Probate House Valuation

[Arrivalist]

Following on from my other thread….

My dad’s half of the house he shared with my mum (who will remain living there) is worth approximately £160,000 (£320,000) total based on zoopla online estimate.

Is that good enough for probate or do I need to get agents in?

Thanks.

[ManicMunky]

Honestly, it'll depend on how close to the IHT threshold his estate gets to.

[Minglar]

Arrivalist said:

Following on from my other thread .

My dad s half of the house he shared with my mum (who will remain living there) is worth approximately £160,000 (£320,000) total based on zoopla online estimate.

Is that good enough for probate or do I need to get agents in?

Thanks.

As everything is passing sideways to your Mother (assuming I understood your other thread correctly) no IHT is payable and you will not need to submit a IHT 400 before applying for Probate. However you will need to estimate the value of the estate and declare that within the Probate application. It’s best practice to be as accurate as you can, but I think you’ll be fine with what you’ve suggested, ie use the Zoopla number and don’t bother getting a valuation from an Estate Agent. Sorry for your loss and good luck moving forward with this. BRM.

[DT1975]

You should be fine but for the benefit of others dealing with a larger estate its worth noting HMRC have their own proactive valuations team working in the background, so if in doubt get a RICS valuation, forget estate agents.

[Arrivalist]

Minglar said:

Arrivalist said:

Following on from my other thread .

My dad s half of the house he shared with my mum (who will remain living there) is worth approximately £160,000 (£320,000) total based on zoopla online estimate.

Is that good enough for probate or do I need to get agents in?

Thanks.

As everything is passing sideways to your Mother (assuming I understood your other thread correctly) no IHT is payable and you will not need to submit a IHT 400 before applying for Probate. However you will need to estimate the value of the estate and declare that within the Probate application. It s best practice to be as accurate as you can, but I think you ll be fine with what you ve suggested, ie use the Zoopla number and don t bother getting a valuation from an Estate Agent. Sorry for your loss and good luck moving forward with this. BRM.

Thanks Minglar. Your understanding is correct so good to know.

[ChrisH72]

It's been in the news today that HMRC is cracking down on incorrect property valuations for IHT purposes. Although I'm sure they always have.

I just estimated the value of my dad's flat based on other similar ones which had sold recently. He was nowhere near the threshold for IHT so I felt it didn't matter all that much. It's currently on the market for a little over my estimated value but I'd expect that it'll actually sell for pretty much what I guessed.

[LordGrover]

Depending on circumstances, it may be worth getting RICS valuation.

[Minglar]

If IHT is payable it is definitely worth getting an official valuation, from an Estate Agent or via RICS. For an estate being transferred between spouses, as is the case here, it’s not quite as important and it is unlikely to come under the same degree of scrutiny. However, as I posted earlier imho I think it’s good practice to try to be as accurate as possible, but perhaps without the outlay, so using Zoopla or comparing to a similar property currently up for sale nearby is not unreasonable in this instance. When home ownership passes down or the property is sold then the situation is different and HMRC will definitely be more interested in their share. BRM.

[grumbas]

Also good practice to keep evidence of how you arrived at a number.

If HMRC challenge it and you can demonstrate how you arrived at a number using a sensible methodology that's going to carry far more weight than you had a guess with nothing to substantiate it!

[Arrivalist]

grumbas said:

Also good practice to keep evidence of how you arrived at a number.

If HMRC challenge it and you can demonstrate how you arrived at a number using a sensible methodology that's going to carry far more weight than you had a guess with nothing to substantiate it!

I’ll print screen the online valuation.

There’s no IHT to pay on the estate, well under £325k, so think that should suffice unless anyone else thinks otherwise.

[bigandclever]

I know it's a lot if you don't need to spend it, but it cost £300 to get a RICS valuation for my mum's place. Probate flew through in about a week and I'm convinced doing things like that helped enormously.

[Arrivalist]

Thanks all.

I may get a RICS valuation just to be safe.

Edit to add. Doing some digging today has revealed that his half of the estate is only about £9k below the IHT threshold so I think I need to do this properly.

Edited by Arrivalist on Friday 24th April 17:56

[Minglar]

Arrivalist said:

Thanks all.

I may get a RICS valuation just to be safe.

Edit to add. Doing some digging today has revealed that his half of the estate is only about £9k below the IHT threshold so I think I need to do this properly.

Edited by Arrivalist on Friday 24th April 17:56

I’m not really sure why the traditional IHT threshold should be a concern. If your parents were still married when your Father passed, and his entire estate is going to your Mother alone, IHT does not apply. So don’t worry if the numbers come out close to or above £325,000. A spousal transfer is IHT free. It is only when your Mother passes and things are passed down that it will be an issue, and when that happens you can use your Fathers un-used allowances too. As long as what you present on the Probate Application looks sensible, and of course is as accurate as you can be (as I said before) then it should not be a problem. BRM.

[Arrivalist]

Minglar said:

Arrivalist said:

Thanks all.

I may get a RICS valuation just to be safe.

Edit to add. Doing some digging today has revealed that his half of the estate is only about £9k below the IHT threshold so I think I need to do this properly.

Edited by Arrivalist on Friday 24th April 17:56

I m not really sure why the traditional IHT threshold should be a concern. If your parents were still married when your Father passed, and his entire estate is going to your Mother alone, IHT does not apply. So don t worry if the numbers come out close to or above £325,000. A spousal transfer is IHT free. It is only when your Mother passes and things are passed down that it will be an issue, and when that happens you can use your Fathers un-used allowances too. As long as what you present on the Probate Application looks sensible, and of course is as accurate as you can be (as I said before) then it should not be a problem. BRM.

DOH!! it’s been a challenging day today and that bit about spousal transfer completely slipped my mind.

As you were

[Panamax]

Arrivalist said:

My dad s half of the house he shared with my mum (who will remain living there) is worth approximately £160,000 (£320,000) total based on zoopla online estimate. Is that good enough for probate or do I need to get agents in?

I don't fully understand. Surely there's no IHT between husband and wife.
If they are "joint tenants" (as opposed to tenants in common) there may be nothing to do at all regarding the house.