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When someone dies owning real estate, the property has to be valued as of the date of death, or as of the alternate valuation date six months later where the executor elects it. That value becomes the heirs' income tax basis under Internal Revenue Code section 1014, it is reported on Form 706 where an estate tax return is filed, it drives the funding of sub-trusts, and it usually decides whether the property is kept, sold, or distributed. LHM Valuation Group prepares these retrospective appraisals for commercial, industrial, multifamily, and mixed-use property across Greater Los Angeles and Southern California, for executors, trustees, trust and estate attorneys, and CPAs. Each report is prepared and signed by Brian Allen, California Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, License No. 3011365.
Which value the estate needs
The word "appraisal" covers several different questions in an estate, and the engagement letter names the one being answered.
Date-of-death value. Fair market value as of the decedent's date of death. This is the section 1014 basis figure, the gross estate figure for Form 706, and the value most trustees use to fund a survivor's trust and a bypass trust. The basis adjustment applies whether or not any estate tax is due, and whether or not a return is filed, so the appraisal is worth doing even for estates well under the exemption; California has no estate or inheritance tax of its own.
Alternate valuation date. Under section 2032 the executor may elect to value the estate six months after death, but only if the election lowers both the gross estate and the estate tax, and property sold or distributed within those six months is valued as of its disposition. When the election is being considered, both dates are appraised.
Another past date. A late gift tax return needs the value on the date of gift. A transfer into a trust, a contribution to a partnership, a prior year's property tax lien date, or a date of separation in a family law matter each need a value as of that date. The method is the same retrospective analysis.
Current value for administration. A trustee deciding whether to sell, distributing a building to one beneficiary and cash to another, or pricing a buyout among heirs needs a value as of today, sometimes alongside the date-of-death value in the same engagement.
California probate
If the property is in a formal probate, the personal representative files an Inventory and Appraisal with the court, and non-cash assets on it are appraised by a court-appointed Probate Referee. A private appraisal does not replace that filing. It is used for the heirs' basis, for the federal estate tax return, for trust administration (most trust-held property never enters probate at all), for sale and distribution decisions, in disputes among beneficiaries, and where a party questions the referee's figure. If you are not sure which process applies, the estate's attorney will know, and the California courts' self-help guide to formal probate describes the Inventory and Appraisal step.
Why it is different
The value has to rest on what a buyer and seller could have known on the effective date: sales that had closed, leases that were in place, the rent roll as it stood, the property's condition then, and the market at that time. Later transactions can confirm a trend that was already visible but cannot be the basis of the conclusion. The report states plainly that it is a retrospective appraisal and identifies the effective date, and where the property's past condition cannot be verified first-hand the report says what was assumed and why.
For a death several years ago, or a property renovated or sold since, the evidence takes work to assemble: permits and their dates, prior listings and photographs, historical rent rolls and leases, prior appraisals, insurance inspections, and the tax assessor's records. LHM gathers what can be gathered and tells the client what could not be.
Property types
Apartment buildings, industrial and flex, office, retail and mixed-use, land, and owner-user buildings, anywhere in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. A single residence on its own is usually a better fit for a residential appraiser; where a residence is one asset in an estate that also holds commercial property or a business, LHM appraises the whole. For an estate holding an operating business, a partnership interest, or a fractional interest in real estate, the real estate appraisal and the business or interest valuation are prepared together, described on the Estate and Gift Valuation page. Hotels, senior living, and similar properties are handled under a going-concern scope, on the Going-Concern and Special-Purpose Real Estate page.
Working with the estate’s advisors
The client is normally the executor or trustee, or the attorney on the estate's behalf, and the intended users are named in the engagement letter. The report is written so that a reviewer at the IRS or a beneficiary's counsel can follow the data to the conclusion: property description, effective date and its basis, the approaches developed, the comparable data with sources, the reconciliation, the certification, and the appraiser's qualifications. Tax positions on the return, elections, and basis computations belong to the estate's counsel and CPA; the appraisal supplies the value and the support. Communication runs through the attorney where the attorney prefers it.
What to send
The property address or APN, the date of death or other effective date, who the client will be, whether a Form 706 is being filed (including a return filed only to elect portability), whether the alternate valuation date is under consideration, and the deadline. Form 706 is due nine months after the date of death, with a six-month extension available, so a return that is being filed sets the calendar. Once an engagement is in place, the start items are the leases and rent roll as of the effective date, capital improvements since, and any prior appraisal.
Frequently asked
Usually yes. The basis adjustment under section 1014 applies regardless, and the heirs will need a documented value when the property is sold or depreciated. Trust funding and distributions among beneficiaries also depend on it.
Yes. Retrospective assignments are routine; the further back the date, the more the evidence has to come from records, and the report says so.
A sale after the effective date is evidence of the market, but the value on the effective date is what the estate needs, and a sale a year or two later at a different point in the market is not that number.
Yes, in the same engagement, as a second effective date.
Yes. Brian practices business valuation and real property appraisal, so the operating company, the holding entity, and the real estate are valued on a consistent basis. See Estate and Gift Valuation.
Related reading
Sep 2026
The number serves three purposes: estate-tax filing, basis step-up, and estate administration. Each pulls in a slightly different direction, and the IRS examination program reviews these filings closely.
Sep 2026
Taxpayers often use the word appraisal loosely, and the IRS does not. The qualified-appraisal rules govern who can sign, what content is required, and what timing applies, and a technically defective appraisal can disqualify the deduction even when the underlying value is correct.
Mar 2026 · 10 min read
OBBBA raised the federal estate-tax exemption to $15 million per person. It didn’t repeal the rules that decide whether a discount survives review. Two recent cases, one from the Supreme Court and one from the Tax Court, show why the work matters more, not less.
Share the matter type, the property or business, the location, the valuation date if there is one, and your deadline. Brian will confirm fit and scope before asking for any confidential records. Please do not send financial statements, tax returns, leases or other confidential documents until an engagement is in place.
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