Home › Services › Estate and Date of Death Appraisals

Estate and Date of Death Appraisals

An estate appraisal is not a current valuation. It answers a narrower and harder question: what was this property worth on one specific day, often a day some months or years in the past, and what evidence supports that figure.

That is a retrospective assignment, and it has rules. The comparable sales must have closed before the date of death, or be adjusted with an explicit market-conditions analysis if they closed after it. The property's condition on that date — not its condition now — governs. If heirs have since cleared, repaired or renovated it, the report has to reason about what was there then, from photographs, permits, listing history and inspection records rather than from what is standing today.

Why the date matters more than the number

For federal estate tax purposes the valuation date establishes the heirs' stepped-up basis. Get it wrong in either direction and the consequence lands years later, when the property sells and the gain is computed against a basis that cannot be defended. An executor who accepts a casual figure is accepting a risk that is not theirs to take.

The IRS is explicit that a qualified appraisal is the expected support for a reported value. Estates also have the option of an alternate valuation date six months after death, which is elected for the whole estate rather than property by property — a decision for the estate's attorney or CPA, not for the appraiser, but one the appraisal has to be able to serve.

What we provide

A written appraisal report on the appropriate Fannie Mae form, with the effective date set to the date of death, a certification, and a comparable analysis built from sales available as of that date. Where the assignment is contested, the file is prepared to be read by someone who disagrees with it.

We work directly with executors, personal representatives, trustees, probate attorneys and CPAs, and we are used to the practical realities: an heir living in the property, siblings in different states, a house that has not been maintained, and a court schedule that does not move.

Our experience

Appraising South Florida since 1992, with 34,000+ appraisals in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Broward counties. That depth is what makes a retrospective assignment possible: valuing a property as of 2014 requires knowing what the market did in 2014, in that neighbourhood, and having files from that period to reason from.

Our staff includes an MAI and SRA designated appraiser.

What we do not do

We do not tell you what number you want. An estate appraisal that is generous to the heirs is a liability, not a favour — it raises basis in a way that cannot be substantiated and creates exposure for the executor who relied on it. Residential only.

How the assignment runs

First a short call: the date of death, the property, who will rely on the report, and any deadline the court or the CPA has set. Then evidence gathering — we tell you exactly what to look for (photographs from the period, the listing file if it was ever on market, permits, association documents for a condominium) and we pull the comparable record as of the date from our own files, which reach back through every South Florida market since 1998. Inspection follows if the property is accessible; if it has been sold or gutted since, the assignment proceeds on documented condition instead, and the report says so plainly. You receive a full retrospective appraisal with the effective date, the certification, and the reasoning shown.

Why executors get this wrong by accident

The common failure is ordering a current appraisal because it is cheaper and faster, then using it for a date months or years earlier. The IRS distinguishes the two, and so does every reviewer. The second failure is the generous number — a high value feels kind to heirs and quietly manufactures basis the estate cannot substantiate at resale. An estate appraisal is not a favour to anyone; it is a defensible fact, dated correctly.

Call 561-853-2129 or use the contact form. We serve Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie and Broward counties.

Questions we hear about this work

How much does a date of death appraisal cost?

More than a standard current-value appraisal, because it is retrospective work — comparable research as of a past date and condition reconstruction take real time. We quote after hearing the date and the property; the quote is firm.

Can you appraise a property that has already been sold or renovated?

Yes. The valuation is built from evidence of the property's condition on the date of death — photographs, listing history, permits, invoices — not from what stands there today.

Do you work directly with attorneys and CPAs?

Constantly. We can be engaged by the personal representative, by counsel, or by the estate's accountant, and we prepare the file for whichever professional will rely on it.

What if the estate needs values for multiple properties?

We handle multi-property estates routinely and report each parcel separately with a consistent method, so the inventory holds together as a set.