What are the two types of personal property?

The two types of personal property are tangible and intangible: tangible property is physical, movable items you can see and touch, while intangible property represents ownership rights without physical form.

In an estate, insurance, or tax context, understanding this distinction matters because most personal property appraisals, including the ones a NYC personal property appraiser performs, focus on tangible assets. These are movable physical belongings, separate from real estate (real property), that have identifiable market value.

Tangible personal property

This category covers physical items that can be relocated and individually valued, including:

• Furniture, decorative objects, and household contents
• Fine art, sculpture, and antiques
• Jewelry, watches, and precious metal items
• Collectibles, memorabilia, coins, and rare books
• Vehicles and other movable equipment

Intangible personal property

This category includes non-physical assets that represent a right or value rather than a physical object, such as stocks, bonds, patents, copyrights, and other financial instruments. Intangible property is typically handled by financial or legal professionals rather than a personal property appraiser, since there is nothing physical to inspect, photograph, or condition-assess.

For estate settlement, insurance scheduling, charitable donation substantiation (IRS Form 8283), or estate tax filings (IRS Form 706), it's the tangible side of the estate, the furniture, art, jewelry, and collectibles, that requires a qualified appraisal. Our appraisers document condition, provenance, and market comparables for each item to produce a USPAP-compliant report suited to whichever purpose applies. If you're settling an estate in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, or the surrounding boroughs and need to distinguish which of a decedent's belongings require formal valuation, our team can walk through the inventory with you and scope the appraisal accordingly.