A date of death appraisal is the number an estate rests on. It is also, usually, the last thing anyone orders. Consider a hypothetical. Your father died in March, and the will named you executor. The house in Park Ridge is the largest thing he owned. Now the attorney has asked one question: what was it worth on the day he died? Not what it would list for today, and not what the assessor carries it at. So here is what that appraisal establishes and where it fits in settling the estate. Then, what to put in writing before the appraiser starts.
- What the date-of-death value is used for, and why an assessment cannot stand in for it.
- Where the appraisal fits in the settlement timeline, from the inventory to the returns to the distribution.
- What the executor and the estate attorney should settle with the appraiser before the work begins.
What a Date of Death Appraisal Establishes
The report fixes one figure: the fair market value of the property on the day the owner died. Federal estate tax regulations, at 26 CFR 20.2031-1, define that value as the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree on, neither under pressure. Both know the relevant facts. A forced-sale price does not qualify, though. Nor does the county’s assessed value, unless that number happens to equal fair market value. In Cook County it rarely does. Assessments come out of a mass appraisal model, not a look at one house.
That single figure then does several jobs. It is the value the executor reports if the estate owes a tax return. It also becomes the tax basis the heirs carry when they eventually sell, under the IRS rules on inherited property. And when one heir keeps the house while the others take cash, it is the number the buyout starts from. One report, prepared once, serves every one of those uses.
Because the effective date sits in the past, the assignment is retrospective by definition. The appraiser inspects the property now, then values it as it stood on the date of death. Only sales a buyer could have seen at the time count. USPAP, the standards published by The Appraisal Foundation, requires the report to state that effective date and hold the analysis to it. Our article on appraisals for inherited property walks through how that reconstruction works. This piece stays on the process around it instead.
Where the Appraisal Fits in Estate Settlement
For an Illinois estate that goes through probate, the sequence runs like this. Whether a given estate needs probate at all, or passes through a trust instead, is a question for the family’s attorney.
- Letters issue. Once the court appoints the representative, a clock starts. Under section 14-1 of the Illinois Probate Act, the representative files an inventory within 60 days. It has to describe the real estate, its improvements, and any mortgage or lien against it. In Cook County, those cases run through the Probate Division at the Daley Center.
- Nine months. Both the federal and the Illinois estate tax returns come due nine months after death. The federal return, Form 706, only applies to a 2026 death above $15,000,000. That figure counts the gross estate plus adjusted taxable gifts, according to the IRS instructions. Illinois, though, sets a lower bar. The Illinois Attorney General puts the state threshold at $4,000,000. The Illinois return, Form 700, goes to the Attorney General’s office with a Form 706 and the appraisals attached. Whether an estate below the federal threshold still prepares a 706 for that purpose is a question for counsel. A paid-off house, a retirement account, and a life insurance policy can cross that line.
- Distribution. Then the estate accounts to the heirs and distributes. If one sibling buys out the others, the date-of-death value anchors the price. If the house sells, the closing price answers to it.
- The later sale. Years on, an heir sells and the basis question comes back. If the estate filed Form 706, it may also have issued Form 8971. That form ties each heir’s basis to the estate tax value.
No Estate Tax Due? The Value Still Comes First
Notice which step needs the value first. Even if no estate tax will be due, the basis and the distribution still depend on it. So the appraisal belongs at the front of the timeline, ordered when the letters issue. Waiting for a buyer’s offer puts it in the wrong place.
Alternate Valuation and Why the Date Can Move
An executor who files Form 706 can elect to value the estate as of six months after death instead. The IRS instructions set the conditions. First, the election has to lower both the gross estate and the tax. It applies to everything in the estate, not just the house. Property that sells or passes to heirs inside those six months takes its value on the day it left the estate. And the election, once made, is final. Illinois allows the same election on Form 700 for estates that are taxable in Illinois but not federally.
Consider a hypothetical Wilmette house worth $1,400,000 on the date of death in a softening market. Six months later, comparable sales might support $1,330,000, a drop of $70,000, or about 5 percent. If the rest of the estate also declined, counsel might weigh the election. But the lower value becomes the heirs’ basis too. So a smaller estate tax bill now can mean a larger capital gain later. That trade-off belongs to the attorney and the CPA. The appraiser’s job is to supply both numbers. If the election is even a possibility, say so before counsel writes the engagement letter. Then the assignment carries two effective dates from the start.
