The date of death value is the fair market value of the property on the day the owner died, meaning the price a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller on that date. For real estate, this is determined through a retrospective appraisal (Also known as a historical appraisal). A licensed appraiser researches comparable properties that sold around the date of death, not current sales, and analyzes the market conditions that existed at that time. The appraiser also considers the property’s condition as of that date, ignoring any repairs, damage, or improvements that happened afterward. This is different from a standard appraisal, which values a property as of today. Because the effective date is in the past, the appraiser relies on historical sales records, MLS data, and market trend information from that period. The result is a written report stating the property’s value as of the date of death, which can be used for tax filings, probate, and estate administration.
