Internet-based method for dividing personal property items among two or more members of an estate by merging individual estate members? numerical and explicitly non-financial rankings of all items in the estate?s inventory.

Abstract

An internet-based method for mathematically optimizing the distribution of an estate's idiosyncratically (non-financially) valued personal property items among two or more estate members. The method is predicated on the automated merger of independent and strictly numerical rankings of every item in an estate inventory as provided by every estate beneficiary. The method explicitly avoids financial valuation. The result is the distribution of all items in the estate inventory to all parties in the estate according to rules that optimize a correlation between an estate member's strictly numerically ranked interest in an estate item with the likelihood that said estate member will receive said estate item.

Claims

1. A method for distributing idiosyncratically valued Estate Items in an Estate Inventory to all Estate Members in an Estate Membership using numerical rankings and without the use of any form of financial valuation, wherein the improvement comprises: a. creating an Estate Membership catalog comprising all Estate Members by pairing an Estate Membership Module and an Estate Membership Management Module, and b. creating an image-based Estate Inventory comprising all Estate Items in said Estate Inventory by pairing an Estate Inventory Module and an Estate Inventory Management Module using an image-based drag-and-drop sorting interface, and c. pairing said Estate Inventory independently with each Estate Member of said Estate Membership, and d. creating an Independent Ranking Module enabling each Estate Member of said Estate Membership to independently numerically rank every Estate Item in said Estate Inventory using only an image-based drag-and-and-drop ranking interface without the need for any financial valuation, and e. transmitting each Estate Member's Independent Ranking to the Rankings Merger Module, and f. merging mathematically all Estate Members' Independent Rankings into a single Final Merged Distribution so as to give any specific Estate Item to that Estate Member who has ranked said Estate Item highest and, in the event of a tie, compensating an Estate Member who did not receive his or her earlier/higher-choice item so as to give him or her a higher (tie-breaking) ranking, whereby the Final Merged Distribution of all items in the Estate Inventory to all Estate Members in the Estate Membership will mathematically optimize the correlation between a specific Estate Member's self-generated ranking of an Estate Item with the likelihood that said Estate Member will receive said Estate Item.

Description

SECTION: REFERENCE TO DRAWINGS

[0024] FIG. 1: Overview flow diagram illustrating relationships among the Estate Membership Module, Estate Inventory Module, Independent Rankings Module, Rankings Merger Module, and Results Module.

Additional Illustrations:

[0025] FIG. 2 illustrates the Estate Membership Module online user interface.

[0026] FIG. 3 illustrates the Estate Inventory Module online user interface.

[0027] FIG. 4 illustrates the Aggregate Rankings Module online user interface.

[0028] FIG. 5 illustrates the Results Module online user interface.

SECTION: REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0029] 1: Estate Membership Module [0030] 1a: Estate Membership Input Module—User [0031] 1b: Estate Membership Management Module—Server [0032] 1c: Estate Membership—User-Server communication [0033] 2: Estate Inventory Module [0034] 2a: Estate Inventory Input Module—User—Drag-and-Drop Image-based Interface [0035] 2b: Estate Inventory Management Module—Server [0036] 2c: Estate Inventory—User-Server communication [0037] 3: Aggregate Rankings Module [0038] 3a: Estate Member “a” [0039] 3a.1: Estate Member “a” Independent Ranking Module pairing with Estate Inventory—Server [0040] 3a.2: Estate Member “a” Independent Ranking Module—User—Drag-and-Drop Image-based Interface [0041] 3a.3: Estate Member “a”—User-Server communication for Independent Ranking Module and submittal [0042] 3b: Estate Member “b” [0043] 3b.1: Estate Member “b” Independent Ranking Module pairing with Estate Inventory—Server [0044] 3b.2: Estate Member “b” Independent Ranking Module—User—Drag-and-Drop Image-based Interface [0045] 3b.3: Estate Member “b”—User-Server communication for Independent Ranking Module and submittal [0046] 3c: Estate Member “c” [0047] 3c.1: Estate Member “c” Independent Ranking Module pairing with Estate Inventory—Server [0048] 3c.2: Estate Member “c” Independent Ranking Module—User—Drag-and-Drop Image-based Interface [0049] 3c.3: Estate Member “c”—User-Server communication for Independent Ranking Module and submittal [0050] 3x: Estate Member “x”—“x” is a variable indicating the total estate membership number is dynamic. [0051] 3x.1: Estate Member “x” Independent Ranking Module pairing with Estate Inventory—Server [0052] 3x.2: Estate Member “x” Independent Ranking Module—User—Drag-and-Drop Image-based Interface [0053] 3x.3: Estate Member “x”—User-Server communication for Independent Ranking Module and submittal [0054] 3z: Dynamic range of Estate Members in a given Estate Membership [0055] 4: Rankings Merger Module—Server [0056] 5: Results Module—User-Server communication—Image-Based [0057] 6: Pairing of each Estate Member with Estate Inventory [0058] 6a: Routing of Estate Member “a” pairing [0059] 6b: Routing of Estate Member “b” pairing [0060] 6c: Routing of Estate Member “c” pairing [0061] 6x: Routing of Estate Member “x” pairing [0062] 7: Routing of finalized Independent Rankings output to Rankings Merger Module [0063] 7a: Routing of Member “a” finalized Independent Rankings output to Rankings Merger Module [0064] 7b: Routing of Member “b” finalized Independent Rankings output to Rankings Merger Module [0065] 7c: Routing of Member “c” finalized Independent Rankings output to Rankings Merger Module [0066] 7x: Routing of Member “x” finalized Independent Rankings output to Rankings Merger Module [0067] 8: Export routing of Final Merged Distribution data to Results Module

