Valuing estate for IHT 205

Legacy_user

I am the executor of my fathers will and need a little advice regarding valuing the contents of his house. I am trying to do this myself without paying for a solicitor because I know for definite that no Inheritance tax will be due as he has his own allowance and at of my late mothers. His estate is worth around £290k however I want to make sure I complete the form as accurately as possible.
Before he died he moved into sheltered accommodation (a flat) and he put the family home on the market and it is currently sale agreed so we know how much it is worth.
He has money in some bank accounts and I have worked out what gifts he made to my siblings and I and his grandchildren in the last 7 years.
So the only other things to value are the house and flat contents. Do I need to get a professional valuer in to do this or is it ok to take an inventory and use the likes of Gumtree or EBay to get an idea of the value?

Mojisola

Pam17 wrote: »

So the only other things to value are the house and flat contents. Do I need to get a professional valuer in to do this or is it ok to take an inventory and use the likes of Gumtree or EBay to get an idea of the value?

Unless there are any expensive pieces - art work, antique furniture, jewellery, etc - the value of house contents is very low.

Our solicitor put down a nominal £500 for the contents of a four-bed house.

antrobus

Pam17 wrote: »

.... I have worked out what gifts he made to my siblings and I and his grandchildren in the last 7 years. ....

A solicitor would not have wasted their time on that exercise.

Pam17 wrote: »

..So the only other things to value are the house and flat contents. Do I need to get a professional valuer in to do this or is it ok to take an inventory and use the likes of Gumtree or EBay to get an idea of the value?

No.

Follow the previous advice and stick down £500. Or a £1,000 if you're feeling generous. Don't waste more of your time with an 'inventory'. Unless of course there really is a Ming vase on a shelf somewhere or a Picasso on the bedroom wall.

getmore4less

Unless you are getting close to paying IHT nominal values are fine.

job lot figure for the IHT forms, HMRC are very unlikely to be interested.

Keep records for the distribution of the estate if the beneficiaries are interested in accurate accounts if you sell or give stuff away.

booksurr

just in case you remain unconvinced, even when I did have to pay IHT on my father's estate, the house contents value of £500 was accepted without question (after confirming no antiques were held)

we may need/choose to use replacement values for insurance purposes when we're alive, but once dead, the costs of clearing a house often equate to below second hand value of the majority of the "stuff" in them, given the labourer needs to cover their costs, as much will likely end up in the tip as being unsaleable leaving only a few white gods that actually are "worth" money to a clearance company. Hence in reality a nominal value is the norm

System

Thank you for all your replies. I just didn't want to give HMRC any cause to delay probate and hence the sale of the house. It's unusual for a property to sell so quickly over here and now that we have a buyer we don't want to lose them.
There are no antiques in the house and the white goods, carpets and curtains are included in the sale of the house so the only stuff left is some furniture over 25 yrs old, ornaments, a few pictures and a couple of old TVs.

Mojisola

Pam17 wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies. I just didn't want to give HMRC any cause to delay probate and hence the sale of the house. It's unusual for a property to sell so quickly over here and now that we have a buyer we don't want to lose them.
There are no antiques in the house and the white goods, carpets and curtains are included in the sale of the house so the only stuff left is some furniture over 25 yrs old, ornaments, a few pictures and a couple of old TVs.

In that case, £500 would be an over-estimation of their worth.

Go with the nominal £500 and don't worry.