Short answer. No. The wearing apparel of the surviving spouse and minor children, the marriage bed and bedding, and provisions and other articles that will necessarily be consumed for the family's subsistence, under the court's direction, are not treated as assets and are excluded from the inventory.
What the law says
The wearing apparel of the surviving husband or wife and minor children, the marriage bed and bedding, and such provisions and other articles as will necessarily be consumed in the subsistence of the family of the deceased, under the direction of the court, shall not be considered as assets, nor administered as such, and shall not be included in the inventory.
Rule 83, Section 2 — Certain articles not to be inventoried. Read the full provision →
Not everything in the household is an estate asset
Drawing up the inventory of a deceased person's estate does not mean listing every item found in the household. Certain categories are carved out entirely and treated as never having become part of the assets to be administered in the first place, regardless of their monetary value to the estate overall. This distinction matters because items included in the inventory become subject to administration, creditor claims, and eventual distribution, while excluded items simply remain with the surviving family.
Three categories carved out
The exclusion covers the wearing apparel of the surviving spouse and minor children, the marriage bed and bedding, and provisions and other articles that will necessarily be consumed in supporting the deceased's family, recognizing that these items serve the immediate needs of the surviving household rather than the estate's creditors and heirs. None of these categories depend on the item's value — even an expensive wardrobe or a costly bed frame still falls within the exclusion so long as it fits the described category.
The court still directs what counts
The exclusion of consumable provisions and similar articles operates under the direction of the court, meaning it is not simply left to the family's own say-so; the court retains oversight over what falls within this protected category and what does not, so it cannot be stretched beyond its intended scope. A family cannot, for instance, simply relabel valuable estate property as household provisions to keep it out of the inventory without the court's approval.
Why these exclusions exist at all
An estate inventory can take time to complete and even longer to settle, especially where there are disputes among heirs or creditors. Excluding the surviving family's clothing, bed, and consumable provisions from that process recognizes that the family still has to live day to day while the estate is being administered, and should not have to petition the court just to keep using their own clothes or the food in the pantry.