When Should You Get a Date-of-Death Appraisal? Dates and Records

By Joseph T. Ellington Jr., Virginia Licensed Residential Appraiser · Capital Valuations

Arrange a date-of-death appraisal once your adviser identifies the valuation need, and preserve property records before cleanout or repairs change the evidence. The inspection can take place later than the effective date. Contacting me early helps us assess the available information and timing; it is not a universal legal deadline.

When should the family contact me?

I suggest contacting me when the family starts addressing the estate’s property and settlement questions. Start with the address, the date you have been asked to value, and what the report will be used for. If the purpose or date is still uncertain, your attorney or tax adviser can help resolve that before we establish the assignment.

Earlier contact can make the property history easier to document. If I inspect soon after the death, there may have been fewer intervening changes than if I inspect many months later. But a short interval does not prove the home is unchanged. Tell me about damage, repairs, vacancy, or other changes even when only a few weeks have passed.

A later inspection does not automatically prevent a historical appraisal. I first need to assess the available property and market evidence. For the service itself, see retrospective home appraisal; this guide focuses on arranging the work and organizing its dates and records.

Which dates should you keep separate?

The effective date is the date the value opinion describes. The inspection date is when I observe the property. The report date identifies when the report is signed or issued. They can be different, and one should not be substituted for another.

For many of my current-value assignments, the effective date coincides with my inspection. In a date-of-death assignment, it describes the earlier date instead. Issuing that report today does not make the historical conclusion a current value.

This timeline is an illustration, not a client case or promised turnaround. A January 15 photograph should remain labeled January 15; it should not be relabeled as a photograph taken on the date of death.

Confirm the requirement with the right adviser

Ask the person requesting the value which property interest, purpose, date, and report requirements apply. “Estate value” alone does not settle those details. A historical tax-related question and a proposed sale today can require different analyses.

IRS Publication 559 describes general inherited-property basis rules and exceptions, including an elected alternate valuation in qualifying circumstances. An alternate valuation date is not simply the day an appraiser can fit the inspection into the schedule. Your tax adviser determines the applicable treatment.

For local administration, use the Virginia Beach Circuit Court Clerk’s probate information and your attorney. I can discuss appraisal scope and delivery, but I do not set court or tax deadlines.

Photograph the home before its condition changes

My practical advice is to photograph the entire home before significant cleanout, repair, or renovation. Include each room, bathrooms, the garage, and the front, back, and both sides of the exterior. Also photograph specific defects or features that will be removed or changed.

You may end up with 20, 30, or 40 useful photographs. There is no required count; coverage and clarity matter more than the number. Keep the original files, actual dates, and a simple room or location description. A clear photograph of a damaged area can answer a question that a distant room overview cannot.

Do not delay an urgent protective repair just to wait for an appraisal appointment. Document the condition safely when possible, keep the repair records, and tell me what happened. Never enter an unsafe space to take a picture.

Keep records that connect the photographs to the history

I also welcome older MLS photographs, repair invoices, earlier appraisal reports, and other relevant information the family has. A previous appraisal may help describe the property at its own date; it is not automatically the answer to the new assignment.

• Identify the property: keep the address, parcel information, and available deed or survey with the file.
• Record changes: note when work started and finished, and retain relevant permits, invoices, and before-and-after photographs.
• Identify damage: keep available inspection findings, estimates, insurance documentation, and the dates the condition was first observed.
• Explain occupancy and access: note vacancy, tenants, inaccessible areas, or other circumstances affecting what can be verified.

Organize records chronologically and identify their source. Tell me when a detail comes from memory rather than a dated document. Bring the information you have; an incomplete file is a reason to discuss the gaps, not to manufacture dates.

Keep later repairs separate from earlier condition

A new roof seen during my inspection does not establish that the same roof existed at the effective date. Likewise, a repair invoice helps establish work and timing but does not prescribe a dollar-for-dollar value adjustment.

The timeline and photo log should distinguish what existed before the work, what changed, and what remains uncertain. The appraisal analysis then addresses the condition and market relevant to the required date. A present-day value minus renovation spending is not a substitute for that analysis.

What if historical information is incomplete?

I verify the available information and explain material assumptions and limitations in the report. Some of my historical assignments involve only a few months between the required date and inspection, but that does not eliminate the need to investigate changes.

An extraordinary assumption concerns uncertain information accepted as true for an assignment when the required reasonable basis and credible analysis exist. A hypothetical condition involves a condition contrary to known fact. These terms are not interchangeable, and neither allows missing facts to be invented. Applicable assumptions and their possible effect on results must be disclosed.

If a significant historical fact lacks adequate support, I may need additional records, a revised scope, or to explain why the requested conclusion cannot be developed credibly. Saying that clearly is more useful than presenting unsupported certainty.

Use a separate guide for a later sale or assessment dispute

If the home has already sold, keep the listing, contract, closing records, and change history; see getting an estate appraisal after the house sold. If the question is whether an assessment supplies the required number, see tax assessment versus date-of-death appraisal.

What should you send with the first inquiry?

Send the address, proposed effective date, intended use, available adviser instructions, and a brief account of changes. Include any known deadline. I can then discuss the scope, useful records, fee, and available delivery timing through our estate appraisal service.

If you are organizing access and responsibilities as well as the historical file, use the executor’s real-estate checklist.

Sources and verification

References checked October 24, 2026. The timing and record-gathering recommendations reflect my interview responses, not a filing-deadline rule.

• IRS Publication 559 — inherited-property basis and qualifications.
• Virginia Beach Circuit Court Clerk: probate — local procedural resource.
• Appraisal Institute Guide Notes — assumptions, hypothetical conditions, and their relation to the effective date.
• The Appraisal Foundation: 2024 USPAP, Standards Rules 1-2 and 2-2 (PDF) — development and disclosure requirements.
• Appraisal Subcommittee National Registry — Virginia license record.