value is self-estimated, verified by a recent statement, professionally appraised, or disputed by the other spouse.
  • Supporting documents. Statement (most recent), appraisal, grant agreement, plan summary, deed, title, valuation report.

Build the inventory once with this level of detail and every downstream document — the affidavit, the discovery responses, the settlement model, the QDRO instructions — pulls from the same dataset.

Valuation Methods by Asset Class

Different asset classes use different valuation methods. Using the wrong method is one of the most common sources of dispute and the most common reason a self-built inventory falls apart under scrutiny.

Real Estate

Method: Fair market value as of the disclosure date.

Sources, ranked by weight: appraisal by a licensed residential or commercial appraiser (heaviest), comparative market analysis from a listing agent, recent comparable sales pulled from MLS, county assessor value adjusted to market, Zillow / Redfin Zestimate (least weight — useful as a sanity check only). Cite the source on the inventory. The divorce and real estate guide covers when to order a formal appraisal versus when a CMA will hold up.

Equity equals fair market value minus mortgage payoff (request a payoff statement, not the statement balance — they differ by accrued interest and any prepayment penalty). Subtract estimated selling costs (typically 6–8%) if the property is going to be sold; do not subtract them if one spouse is keeping the home.

Bank and Cash Accounts

Method: Balance as of the disclosure date, supported by the corresponding statement.

Capture the institution, the last four of the account number, the type (checking, savings, money market, CD), the balance, and whose name is on the account. For joint accounts, the inventory shows the whole balance; the division happens at the allocation stage.

Brokerage and Investment Accounts

Method: Account value as of the disclosure date plus cost basis for each holding (or aggregate cost basis at the account level if individual lot basis isn't available).

Why cost basis matters: a $500K brokerage with $50K basis carries roughly $90K of latent federal capital gains tax at 20% plus state tax — call it $108K all-in. The after-tax value is closer to $392K. A $500K brokerage with $450K basis carries $10K of latent tax. The two accounts are not interchangeable in a settlement, even though their face values are identical. The settlement calculator guide walks through after-tax valuation with worked examples.

Retirement Accounts

Method: Current vested balance, plus the marital portion of pension benefits at present value.

  • Defined-contribution plans (401(k), 403(b), IRA, TSP): current balance from the most recent quarterly statement, minus any outstanding plan loan.
  • Defined-benefit pensions: if the plan is in pay status, current monthly benefit. If not yet in pay status, an actuarial present value of the accrued benefit at the disclosure date — typically obtained via a pension valuation report, separately from a future QDRO.
  • Vested vs. unvested: note the vesting schedule. In many states unvested amounts are still marital property to the extent earned during the marriage, even if forfeitable.

The retirement accounts in divorce guide and the QDRO guide cover the mechanics of dividing each plan type. The inventory just needs the value; the QDRO comes later.

Stock Options, RSUs, and Equity Compensation

Method: Differs by grant type and status.

  • Vested-and-exercised, not yet sold: treat like a brokerage holding — current FMV plus cost basis.
  • Vested-but-not-exercised options: intrinsic value (current price minus strike) for an in-the-money option; Black-Scholes for time value if the parties or the court want it.
  • Unvested RSUs or options: disclose the grant with the vesting schedule. Characterization (marital vs. separate vs. mixed) is the hard part — the dividing stock options and RSUs guide walks through the time-rule formulas most jurisdictions use.

Pull the grant agreements and a current equity summary from your employer's stock plan administrator. Don't rely on memory or the last paycheck stub.

Business Interests

Method: Formal valuation by a credentialed business valuator (CVA, ABV, or ASA) for any meaningful interest.

Self-estimating a business is the single most common inventory error in high-net-worth cases. The owning spouse undervalues, the non-owning spouse overvalues, and neither number is defensible. The business valuation in divorce guide explains the three main approaches (asset, income, market), what each costs, and when each one applies. List the business on the inventory at a placeholder value with the basis noted ("preliminary book value, pending formal valuation") until the report comes back.

Vehicles

Method: Kelley Blue Book or NADA Guide private-party value, minus loan payoff.

Capture year, make, model, mileage, VIN, title status, and loan payoff. For vehicles under loan, the equity number is what matters; for paid-off vehicles, the resale value.

Personal Property

Method: Replacement cost for ordinary household goods; appraisal for items of meaningful individual value.

Most states accept a category-level estimate for ordinary furnishings ("household furniture and electronics, ~$15,000"). For items over a per-state threshold (often $500 or $1,000 individually) or with collectible value — jewelry, art, antiques, firearms, musical instruments, collectibles — get an appraisal. Photograph everything. The data room is the right place for the photos and receipts.

Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets

Method: Wallet balance times exchange rate on the disclosure date, with the exchange and the timestamp noted.

Capture the wallet address (or exchange and account ID), the asset, the balance, and the cost basis. Crypto is volatile, opaque to the other spouse, and a recurring source of disclosure disputes — over-document, don't under-document.

Insurance with Cash Value

Method: Most recent cash-value statement from the carrier.

List the policy number, carrier, insured, beneficiary, face value, cash value, and outstanding loan balance against the policy.

