property valuation-surveyors report

charb56

in sorting my brothers estate, we have had a formal surveyors valuation of his property of £650,000 from a reputable well established firm who say they have never had a valuation disputed by HMRC in 18 years
the solicitor dealing with the estate asked us to get 2 estate agent 'time of death' market valuations to back this up. one gave a figure of £675,000, the other £700,000 and stated he was not going lower as "he didn't want a call from HMRC". I feel they have overvalued the property so they do not get any comeback, as they have done this for free.
the solicitor says we have to go with the highest value which to me seems ridiculous as it will put a hefty hike on IHT-surely the surveyors report is all that's needed?

troubleinparadise

I got a RICS valuation for my Mum's house as the estate did exceed the IHT limit, and didn't bother with estate agents as their valuations were not "trained and certified professional" but to my mind based more on getting your sales business and hope value...

The valuation was referred to the District Valuer, I don't know if the CS had contact from them because of that, but the valuation figure was upheld.

To end up paying additional IHT of that magnitude to protect an EA from a DV's phone call wouldn't sit comfortably with me either!

Equally, the usual rule of thumb is the median of the three values, not using the highest.... perhaps your solicitor can explain his thinking a bit more clearly?

Yorkshireman99

charb56 wrote: »

in sorting my brothers estate, we have had a formal surveyors valuation of his property of £650,000 from a reputable well established firm who say they have never had a valuation disputed by HMRC in 18 years
the solicitor dealing with the estate asked us to get 2 estate agent 'time of death' market valuations to back this up. one gave a figure of £675,000, the other £700,000 and stated he was not going lower as "he didn't want a call from HMRC". I feel they have overvalued the property so they do not get any comeback, as they have done this for free.
the solicitor says we have to go with the highest value which to me seems ridiculous as it will put a hefty hike on IHT-surely the surveyors report is all that's needed?

The solicitor is talking rubbish! The value required is as at the date of death and HMR&C will require a professional paid for valuation by a RICS or similarly qualified person. They will, if need be negotiate with the district valuer to aggree a value. I would make a formal complaint using the solicitor's own internal complaints procedure assuming you are the client.

Linton

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

The solicitor is talking rubbish! The value required is as at the date of death and HMR&C will require a professional paid for valuation by a RICS or similarly qualified person. They will, if need be negotiate with the district valuer to aggree a value. I would make a formal complaint using the solicitor's own internal complaints procedure assuming you are the client.

It dont believe it is true that HMRC will require a RICS surveyor. The advice of our solicitor who specialised in wills, probate and trusts was that two EA valuations would be sufficient to satisy HMRC. Clearly if there is a dispute than it makes sense to pay for a RICS valuation.

Yorkshireman99

Linton wrote: »

It dont believe it is true that HMRC will require a RICS surveyor. The advice of our solicitor who specialised in wills, probate and trusts was that two EA valuations would be sufficient to satisy HMRC. Clearly if there is a dispute than it makes sense to pay for a RICS valuation.

I should have said if the estate value is close to or in excess of the IHT threshold HMR&C will look much more closely. Another thing that can catch people out is that the probate value will dbe used as the base for any future CGT calculation.