CES designation – Certified Estate Specialist

“You only have one opportunity to sell the family estate. Shouldn’t you make sure you have a top-notch professional?” The tag line for the Certified Estate Specialist (CES) designation course from the National Auctioneers Association makes clear the importance of choosing the right professional to handle your estate.

There is much more to properly handling the entirety of someone’s worldly possessions than dragging it all out on the lawn on auction day – or worse, windrowing it on the lawn and tagging each piece with a price. An auctioneer with the CES designation knows what to do, how to do it and who should be involved.

Here’s the official description from the NAA CES website.

A Certified Estate Specialist has advanced education in exactly how to deal with the settling of estates, from working with family members to dealing with lawyers and accountants.

Certified Estate Specialists are accustomed to dealing with other professionals, such as CPAs, tax attorney’s, financial planners and family lawyers. They are familiar with the legal requirements and restrictions on their geographic areas, and will use their knowledge to bring the greatest return to those involved in the sale.

Learn to market your services to professionals (CPAs, trustees, tax attorneys, financial planners, etc) who deal with estates.

Certified Estate Specialist

This course covers:

• Legal and financial aspects
• Duties
• The relationship of parties involved in an estate
• The role of the auctioneer
• How to position your firm to take advantage of this opportunity

This recently-overhauled, three-day course is taught by one of several, excellent instructors. It teaches auctioneers both how to professionally and profitably manage estate liquidations as well as better market auction services to other professionals who may be executors and decision makers for estates.

As with any NAA course, the benefits of the solid course materials are greatly augmented by the interaction with the instructor and the other auctioneers in the class. Your next opportunity to take CES is July 11 through 13, just before this year’s NAA 60th Annual International Auctioneers Conference and Show in Kansas City.