The role of the valuation date, the information required and how independent advice supports estate administration.
When someone dies, their estate has to be valued as at the date of death, so that Inheritance Tax can be correctly assessed and reported to HMRC. Where the estate includes property, an independent valuation gives executors and personal representatives a defensible figure to work from, rather than a rough estimate that could be challenged later.
Probate instructions are often given some weeks or months after death, sometimes longer. That does not change the valuation date itself — the figure still has to reflect the market as it stood on that specific day, which means the valuer works from the evidence available at the time, considered with the benefit of hindsight where appropriate.
Useful information includes the title documents, any lease if the property is leasehold, details of recent alterations, and an understanding of the property's condition at the relevant date. The more complete the picture, the more efficiently the valuation can proceed.
HMRC can and does query probate valuations, particularly where a property is later sold for a materially different figure. An independent, evidence-based Red Book valuation gives executors a report they can point to, prepared by someone with no stake in the outcome — which is a considerably stronger position than relying on an agent's appraisal.
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