A date of death appraisal is something most people learn about only when they have to get one. If you are the executor, trustee, or a family member handling a loved one’s property, I hope this page answers your questions.
I am a certified California real estate appraiser based in Marin County, and I have completed hundreds of date of death appraisals for properties in Marin, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties. If you need one, request a free fee quote here or email me at [email protected].
What is a Date of Death Appraisal?
A date of death appraisal determines the fair market value of real estate as of the day the owner passed away.
It is a retrospective appraisal, meaning the inspection happens today, but the value is established as of a date in the past.
This valuation becomes the foundation for nearly every financial decision in the estate.
It sets the tax basis for the heirs, supports the estate tax return if one is required, and gives everyone involved a defensible number to work from when property is divided or sold.
The appraisal must be performed by what the IRS calls a qualified appraiser: someone licensed or certified by the state, with the education and experience to value the specific type of property.
A real estate agent’s opinion of value or an online estimate does not meet this standard and will not hold up if the valuation is ever questioned.
Why You Need a Date of Death Appraisal
The stepped-up basis (this is the big one)
When you inherit real estate, the IRS resets your cost basis to the property’s fair market value at the date of death.
This is the stepped-up basis, and in our market it is often worth six figures in avoided capital gains tax.
Here is what that looks like with local numbers. Say your mother bought a house in San Rafael for $150,000 in 1985. At her death in 2026, it is worth $1.8 million. If she had sold it herself, she would have owed capital gains tax on roughly $1.65 million of appreciation. Because you inherited it, your basis steps up to $1.8 million. Sell it for $1.8 million and you owe no capital gains tax at all.
That protection only holds if you can document the value. The date of death appraisal is that documentation.
Without it, you are guessing at the most important number in the entire tax calculation, and the IRS does not have to accept your guess.
Trust administration
Most estates in Marin, San Francisco, and Sonoma counties never go through probate because the property is held in a living trust.
If you are the successor trustee, you still need a date of death appraisal, even though the estate skips probate.
The trustee needs the value to administer the trust: accounting to beneficiaries, dividing assets fairly, and funding any subtrusts the trust document requires.
This is separate from the stepped-up basis, which protects the heirs later when they sell. The same appraisal covers both.
Probate
If the estate does go through probate, the court requires a valuation of the real property. In California, the court appoints a probate referee to value estate assets for the official Inventory and Appraisal.
More on how that interacts with an independent appraisal below.
Estate tax returns
For 2026, the federal estate tax exemption is $15 million per individual ($30 million for a married couple).
Most estates fall under that threshold and owe no federal estate tax.
But two situations still require a defensible valuation: estates near or above the threshold filing Form 706, and estates filing a 706 solely to elect portability of the deceased spouse’s unused exemption.
In both cases, the values on the return must be supportable, and the IRS can examine them years later.
Dividing property among heirs
When several heirs inherit one property, disagreements about its value are common and expensive.
An independent appraisal gives everyone the same objective number before positions harden.
If heirs disagree, the cleanest solution is one appraiser, agreed on upfront, with the scope settled before the report is written.
What Happens If You Skip It
Some heirs estimate the value themselves, ask an agent for a free opinion, or plan to deal with it when they sell. Each of those paths carries real risk.
If you sell years later and report a stepped-up basis you cannot document, the IRS can challenge it. If they determine a lower value, you owe the additional capital gains tax plus interest and potentially penalties for misstating the basis.
Unsupported estimates are especially hard to defend when the numbers look convenient rather than evidence-based.
There is also a practical problem: the further you get from the date of death, the harder the property is to value.
Once the property has been renovated, cleared out, or changed, documenting its condition as of the date of death gets more difficult and the appraisal gets less defensible.
I have completed retrospective appraisals many years after the fact, and it can be done well, but the strongest reports come from appraisals ordered while the property is still in its inherited condition.
California-Specific Issues
The probate referee
In a California probate, the court assigns a probate referee to value the estate’s assets for the Inventory and Appraisal filed with the court. So when do you need an independent appraisal on top of that?
- The estate is in a trust. No probate means no referee. The trustee hires the appraiser directly.
- You need support for a federal estate tax return. A full USPAP-compliant appraisal report provides the documentation and methodology the IRS expects.
- You are documenting the stepped-up basis. The heirs benefit from a complete retained report they can produce years later when they sell.
- You disagree with the referee’s value or need a second opinion for a sale, buyout, or dispute among heirs.
Proposition 19 and property tax reassessment
Since February 2021, Prop 19 sharply limits the old parent-child exclusion from property tax reassessment.
Inherited property is now reassessed to market value unless the property was the parent’s primary residence, an heir makes it their own primary residence within one year, and even then the exclusion is capped (roughly the first $1 million of value above the old assessed value, indexed).
Inherited rental properties, second homes, and vacation properties are reassessed, period.
This matters for the appraisal because the county assessor will establish a new base-year value as of the date of death.
Knowing the defensible fair market value early helps you and your tax advisor understand the property tax consequences of keeping versus selling, before you make that decision.
I am not a tax advisor, and Prop 19 questions belong with your CPA or attorney, but I flag it because many families are blindsided by the reassessment months after the estate is settled.
North Bay properties and wildfire history
In Sonoma County especially, retrospective valuations can involve complications that generic appraisers miss: fire-affected neighborhoods where the market shifted sharply around specific dates, rural parcels with wells and septic systems, and properties whose condition at the date of death differs meaningfully from their condition today.
Local market knowledge is not optional for these assignments; the comparable sales and the adjustments have to reflect what was actually happening in that specific market at that specific time.
