Date of death valuation for inherited property

When someone dies and leaves property, two questions often follow: what the property was worth on the day, and what it counts as having cost the person who inherits it. A date of death valuation answers the first for the estate and, in some cases, the second for capital gains tax. This page covers when the date of death value sets the cost base, how executors and beneficiaries use it, and what to gather.

When does inherited property take its date of death value?

For capital gains tax, section 128-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 sets the beneficiary’s cost base. It generally depends on how the person who died held the property:

A date of death value can still matter for an inherited home in that last case, and conditions and exceptions apply to each, so your accountant confirms which rule applies.

What executors use it for

A value at the date of death can help an executor or administrator in several ways:

• Probate and the estate’s records. A probate application is made to the Supreme Court of the state or territory where the person owned assets, and it lists the estate’s assets. An executor may want a value for each asset. The estate’s lawyer can tell you what your application asks for, including the date the values are to be at.
• Sharing the estate fairly. When one beneficiary keeps the property and the others receive cash, an independent value at an agreed date helps keep the split fair.
• The beneficiaries’ tax records. Where the date of death value sets a beneficiary’s cost base, the report is the evidence for that figure.
• Differences of opinion. When beneficiaries disagree about what the property is worth, an independent valuation gives everyone the same evidence to work from.

When you request a valuation, choose “I am acting for the owner (for example an executor)” and tell us who the report should name as the client. A report can be relied on by the client named in it and anyone we agree to in writing, so say at the start if the beneficiaries or the estate’s lawyer will rely on it too.

What beneficiaries use it for

If you inherited the property and its date of death value is your cost base, that figure is where your accountant starts when you eventually sell. Keep the report with your property records: the ATO says records for a property need to be kept for at least five years after you dispose of it.

Beneficiaries can request a valuation too. If you will still own the property on 30 June 2027, that date may matter as well under the new capital gains tax rules: see 30 June 2027.

Can it be valued months or years after the death?

Yes. A date of death valuation is a retrospective valuation: the property is valued as it was on that day, using sales evidence from around that date, whenever the report is prepared.

Changes since the death are left out. Repairs, a renovation before a sale or a new kitchen do not count, so the valuer looks for records of the property as it was. If the estate has since sold the property, the sale price is considered with care, because it reflects a later market and sometimes a changed property.

Desktop or inspected?

The Desktop CGT Valuation, $149 including GST, suits most standard homes, units and vacant lots. An inspection adds most where the property is unusual or high value, where the building is largely unchanged since the date, or where the date is recent, for example a home that is still as it was when the person died. The Inspected CGT Valuation is $495, and a second valuation date in the same report is $149.

What to gather

• the date of death
• the address and the type of property
• photos from around the date, including any sales or rental listing
• plans, approvals and invoices for work done before or after the date, with dates
• for apartments and townhouses, strata records of any major works
• if the property was rented, the lease and the rent at the time

If something cannot be found, the report states what the valuer has assumed. All our fees are on the pricing page.