[SusanRH]

I called our insurance company yesterday to find out what price they had down to cover our furnishings and she gave me this huge figure! She said that they take the value of your home and give you 75% of that value for furnishings. I told her that I had figured it to be way less and she said, "Well, if you had to replace everything in your home with new stuff then we figure the cost would be somewhere close to what we have." She is probably right, but I don't want to put down a number that looks like we are exaggerating either. She says she can give me papers if need be to prove that is what they cover. What would you do? Go with thier figure or use a number that is more conservative? Thanks!

[Mailbox13]

I think if an independent third party has given you a number that they will support, I would go with it. When you start taking an inventory of your belongings, you would be surprised how much they are worth.

[sunshyne68ny]

I was worried about that same thing because on out homeowner's insurance there is a HUGE number for replacement of personal property. We asked the agency if that is the number they are looking for and they said it sounds right so we went with that. We were approved today. Hope that helps.

[SofiasMom]

I think the name of the game is to get your paperwork done as soon as possible. So I would take your insurance agent's amount and if the agency questions it (doubtful), just tell them where you got the amount from.

[MichelePA]

We had the same reaction, but realized this is the number they were looking for. Plus like someone else said, it would be pretty expensive to replace everything.

Michele

[JDJD2004]

I respectfully disagree. The agency should be looking for the cash value of your personal property, not the replacement value. The relevant inquiry: If somehow you became bankrupt and had to sell all of your personal property, what would it be worth? That's the more appropriate question considering the context of the adoption process.

That said, if the agency understands that you are basing your number on replacement value, and they are okay with it, then you should be fine.

[sunshyne68ny]

Just to add to my original reply, my application specifically asked for "Contents of home based on replacement value (obtained from home/renters insurance policy)" which is why I used the number from the policy.

[mjan]

Originally Posted by sunshyne68ny

Just to add to my original reply, my application specifically asked for "Contents of home based on replacement value (obtained from home/renters insurance policy)" which is why I used the number from the policy.

This is exactly what we were told to do as well.

[ttcasey]

The terminology is confusing, but I am assuming they are trying to determine the market value of your furniture and contents less any loans or liabilities that you have against them.

We didn't have to worry too much about this since we meet the requirements just based on the equity we have in the house itself. Believe me, if I had to replace my furniture I would go broke!

[Vogi2002]

I'm not doing a China adoption (domestic..maybe one day, it really interests dh) anyways..just a curious george here!! Is this how they determine the "80,000$ assets"? At first I thought MAN you have to have that equity or something in your home?? Then I realized that they might take into account everything you own!

[specialk4b]

Hi Nat!

I think net assets is basically everything you own less what you owe, so it does count everything you own like furniture, cars, jewelry, retirement accounts, etc.

[TaraL]

Net assets are everythings value minus what you owe. When we figured out our assets for our financial statement when we adopted Olivia we took the value of our house and its contents (according to the homeowner's insurance), our retirement funds, and our savings, etc. Also I think you add in your income and the value of your cars also. Then you subtract what you owe (ie. mortgage, car payments, monthly bills, credit card balances, etc). There is your net worth. I think if you own a home for a few years you and you go by your homeowners insurance you will find that you have more assets than you thought. Especially the way the values of homes are going up.

[mimc]

I spoke with an agency yesterday, and they said that we would need use the replacement cost of our household belongings when calculating assets.

[cdw002096]

According to 2 agencies I have spoken with, we can use the amount listed on our homeowner's policy. I was shocked. That is $87,000 for us!