Losing a loved one is generally hard enough. Settling
the estate and preventing unnecessary extra capital gains
tax bills can be avoided. There are many situations
-- none of them lacking stress and
complexity --
where
you need an appraisal of
property that states an opinion of
what the property was worth on a
date some time ago, rather than when
the appraisal is ordered.
In estate
tax purposes or disposition of the
assets
of a
decedent, a "date of death"
valuation is often
required. (Sometimes, the executor
of the estate may choose to have the
date be six months after the date of
death -- but the same principles
apply.) Having an appraisal
done for the ""date of death" sets the value when the
property was inherited.
For instance your
loved one has passed away and it takes several months and
lots of your money to bring the property up to current
market standards to be sold. After selling the IRS now tells
you that you owe a much larger amount of taxes based on
capital gains. The IRS in this case has used the
significantly lower
tax
assessed value of on the property rather than a "date of
death" appraisal, and has not discounted your costs to
improve the property, which results in a much larger
inheritance and a much larger tax bill for capital gains.
Attorneys, accountants, executors
and others rely on us
for "date of death" valuations
because such appraisals require
special expertise and training. They
require a firm that's been in the
area for some time and can
effectively research comparable
contemporaneous sales.
Real property isn't like publicly
traded stock or other items which
don't fluctuate in value very much
or for which historical public data
is available. You need a
professional real estate appraiser,
bound by the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP)
for a high degree of confidentiality
and professionalism, and you need
the kind of quality report and work
product taxing authorities and
courts need and expect.
To order an
appraisal of your property call us at
(907) 522-1031.
