Appraisals for Estate Planning and Settlement

What are estate planning appraisals and the role of an appraiser in estate settlement.

The settlement of an estate of a loved one is very sensitive and is never easy especially when it comes to valuing the real estate involved. Whether there is OR there is not a clear will, a certified appraisal by a professional appraiser has to be carried to make sure that real estate assets are valued accurately making settlement of the estate quick and discreet. We work with various lawyers, accountants and estate trustees to conduct both current and retrospective property valuations.

What are Estate Planning Appraisals?

Settling an estate is not a process many individuals are familiar with, and it’s not as simple as reading a will and executing its directives. Instead, a legal process called probate is involved.

Determining the total value of the estate is a prime goal of the probate process, including, obviously, any real estate. In some cases, estate settlements require court intervention. Add this to the emotional burden of a loved one’s passing, and the benefit of having a professional, reliable appraiser becomes clear.

Role of an Appraiser in case of Estate Settlement

In the unfortunate event of one’s death, the testator’s (the one who passed away) will is carried out by an appointed liquidator or executor. One of the jobs of the liquidator or executor is estate settlement.

Normally, the property will be inherited by the person mentioned in the testator’s will. However, in the event that the property left behind is to be split between multiple heirs, the people involved may decide to sell the property instead, and distribute the income from the sale amongst them.

It is a real estate appraiser’s job to observe the property and provide a fair value for the liquidator or executor to work with.

What Makes Estate Planning Appraisals Different from Other Appraisals?

An appraiser assesses the property’s value based on the decedent’s date of passing – rather than the current date.

The appraiser will closely look at historical market conditions and other factors.

An experienced appraiser will make an educated assessment no matter how much time has elapsed between the date of passing and the time of the appraisal.

Helps evaluate an estate’s potential tax burden

Provides information that assists the probate process and makes any sale or transfers afterward that much easier

The Importance Of a Trustworthy Appraisal

When you’ve been entrusted to execute a deceased loved one’s final wishes, it can be a sensitive issue. An entire family can be mourning the loss of a loved one, and no one thinks about having a valuation carried out on the property contained in the estate. With this in mind, it’s important that an accurate appraisal be carried out in a timely manner. As time passes, it becomes more and more difficult to compile the required documents and resources to perform an accurate retrospective appraisal on the property in question.

Walson Consulting Inc. in the Greater Toronto Area, is proud to be trusted by accountants, lawyers, and estate executors to provide accurate, unbiased appraisal reports with professionalism and discretion.

We understand that although you may not be thinking of the legal issues involved in your loved one’s passing, you don’t want to have to deal with any drawn-out litigation that can make the process of settling an estate all that much more painful.

Throughout the process of appraising property in an estate, we remain compliant to the privacy regulations set down by the Canadian Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (CUSPAP). We act in your best interests and only release our detailed retrospective appraisal reports to the designated parties in accordance with the specifics of the settlement.