How to Value an Estate for Probate: A Step-by-Step Guide

To value an estate, you identify everything the person owned and everything they owed as at the date of death, confirm each figure in writing, and subtract the debts from the assets. GOV.UK breaks it into three tasks: identify the assets and debts, estimate the estate's value, and report that value. It also warns that this "can take several months", longer for a big or complicated estate.

This is the part of probate that takes the longest and matters most. The figures you produce here determine whether the estate is excepted, whether any Inheritance Tax is due, and what you certify on a legal document you sign.

This guide covers England and Wales. All figures checked 17 September 2026. The rules that apply are those in force at the date of death.

This guide gives you the whole method. What the resulting figures then mean — which forms the estate needs and whether HMRC wants full details — is the next question, and the four possible answers are set out here.

Why the date of death is everything

Every figure is taken as at the date of death. Not today. Not the date probate is granted.

If shares were worth £40,000 on the day the person died and £52,000 by the time you get round to the paperwork, the estate is valued at £40,000. If a house was worth £300,000 then and sells for £320,000 eighteen months later, the estate value is £300,000, though the gain may raise separate Capital Gains Tax questions for the estate.

So when you write to an organisation, ask specifically for the date-of-death balance. They deal with this request constantly and have a process for it. It also gives you written evidence for every number, which is exactly what you want when you are signing a statement of truth.

Step 1: find everything

Before valuing, you have to find it. The most reliable method is going through twelve months of bank statements line by line. Standing orders and direct debits reveal insurance policies, subscriptions, investment contributions and accounts that nobody remembered existed.

Also check:

• post, for the next few months, including the annual statements that arrive on anniversaries
• email, if you have lawful access, for paperless statements
• the will, which may name assets specifically
• any paperwork files, safe, or deposit box
• the pension tracing service on GOV.UK, for pensions from old employers
• unclaimed assets schemes for dormant accounts
• Premium Bonds and National Savings holdings

Work through a checklist rather than from memory. Assets found after the estate is distributed are a genuine problem.

Step 2: value the assets

Bank and building society accounts

Write to each and ask for the date-of-death balance, including interest accrued to that date. Interest matters: banks calculate it to the date of death and it forms part of the estate.

Property

The biggest number in most estates, and the one HMRC is most likely to look at.

Two routes:

Route	Cost	Use when
Estate agent estimates, ideally three in writing	Free	The estate is comfortably below the thresholds
RICS "Red Book" valuation by a chartered surveyor	Typically a few hundred pounds	Value is near a threshold, tax is payable, or the property is unusual

If there is any chance the property's value affects the tax position, pay for the RICS valuation. It is a defensible, professionally prepared figure. Three agents' opinions of value are not a valuation and carry much less weight if HMRC asks.

Also establish how the property was owned. Download the title register from the Land Registry: a Form A restriction indicates tenants in common, and its absence usually means joint tenants. This determines both how the share passes and what you include.

For jointly owned assets, you include the deceased's share. HMRC's excepted-estate rules are explicit that the gross value includes "the deceased's share of any jointly owned assets".

Shares and investments

• Quoted shares: value at the date of death using the market price on that day. A stockbroker or the share registrar can confirm it.
• Unit trusts and funds: the fund manager supplies the date-of-death value.
• Unquoted or private company shares: these need a professional valuation, and they also usually take the estate out of the excepted regime if gifted in the 7 years before death. Take advice.

Pensions and life insurance

This is the area where people most often include something they should not, or miss something they should.

Ask each provider two questions:

1. Does this pay into the estate, or directly to a named beneficiary?
2. Is it written in trust?

A policy written in trust, or a pension death benefit paid at the trustees' discretion, normally goes straight to the beneficiary and falls outside the estate. It is not part of the probate value and not part of the Inheritance Tax calculation.

A policy payable to the estate is part of it.

The same policy can be either, depending on how it was set up. Do not assume; ask.

Personal possessions

Value at what they would realistically fetch, not insurance replacement value and not sentimental value. Ordinary household contents are usually a modest round figure. Individually valuable items, such as a car, jewellery, art or antiques, should be valued separately and, if substantial, professionally.

Money owed to the person

Outstanding salary, a tax refund, a rent deposit, money lent to a relative. Easy to overlook and part of the estate.

Step 3: list the debts

Deductible against the estate:

• the mortgage, at its date-of-death balance
• loans, credit cards and overdrafts
• outstanding household bills up to the date of death
• funeral expenses, which are an allowable deduction
• any tax owed

Get written confirmation of each, same as for assets.

One restriction to be aware of: for deaths on or after 1 April 2014, liabilities are deductible in arriving at the net chargeable value for excepted-estate purposes only where the debt would be allowed as a deduction under the rules introduced by the Finance Act 2013. Most ordinary household debts are unaffected, but a loan used to acquire property that itself qualifies for relief is exactly the kind of case where advice is worth having.

Step 4: gifts in the last 7 years

You must look back 7 years from the date of death and identify what was given away. This is the part people most often skip, and the part that most often changes the answer.

For excepted-estate purposes, HMRC distinguishes:

• Specified transfers: chargeable lifetime transfers where the value transferred was wholly cash, quoted shares or securities, land (with furnishings and contents enjoyed with it), or household and personal goods. For deaths on or after 1 January 2022 their chargeable value must not exceed £250,000.
• Everything else: an estate with chargeable transfers in the 7 years before death that are not specified transfers cannot qualify as an excepted estate at all.

Only four lifetime exemptions may be deducted in arriving at the value of specified transfers: small gifts, the annual exemption, marriage or civil partnership exemption, and normal expenditure out of income. Agricultural and business relief must be ignored for this purpose.

