Valuing house clearance items for probate

Boleyn19 · 17 February 2019 at 11:38AM

Hi everyone,
My brother and I (joint executors and sole beneficiaries) are valuing our mother's estate which will be with the house and savings over £1m.

I know not everything of household contents needs to be itemised but we eat to do it correctly so we have evidence as how we came to particular value on contents.

I have put a resale value on a lot of items (through Ebay searches). There is only one item that needs to be itemised which is worth £590. The next most valuable is Wedgewood crockery which could sell for £125, if lucky. But what do I put for items we know could not sell and are either for charity or house clearance eg old clothes, battered furniture, soft furnishings without fire safety certificates. Can I put £0 value?

Thanks in advance.

Spelunthus · 17 February 2019 at 12:11PM

Reality is that (after fees, handling, storage etc.) the contents of a typical house are probably worth very little. A nominal £1000 or £2000 would be sufficient for probate with no futher explanation. If there are specific high-value items then by all means put them in a short inventory but bear in mind that they may only realise 25% of their "value" at sale.

Alfrescodave · 17 February 2019 at 12:18PM

I was in a similar position when acting as an executor for my uncle's will.

He always told me that several items of furniture were antiques and therefore valuable. I invited 2 reputable dealers round to value and possibly purchase these items and I was surprised at the low prices offered. I believed these values to be correct so money raised was significantly less than I first expected.

My point is not to overvalue items that may have sentimental connections especially clothing items that are best given to charity as they have zero value.

Grumpelstiltskin · 17 February 2019 at 12:19PM

I hope you have used sold prices on your E Bay searches, no use just looking at items for sale as some people put stuff on at ridiculous prices.

Eg Wedgewood fetches a tiny percentage of it's original purchase price and furniture unless it is original Chippendale fetches much less than modern thrown together stuff advertised on TV.

Tom99 · 17 February 2019 at 12:29PM

I thought its only stuff over £1,500 you need to list unless its a car, boat or aircraft?

Boleyn19 · 17 February 2019 at 12:37PM

Thanks everyone.
Yes I have taken sold prices and the mid range price if there is one.
The forms say £1,500 but I have been told by HMRC adviser that it is £500. Odd I know.

Yorkshireman99 · 17 February 2019 at 1:25PM

Boleyn19 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.
Yes I have taken sold prices and the mid range price if there is one.
The forms say £1,500 but I have been told by HMRC adviser that it is £500. Odd I know.

Make sure you take pictures of the main items and see if you can get a local sale room to take an informal look to see if there is anything worth selling. If in any doubt wait until you have probate before disposing of things in case HMR&C challenge anything.