Cost Basis Tracking — Why Gross Value Lies

This deserves its own paragraph because it is the single most expensive thing people get wrong.

Two assets with the same face value can have very different after-tax values:

  • $400K in a Roth IRA — withdrawals are tax-free in retirement. After-tax value ≈ $400K.
  • $400K in a traditional 401(k) — withdrawals are taxed as ordinary income. At a 25% effective rate, after-tax value ≈ $300K.
  • $400K of vested stock options with a $50K strike — net of exercise cost and ordinary-income tax, after-tax value might be $230K.
  • $400K of taxable brokerage with $50K basis — net of capital gains tax, after-tax value ≈ $325K.
  • $400K of taxable brokerage with $400K basis — after-tax value ≈ $400K.

All five of these are "$400K" on a face-value inventory. None of them are equivalent in a settlement. A good inventory captures basis at the asset level so the settlement model can compute after-tax values correctly.

Characterization at the Inventory Stage

Marking each asset as marital, separate, or mixed is part of the inventory — not something to defer until later. The reason is that the source documentation you'll need to defend a characterization is easiest to gather while you're already pulling statements.

  • Marital. Acquired during the marriage with marital funds (most paycheck-funded purchases and savings).
  • Separate. Owned before the marriage, inherited, gifted from a third party, or received as a personal injury recovery in most states.
  • Mixed. A separate asset commingled with marital funds, or a marital asset purchased with a separate-property down payment.

Mark each line. For mixed assets, note the approximate marital share if you can compute it, or flag it for tracing. The marital vs. separate property guide walks through the tracing tests in detail.

Spreadsheet vs. Structured Tool

Most people build the first version of their inventory in a spreadsheet. A spreadsheet is fine as a starting point and useless as an ending point — here's why.

A spreadsheet captures values at a moment in time. The inventory needs to evolve continuously through the case: a new appraisal arrives, a 401(k) loan is paid down, a stock vests, an RSU grant lands, a business valuation comes back, a credit card balance changes. Every change needs to flow through to the financial affidavit, the discovery responses, and the settlement model. In a spreadsheet, you update each downstream document by hand. In practice, you don't — they drift apart, and at trial you find out the spreadsheet, the affidavit, and the settlement proposal all show different numbers.

A structured inventory tool — like the assets module in this app — solves this by treating each asset as a record with a value history. Update the record once, and every downstream artifact (affidavit, discovery, settlement scenarios, PDF exports) recomputes. The data room holds the supporting documents alongside the records, so the statement for a brokerage account is one click from the asset entry.

If you stay in a spreadsheet, version it ruthlessly. Date every column. Keep an old copy every time you make material changes. The progression of inventories across the case becomes part of the record.

Common Inventory Mistakes

  • Round numbers everywhere. Real values rarely end in three zeros. A list full of "$50,000" and "$25,000" reads to a court as estimates, not disclosures. Use the actual statement balance.
  • Skipping the small accounts. A $1,200 savings account and a $400 PayPal balance feel inconsequential — but a list missing them looks incomplete, and missing items invite the question of what else is missing.
  • One line for "the brokerage." If you have three brokerage accounts at two institutions, list three lines. Each one has its own statement, its own cost basis, and its own division logic.
  • No basis on investment accounts. Already covered above. Worth repeating.
  • Term life listed as an asset. Term life has no cash value. List it as an insurance disclosure (carrier, face value, beneficiary) — not as an asset.
  • Frequent flyer miles, points, club memberships, season tickets ignored. Some of these have meaningful transfer value (or sentimental value worth fighting over). They belong on the list.
  • Crypto wallets undisclosed. Self-custodied crypto is the single highest-frequency target of forensic discovery in divorces involving tech workers. Disclose it — non-disclosure invariably ends worse than disclosure.
  • Family loans treated as debt. Undocumented "I'll pay my parents back someday" loans are routinely recharacterized as gifts. If a loan from family is real, it has a promissory note, a payment schedule, and a record of payments.

From Inventory to Affidavit to Settlement

The inventory is the working document. From it, three things flow:

  1. The financial affidavit. The court-filed disclosure that summarizes income, expenses, assets, and debts. The financial affidavit walkthrough covers the section-by-section structure. An affidavit built from a complete inventory is fast, internally consistent, and easy to update.
  2. Discovery responses. When opposing counsel sends interrogatories and requests for production, you respond from the inventory. The discovery process guide explains what's coming.
  3. The settlement model. Once the inventory is locked, you can model after-tax allocations, run scenarios where one spouse keeps the house and the other keeps the brokerage, layer in alimony and child support, and compare cash-flow outcomes. The settlement calculator guide covers how to translate the inventory into a defensible division.

Build the inventory once; reuse it everywhere.

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Divorce Navigator's assets module is a structured asset inventory built for divorce. Each asset is a record with type, title, source of funds, current value, cost basis, characterization, and verification status — and the data room stores the supporting statements alongside the records. As you add and update assets, the financial affidavit, the settlement scenarios, and the after-tax allocation models all recompute automatically. One source of truth, no spreadsheet drift.

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This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws change frequently. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for guidance specific to your situation.