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Estate Appraisals & Date-of-Death Valuations

Independent estate appraisals for probate, tax reporting, and the distribution of property among beneficiaries. We establish fair market value as at the date of death, even when the appraisal is completed years later.
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What the estate needs the number for

If you are administering an estate, the value of the deceased’s real property is doing several jobs at once.

  • Probate and tax reporting. Estates are required to report the value of their assets, and real property is usually the largest single item. Your lawyer and accountant will tell you exactly what has to be filed and when. What they need from us is a defensible figure, as at the date of death, with the evidence behind it written down.
  • Capital gains on a cottage or rental. At death, the deceased is treated as having sold their real property at fair market value. A principal residence is usually sheltered from tax, but only one property per family can be designated in any year. Unless the property passes to a surviving spouse, the date-of-death value of a cottage, rental, or second property sets the capital gain reported on the final return.
  • The beneficiary's cost base. The value established at death becomes the starting point for whoever inherits the property. Too low, and the tax shifts to the beneficiary when they sell; too high, and the estate overpays now. Getting it wrong doesn't only affect the estate — it follows the asset.
  • Fairness among beneficiaries. Where one beneficiary buys out the others, or where assets are divided in kind rather than sold, the value of the real property is the thing everyone is relying on. An independent appraisal is the cleanest way to keep that from becoming a dispute.

WHY AN AGENT’S OPINION ISN’T ENOUGH

Many executors start with a free market evaluation from a real estate agent. It’s a useful tool for deciding how to price a house for sale, but it was built for a different job. It isn’t prepared under professional appraisal standards, it usually isn’t written to a specific past date, and it doesn’t set out the evidence behind the figure. If the estate is reviewed later, or a beneficiary questions the division, there is nothing in it to defend the number. An estate appraisal prepared under CUSPAP by an AIC-designated appraiser documents the comparable evidence, states the effective date, and is signed by someone who can explain how the conclusion was reached.

IT’S NOT TOO LATE

Estate work is almost always retrospective — we are asked for a value as at a date that has already passed, sometimes by a year or more. That is normal. The market data for a past date is available and analysable, and a properly prepared retrospective appraisal carries the same weight as a current one.

If the property has since been sold, renovated, or cleared out, we can still value it as at the date of death using photographs, listing history, assessment records, and the physical evidence remaining.

WHEN THE VALUE IS LIKELY TO BE DISPUTED

If a beneficiary has already questioned the value, or you expect the division to be contested, tell us at the outset. The appraisal can be scoped and documented with that review in mind, and prepared for the estate’s lawyer where counsel is involved.

COMPLEX ESTATES

Estates frequently hold property that doesn’t fit a standard form: a commercial building physically attached to a dwelling, multiple parcels under common ownership, farmland with a residence, development land, or buildings with legal non-conforming elements. Complex estate files are completed by an AACI-designated appraiser qualified to value commercial, agricultural, mixed-use, and development properties.

WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU

Very little. The house does not need to be emptied or cleaned before the inspection, and if you live out of town we can arrange access through a family member, neighbour, or the estate’s lawyer. We need the address, the date of death, and the name of the person authorizing the work. Everything else we gather ourselves.

What it costs
and how long it takes

Standard residential date-of-death appraisals start at $500, with larger or more complex residential properties up to $2,000. Commercial and multi-parcel estate files start at $2,000 and are quoted individually. The appraisal fee is normally paid by the estate — confirm with your lawyer how it should be recorded.

Typical turnaround is one week for residential, longer for commercial. If you are working to a deadline, tell us what it is and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can meet it.

We respond to every request within 24 hours, and serve Waterloo Region, Southwestern Ontario, and the GTA.

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Ask a question first — contact us.