Updated 8 October 2026
A deceased estate valuation establishes the market value of a property at the date of death. It supports probate, the division of the estate, and the CGT cost base the beneficiary inherits. We prepare retrospective date of death valuations for any year, from $297 inc. GST, delivered in 24 to 48 hours.
At a glance
Two separate needs, often satisfied by the same report. The first is administrative: the executor has to identify what the estate is worth to obtain probate, to account to beneficiaries, and to divide assets fairly where one beneficiary takes the property and another takes cash.
The second is the one that surfaces years later. When the property is eventually sold, the capital gains tax position is measured from a cost base that depends on what the deceased owned and how they used it. For a large proportion of estates, that cost base is the market value at the date of death, and if nobody established it at the time, it has to be reconstructed.
The gap between those two moments is where the cost lands. An estate administered in 2019 and a property sold in 2028 means a nine-year-old value has to be proven with 2019 evidence.
| What the deceased owned | Cost base the beneficiary takes | Valuation needed? |
|---|---|---|
| Property acquired before 20 September 1985 | Market value at the date of death | Yes |
| Post-1985 property that was the deceased's main residence and not producing income just before death | Market value at the date of death | Yes |
| Post-1985 property used to produce income, or otherwise not exempt | The deceased's original cost base, with their acquisition date | Not usually, but records are needed |
The rule sits in section 128-15(4). The practical consequence is that the two most common estate properties in Australia, a long-held family home and a pre-1985 holding, both take a date of death value. Our guide to capital gains tax on inherited property walks through the full set of rules, including what changes when a beneficiary lives overseas.
Where the deceased's own records are missing, which is common for property bought decades ago, a retrospective valuation may also be needed at their acquisition date or at another historical point. See our retrospective property valuation service.
Warning
Income use just before death changes the answerA main residence that was rented out at the time of death does not get the date of death cost base under the main residence limb. Where a parent moved into aged care and the home was rented, or where part of the home was let, the position needs checking against the facts rather than assumed. Establish the value anyway; it is cheap insurance and often needed for the estate regardless.
Section 118-195 can give a full main residence exemption where an inherited dwelling is sold and settlement occurs within two years of the date of death, provided the conditions are met. Where an estate qualifies and settles in time, the gain can be exempt entirely.
The Commissioner has a discretion to extend the period, and PCG 2019/5 sets out a safe harbour of up to a further 18 months where the delay was caused by matters outside the beneficiary's control, such as a contested will or a delay in obtaining probate. The detail is in the two-year rule explained.
Even where the estate expects to settle inside two years, commissioning the date of death valuation early is the sensible position. Sales fall through, disputes emerge, and the exemption is lost by the calendar rather than by intention. If the two years pass, the gain is measured from the date of death value, and by then it is a retrospective exercise.
Executors need a defensible figure for the property when applying for probate and when accounting to beneficiaries. An agent appraisal is often what gets used, and it is the wrong instrument twice over: it is a marketing estimate rather than an assessment of market value, and it will not support the CGT position later.
Where beneficiaries take different assets, or where one buys out another's interest, the valuation also becomes the number the family negotiates against. An independent report signed by a valuer with no interest in the outcome is materially easier to put in front of a sibling than a figure from the agent who wants the listing.
An inherited property sold after 1 July 2027 falls under the CGT changes for the post-reset part of the gain. Our CGT calculator shows how the two slices are worked out.
Retrospective valuations for any date of death, prepared and signed by a Chartered Accountant and Certified Property Valuer. Residential $297, commercial $595, AUD inc. GST, delivered in 24 to 48 hours.
Start your orderHow it worksWhere an estate or a beneficiary still holds property across 1 July 2027, the transition applies to it as it does to any other taxable asset. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, enacted 26 June 2026, treats affected assets as disposed of and reacquired at market value on that date.
That gives some estates two valuation dates on the same property: the date of death for the inherited cost base, and 1 July 2027 for the split between the old and new regimes. Pre-1985 estate property is squarely in this position, since the reform brings it into the net for growth after the reset date. See the 1 July 2027 valuation and pre-CGT valuation pages.
The method is the same discipline as any valuation, applied to a fixed historical window. We reconstruct the property as it was at the date from title, plan and council records, historical listings and any photographs available, then analyse sales that settled around that date and adjust them for the differences that matter.
The date is the day of death, not the grant of probate or the transfer of title. Which date is the CGT valuation date sets out that rule alongside every other trigger event.
Condition at the date is the input most often lost. Estate properties are frequently sold in original condition and renovated by the buyer, so what stands there now is not what was inherited. Anything the family can supply about the state of the house at the time strengthens the report.
An inspection is generally not useful for a historical date and is not part of the engagement. What matters is the evidence, not a site visit years after the fact.
None of it is mandatory. Each item makes the report stronger.
| Report | Fee (AUD inc. GST) | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Residential, any date of death | $297 | 24 to 48 hours |
| Commercial, any date of death | $595 | 24 to 48 hours |
Reports can be addressed to the executor, the estate's solicitor or the accountant, and billed accordingly. See for solicitors.
Death itself is not taxed. When the property is later sold, the gain is the sale proceeds less the inherited cost base. That cost base is the market value at the date of death where the deceased acquired the property before 20 September 1985 or it was their main residence and not producing income just before death. Otherwise the beneficiary inherits the deceased's original cost base.
Usually yes, for one or both of two reasons: the executor needs a defensible value for probate and for dividing the estate, and the beneficiary needs the date of death market value as their CGT cost base. Even where the two-year exemption is expected to apply, the valuation protects the position if the sale is delayed.
Section 118-195 can provide a full main residence exemption where an inherited dwelling is sold and settlement occurs within two years of the date of death. The Commissioner can extend the period, and PCG 2019/5 sets out a safe harbour of up to a further 18 months where delays were outside the beneficiary's control.
Yes. Retrospective date of death valuations are routine, including for dates decades in the past, wherever historical sales evidence survives. The fee is the same as a current valuation. Evidence about the property's condition at the time is the input that most improves the report.