What the Appraiser Needs From the Executor
In practice, a retrospective assignment lives or dies on what the executor can document. Four things speed the work and make the report easier to defend.
First, the date. The death certificate sets the effective date, so send a copy at engagement. Second, condition on that date. Photos from the funeral week, the last listing, and repair invoices all help. If the basement flooded in June after a March death, the appraisal has to describe the dry basement. Third, how the decedent held title. A house owned outright is one assignment; a half interest held with a sibling is a different scope. So say which before the appraiser quotes a fee. Fourth, who will rely on the report. Naming the attorney and the CPA as intended users lets everyone work from one document without a second engagement. Our residential appraisal team asks for all four before scheduling the inspection.
Then keep the report. The heirs may not sell for a decade, and the basis question will be waiting when they do.
For Estate Attorneys: Scoping the Engagement
Most weak estate appraisals trace back to an engagement letter that never named the assignment. Four lines fix that.
State the effective date, and add the six-month alternate date if the election is live. Name the intended use as estate tax reporting, basis determination, and probate accounting. List the executor, counsel, and the CPA as intended users. Specify the definition of value as fair market value under 26 CFR 20.2031-1(b), quoted in the report. A lender’s market value definition carried over from a refinance form is the wrong one. And scope each parcel separately, with any fractional interest identified up front.
Why it matters on the return: the Form 706 instructions carry a 20 percent penalty when a reported value is 65 percent or less of the actual value. The Illinois return, meanwhile, goes to the Attorney General’s estate tax section with the appraisals attached. A report that follows the regulation’s definition answers the reviewer’s first question before anyone asks it. A lender form, by contrast, leaves it open.
Order the Appraisal When the Letters Issue, Not When the House Sells
The sequence is simple once the timeline is visible. Letters issue, and the executor orders the appraisal. Then the inventory goes in, the returns go out on time, and the distribution follows a number everyone has seen. Families who reverse it end up backing into a value after the sale. That is harder to defend and costlier to fix. So get the date-of-death value first. Everything else in the estate settles around it.
Settling an Estate With a House in It?
PahRoo prepares date-of-death and alternate-valuation appraisals for executors, estate attorneys, and CPAs across Chicago and Cook County, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Naples.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a date-of-death appraisal?
It is a real estate appraisal with an effective date equal to the day the owner died. It states the property’s fair market value on that date, using evidence available at the time, even if the report comes later. Executors use it for the returns and the distribution, and heirs use it as their tax basis.
How do you value a house for probate?
A licensed appraiser inspects the property, documents its condition as of the date of death, and analyzes comparable sales from around that date. The report ties a fair market value to that effective date and explains the data cutoff. An assessor’s figure or an online estimate is not a substitute.
Who orders a date-of-death appraisal?
Usually the executor or administrator, often at the attorney’s request. A trustee orders it when the property sits in a trust, and a CPA may ask for it for the estate return or the heir’s basis. Name the attorney and the CPA as intended users so all can rely on one report.
How long after death can you get an appraisal?
There is no fixed deadline, but the estate needs the number early. Illinois probate inventories are due 60 days after letters issue, and estate tax returns nine months after death. Appraisers routinely prepare retrospective reports months or years later, though condition documentation gets harder with time.
What is the alternate valuation date?
It is the date six months after death that a Form 706 executor can elect instead. The election must lower both the gross estate and the tax, covers every asset, and is final once made. Property that sells inside the six months takes its value on the sale date. If the election is possible, tell the appraiser at engagement.
Retrospective Estate Work Across Five Markets
PahRoo Appraisal & Consultancy prepares date-of-death, alternate-valuation, and buyout appraisals for executors, trustees, estate attorneys, and CPAs in Chicago and Cook County, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Naples. The same retrospective discipline runs our January 1 valuations for property tax appeals. See the full list of appraisal services, or contact the team with the date of death and the property address.