Esma Pearcey
Freelance Chattels Triage Specialist
On-site chattels triage for probate and estate valuation. Section 160 IHT support that frees senior valuers’ time.
Practice
With two decades of hands-on commercial experience in the antique, vintage, and secondary trade, I provide reliable on-site triage that streamlines Section 160 Inheritance Tax compliance and frees up senior valuers’ time.
My extensive background in digital trade means I deliver clear, high-resolution photographic documentation, capturing all critical condition and identification markers, alongside concise, standardised descriptions tailored precisely to probate reporting requirements.
Who this is for
Probate solicitors, estate valuers, and auction houses that need extra on-site inventory capacity.
I take instructions from the firm, not from the family, and work as a colleague to the valuation team.
What this is not
Not a valuer. Figures remain with the instructing valuer; my work is on-site triage and inventory so senior valuers spend time on value, not intake.
Not house clearance. Clearance, if it happens at all, is a separate instruction. I attend to categorise, photograph, describe, and route chattels for the firm’s existing caseload.
The work
- Broad-spectrum estate triage
- Rapid categorisation of entire house contents, systematically separating primary estate assets from general low-tier house clearance chattels.
- Specialist routing & risk awareness
- Confident identification of items requiring external specialist appraisal (horology, militaria, automobilia, fine art, rare books and prints, firearms, scientific instruments, natural history specimens, and fine jewellery).
- Condition & integrity assessment
- Acute eye for hidden damage, prior restoration, pest or mould damage, repairs, and altered pieces before valuations are finalised.
- Modern collecting trends & micro-markets
- Expansive current market knowledge spanning buoyant secondary niches, including vintage costume jewellery, cosmetics and perfumes, uranium glass, retro computing, vintage gaming equipment, Pokémon/collectible cards, and tabletop miniatures.
- Vintage fashion, footwear & accessories
- Strong eye for historic and 20th-century garments, couture labels, designer handbags, luggage, millinery, and vintage footwear, categories frequently undervalued or overlooked during general clearances.
- Flexible deployment
- Independent urban call-outs, multi-day team deployments on large estates, saleroom intake logging, or high-density hoarding environments, with care and discretion.
I also screen for legal and safety red flags before clearance (controlled materials, ordnance, and hazardous historic chattels) so the valuation team is not left to discover them late.
Contact
07904 252543 esma@chattelstriage.co.uk linkedin.com/in/esmapearceyA sample room inventory is available on request.