Probate property valuation, and what it costs
Almost every estate with a house needs a date of death valuation, and HMRC expects evidence rather than an opinion.
A probate valuation records what an asset was worth on the day somebody died. It sets the inheritance tax position and the base cost for any capital gains tax when the asset is later sold, so an inaccurate figure costs the estate money in one direction or the other.
For property, the figure HMRC will accept is a formal written valuation by a RICS registered valuer prepared for probate purposes. An estate agent appraisal is a marketing view of what a house might fetch, and it is not the same document.
What gets valued, and by whom
Different assets need different evidence, and the qualification of whoever signs the valuation is what decides whether HMRC accepts the figure.
Where this sits in the sequence
Probate property valuation is one step of several, and several of the others are free or can be done without instructing anybody. The order matters more than most people are told: two of these steps cost the estate money if they are taken in the wrong order.
What to do when someone dies sets out all ten in order, with what each one costs.