SECTION: DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION—FIRST EMBODIMENT

[0068] Note: All references are to FIG. 1.

[0069] FIG. 1 shows a process for distributing an Estate Inventory containing Estate Items of idiosyncratic value to all Estate Members in an Estate Membership comprising an Estate Membership Module 1; an Estate Inventory Module 2; an Aggregate Rankings Module 3; a Rankings Merger Module 4; and a Results Module 5.

[0070] Estate Membership Module 1 has two sub-modules: Estate Membership Input Module 1a and Estate Membership Management Module 1b. Estate Membership Input Module 1a is comprised of a User's computer input device capable of entering data, displaying said data, submitting said data to the Server, receiving said data from the Server, and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Estate Membership data. Module 1a is paired and communicates with the Estate Membership Management Module 1b, comprised of an internet-based data Server and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Estate Membership data. Modules 1a and 1b communicate across the internet via data transfer route 1c.

[0071] Estate Inventory Module 2 has two sub-modules: Estate Inventory Input Module 2a and Estate Inventory Management Module 2b. The Estate Inventory Input Module 2a is comprised of a User's computer input device capable of entering data, displaying said data, submitting said data to the Server, receiving said data from the Server, and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Estate Inventory data. Module 2a is paired with The Estate Inventory Management Module 2b, comprised of an internet-based data Server and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Estate Inventory data. Modules 2a and 2b communicate across the internet via data transfer route 2c.

[0072] Aggregate Rankings Module 3 has sub-modules for each Estate Member, comprising a pairing of a copy of the Estate Inventory exclusive to said Estate Member —3a.1, 3b.1, 3c.1, 3x.1—with an Independent Ranking Module that is exclusive to said Estate Member —3a.2, 3b.2, 3c.2, 3x.2. The exclusive Estate Inventories—3a.1, 3b.1, 3c.1, 3x.1—are located on an internet-based data Server and are comprised of computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of the Estate Members' independent Estate Inventory data. The exclusive Independent Ranking Modules—3a.2, 3b.2, 3c.2, 3x.2—are comprised of Users' computer input devices capable of entering data, displaying said data, submitting said data to the Server, receiving said data from the Server, and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Independent Rankings Module data. 3a.1, 3b.1, 3c.1, 3x.1 and 3a.2, 3b.2, 3c.2, 3x.2 communicate across the internet via data transfer routes 3a.3, 3b.3, 3c.3, 3x.3.

[0073] Rankings Merger Module 4 is located on an internet-based data Server and is comprised of computer code designed to receive and merge two or more Independent Rankings from the Aggregate Rankings Module 3, the results of which are exported as the Final Merged Distribution. Independent Rankings are communicated to the Rankings Merger Module 4 on an internet-based server via data transfer routes 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7x.

[0074] Results Module 5 displays, filters, and exports the Final Merged Distribution results received from of Ranking Merger Module 4. Results Module 5 is comprised of a User's computer input device capable of entering data, displaying said data, submitting said data to the Server, receiving said data from the Server, and computer code to enable the administration, access to, and storage of Results data. The Final Merged Distribution results from the Ranking Merger Module 4 are communicated to the Results Module 5 across the internet via data transfer route 8.

SECTION: CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

[0075] The embodiment of the techniques set forth in the disclosure enables the distribution of all items in an estate inventory to all parties in the estate according to rules that optimize a correlation between an estate member's numerically ranked interest in an estate Item with the likelihood that said estate member will receive said estate item. The method explicitly avoids financial valuation.

[0076] Tightly integrated tools enable the administration of estate membership, inventory, individual item ranking, and merging of individual rankings into a single master distribution list, thereby significantly improve on existing methods for estate property distribution. The method is more equitable, saves time, eliminates travel requirements, is more cost effective, is easier to use, and most important, is beneficial to the social compassions that are particularly important at precisely the moment that estate distributions take place.