No. An appraisal measures value, it does not create or change it. A property’s market value is set by what buyers are willing to pay, and a date of death appraisal simply documents what that value was on a specific past date. It does not influence what the home will sell for, what future buyers will offer, or what the county assessor assigns for property taxes. What the appraisal does affect is the heirs’ tax basis. Inherited property receives a stepped-up basis equal to its fair market value at death, and the appraisal is the document that establishes that number with the IRS. A well-supported appraisal can therefore change how much capital gains tax heirs owe when they eventually sell, even though it never changes the property’s actual worth. If the concern is that a high appraised value will raise property taxes, it will not, since California assessors value property independently under their own rules.