IRS Guidelines for Date of Death Appraisal
The relevant IRS guidance lives in Publication 559 (Survivors, Executors, and Administrators) and the IRS real property valuation guidelines in Internal Revenue Manual 4.48.6. The key requirements:
Valuation standard
Fair market value: the price at which the property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither under compulsion, both with reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.
Effective date
The value is established as of the date of death, not the inspection date. This is what makes it a retrospective appraisal.
Qualified appraiser and report
The appraisal must be a written report from a qualified appraiser, stating the purpose and effective date, describing the property, explaining the valuation methodology, and documenting the appraiser’s qualifications.
It must comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
Inspection
The IRS does not mandate a specific inspection type.
A full interior inspection or an exterior-only inspection can both produce a credible report, though the more primary data the appraiser can gather, the stronger the report.
I would not rely on a desktop appraisal for a matter with this much money at stake.
The alternate valuation date
Executors sometimes ask about valuing the estate six months after death instead of at the date of death.
This is the alternate valuation date election under IRC Section 2032, and it is widely misunderstood. It is an estate-level election made by the executor, it applies to all assets in the estate (not just the house), and it is only allowed if it decreases both the value of the gross estate and the estate tax owed.
With the exemption at $15 million, it is relevant to very few estates. If you think it might apply to yours, that is a conversation for your CPA or estate attorney.
If the property sells shortly after death
If the property is sold in an arm’s-length transaction within roughly six months of the date of death, the sale price itself may be accepted as evidence of the date of death value, and a separate appraisal may not be needed.
Confirm this with your accountant or attorney before skipping the appraisal; whether it applies depends on the circumstances of the sale and what the value will be used for.
Report Specific Guidelines
The appraiser should know the IRS report-specific guidelines for estate appraisals. There are additional requirements that your appraiser should be knowledgeable about.
Here is the full guide for estate administrators on the IRS website.
Date of Death Appraisal Cost
For a standard single-family residence in my service area, expect the fee to be anywhere from $600+. Complex properties, rural parcels, multi-unit buildings, or valuations requiring extensive historical research cost more.
This is a small number next to what it protects: the tax exposure on an undocumented basis in a market where typical inherited homes are worth $1 million to $3 million.
If you also need a current value (for example, to price the property for sale or divide it among heirs as of the transfer date), I can often complete both valuations in a single assignment, which costs less than ordering them separately.
When to Order One
There is no IRS deadline for performing the appraisal itself, but there are practical deadlines that make early action important:
- Before filing the estate tax return. Form 706, if required, is due nine months after death (a six-month extension is available).
- Before listing the property or reporting a sale. You need the basis number before the transaction, not after.
- Before renovating, clearing out, or changing the property. The appraisal is most defensible while the property is in its inherited condition.
The appraisal itself typically takes one to two weeks from inspection to delivered report, depending on scheduling and complexity.
Service Area
I provide date of death appraisals throughout:
Marin County: San Rafael, Novato, Mill Valley, San Anselmo, Larkspur, Corte Madera, Tiburon, Sausalito, Fairfax, Ross, Kentfield, and West Marin.
San Francisco: all neighborhoods and districts.
Sonoma County: Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Sebastopol, Windsor, Healdsburg, and the surrounding areas.
Based in Marin County, serving San Francisco and the North Bay.
Ordering an Appraisal
If you are working with an estate attorney or CPA, they can order the appraisal on your behalf, and I work with many of them regularly. You can also order directly, and I will walk you through the process.
Date of death appraisals require substantially more documentation and support than a standard appraisal, and the report may be scrutinized by the IRS or a court years after it is written. This is not an assignment for an appraiser who mostly does mortgage work.
If you need a date of death appraisal in Marin, San Francisco, or Sonoma County, email me at [email protected] or click here for a free appraisal fee quote.
Austin Fernald, Certified Real Estate Appraiser
California certification #3002942. 14+ years appraising residential real estate in California, including hundreds of date of death and estate appraisals for families, trust administration, and IRS reporting.
Frequently Asked Questions About Date of Death Appraisals
As soon as practical after the death. There is no IRS deadline for the appraisal itself, but the value must be established before the estate tax return is filed, before the property is sold, and ideally before the property is renovated or cleared out. The six-month timeframe people often mention refers to the alternate valuation date election, not a deadline for getting the appraisal done.
It establishes the fair market value of the real estate as of the owner’s date of death. That value is used to document the heirs’ stepped-up basis, support probate and trust administration, and substantiate values on an estate tax return.
A qualified appraiser: one who is state licensed or certified for the property type being appraised and has the education and experience to value it, per IRS Notice 2006-96. The report must comply with USPAP.
Yes. Trusts avoid probate, not valuation. The successor trustee needs the date of death value for trust accounting, distributions to beneficiaries, and establishing the stepped-up basis.
Fair Market Value: the price the property would sell for on the open market between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither required to act and both reasonably informed. The appraisal establishes FMV as of the date of death, not as of today.
Typically $600+ for a standard single-family home in Marin, San Francisco, or Sonoma County. Complex or rural properties, multi-unit buildings, or valuations far removed from the date of death cost more.
Usually one to two weeks from inspection to delivered report, depending on scheduling and the complexity of the retrospective research.
The fair market value of the property on the date the owner died. It is the number used for the stepped-up basis and for estate tax purposes.
Sometimes. If the property sells in an arm’s-length sale within roughly six months of the date of death, the sale price may be accepted as evidence of value. Confirm with your CPA or attorney before relying on this.
A retrospective appraisal can still be performed, sometimes ten years or more after the effective date. It requires reconstructing the market and the property’s condition as of the date of death, which is more research-intensive, but it is routine work for an appraiser experienced in estate assignments.
