Executor & beneficiary

Rufty1

Your advice please, good people?

I am one of two executors of an estate.  I am also one of two beneficiaries who will share the estate.  I am considering keeping the house. I want to make sure I do right by all parties. 
Would the correct thing be to get 3 quotes for the value of the house and take the average & use that for the purposes of settling the estate?  Probate has been granted.  
What would I need from a solicitor or estate agent?  Thank you.

theoretica

Are you doing this with the full agreement of the other executor/beneficiary or is there a risk of it getting contentious?

How did you get the value used for probate and how long ago was that?

user1977

Assuming things are civil between you and the other beneficiary (and the other executor, if that's a third person), it's entirely up to the two/three of you how you agree the price.

getmore4less

How was the house valued for getting the grant?

Be aware of the self dealing rules.

you need consensus from all parties.

canaldumidi

You'll have to value the property for Probate, so unless there's a long gap between death and selling the property, use the probate value. Either use 3 estate agent valuations (making sure they give you realistic 'sale' prices, not 'marketing' prices!) or pay an RICS Surveyor. I would do the latter if the Estate's value is near an IHT threshold and more likely to be queried by HMRC.

Assuming no mortgage to be paid off, you can transfer the Title from Deceased's name direct to your name, and simply pay the other Beneficiary half the Probate value.

Rufty1

The executors are in full agreement.
The value was based on neighbouring properties & there is no risk of being any where near the tax threshold.
Every penny has been properly accounted for. 
The other beneficiary is just hard to deal with and very argumentative for the sake of it, so just trying to do the right thing with the least possible stress. 
Thanks for the point on 'self dealing'. I had a little google & it seems to refer to Trusts, but guess the principles are the same.

badger09

Rufty1 said:

The executors are in full agreement.
The value was based on neighbouring properties & there is no risk of being any where near the tax threshold.
Every penny has been properly accounted for. 
The other beneficiary is just hard to deal with and very argumentative for the sake of it, so just trying to do the right thing with the least possible stress. 
Thanks for the point on 'self dealing'. I had a little google & it seems to refer to Trusts, but guess the principles are the same.

If the other beneficiary is hard to deal with and argumentative, I would definitely get a RICS valuation as there is less scope for dispute than with the less formal 3 EA guestimates route. 

googler

Just get one RICS surveyor to give you a valuation for estate/probate purposes. 

Don't involve EAs at all. 

badger09

googler said:

Just get one RICS surveyor to give you a valuation for estate/probate purposes. 

Don't involve EAs at all. 

Probate has already been granted

Disjoint

Sorry to piggy back on this - why is a RICS survey better than 3 EA average as OP intended to do? I would assume EA have more information as to market and specific area as well as what is for sale at present.

Slithery

Because EA's need zero training and often value properties artificially high to get business. They also have no responsibility for the accuracy of their valuation.

On the other hand a RICS surveyor will have had professional training and will have to prove that their valuation is accurate if ever questioned for HMRC or IHT purposes.