And the trap: since 1 March 2011, normal expenditure out of income is limited to £3,000 per tax year here. Exceed it and the whole gift is treated as a chargeable transfer.

Above all: a gift with reservation of benefit, where the person gave something away but carried on benefiting from it, disqualifies the estate from being excepted outright. The classic case is transferring the house to the children and continuing to live in it rent-free.

Step 5: the three figures

You will be asked for three values, and the distinction matters:

Figure	What it is
Gross value	Everything owned, before deducting anything, including the share of jointly owned assets and specified transfers
Net value	Gross minus debts and liabilities
Net qualifying value	The figure used to test the excepted-estate limits

Getting gross and net the wrong way round on the application is a common and entirely avoidable error.

Here is where a general guide reaches its limit. The route depends on your three figures, and a generic threshold cannot tell you which side of it you are on. The four routes, with the rule and the source behind each, is the same reasoning applied to a specific estate rather than to estates in general.

Step 6: which route the numbers point to

With the figures in hand:

• Excepted estate (most estates): you self-certify the values on the probate application. Nothing separate goes to HMRC.
• Not excepted: IHT400, start paying any tax due, wait for HMRC's code, then apply for probate.

Broadly, a low value excepted estate needs the gross value not to exceed the nil rate band of £325,000, and an exempt excepted estate needs gross value not over £3,000,000 with the net chargeable value, after spouse, civil partner or charity exemption, not over the nil rate band. Sub-limits apply: foreign assets not over £100,000, specified transfers not over £250,000, trust assets within their limits.

The full conditions are in our guide to excepted estates.

Evidence: keep everything

You are signing a legal statement about these figures. Keep, in one place:

• every letter confirming a date-of-death balance
• the property valuation, and any comparable evidence
• share price evidence at the date of death
• statements of every debt
• funeral invoices
• a record of every gift you identified, with dates and amounts
• your own spreadsheet showing how each total was reached

Two reasons. HMRC can enquire into a return, and beneficiaries are entitled to see the estate accounts. A folder built as you go is trivial; a folder reconstructed a year later is miserable.

The mistakes that cause queries

1. Estimating instead of confirming. "About £12,000" is not good enough on a document you sign.
2. Using today's values. The date of death is the only date that counts.
3. Forgetting accrued interest to the date of death.
4. Including a policy written in trust, or excluding one that pays into the estate.
5. Missing the 7-year gift history, which can change the route entirely.
6. Ignoring the deceased's share of joint assets.
7. Valuing possessions at insurance value rather than realistic sale value.
8. Confusing gross and net on the application.
9. Skipping a professional property valuation when the figure sits near a threshold.

How long it takes, and how to shorten it

GOV.UK: valuing an estate "can take several months, but it can take longer if it's a big or complicated estate (for example if it involves trusts or there's tax to pay)".

The single biggest saving is parallelism. Write to every organisation in the same week. Most of the elapsed time is other people's response times, and those can run concurrently.

Second biggest: ask both questions in the first letter, the date-of-death balance and whether they need a grant. One letter, both answers, no second round.

Frequently asked questions

How do you value an estate for probate?

Identify the person's assets and debts, estimate the estate's value as at the date of death, and report it. GOV.UK sets out these three tasks. Every figure should be confirmed in writing by the organisation holding the asset, because you are signing a legal statement about them.

What is the difference between gross and net estate value?

The gross value is everything the person owned, before deducting anything. The net value is the gross value minus debts such as the mortgage, loans and funeral costs. The net qualifying value is the figure used to test whether the estate qualifies as an excepted estate.

Do I need a professional valuation of the house?

Not always. Written estimates from local estate agents are often enough for an estate comfortably below the tax thresholds. Where the value is near a threshold or tax is payable, a formal RICS Red Book valuation is far safer because it is defensible evidence if HMRC questions the figure.

What date do I value the estate at?

The date of death. Balances, share prices and property values are all taken as at that date, not as at the date you do the work or the date probate is granted. Ask each organisation for a date-of-death balance specifically.

Are life insurance and pensions part of the estate?

It depends on how they are set up. A policy written in trust, or a pension paid at the trustees' discretion, normally pays a named beneficiary directly and falls outside the estate. A policy paying into the estate is part of it. Ask each provider which applies.

How do I value jointly owned property?

You include the deceased's share. HMRC's excepted estate rules refer to the gross value of the estate including the deceased's share of any jointly owned assets. How the share passes depends on whether the property was held as joint tenants or tenants in common.

Do I have to include gifts the person made?

Yes, gifts in the 7 years before death matter. For excepted estate purposes, specified transfers must not exceed £250,000 for deaths on or after 1 January 2022, and chargeable transfers that are not specified transfers prevent an estate qualifying as excepted at all.

How long does valuing an estate take?

GOV.UK states that valuing an estate can take several months, and longer if it is a big or complicated estate, for example one involving trusts or with tax to pay. Writing to every organisation in the same week rather than one at a time is the biggest time saving available.

Valuing the estate is the hard, slow part and you now have the whole method for it. What follows is filling in the forms that report those values, which is a different kind of work: mechanical, unforgiving, and easy to get wrong while tired. Here is what this estate needs and what help with it will cost.

Sources

Checked 17 September 2026:

• GOV.UK, How to value an estate for Inheritance Tax and report its value — the three tasks, timescales, deadlines
• HMRC, IHTM06012 — low value excepted estates — gross value including share of joint assets, sub-limits
• HMRC, IHTM06013 — exempt excepted estates — £3,000,000 limit, deductible exemptions, the Finance Act 2013 liabilities restriction
• HMRC, IHTM06018 — specified transfers — definition, the £250,000 limit, deductible lifetime exemptions, the £3,000 normal expenditure cap
• GOV.UK, How Inheritance Tax works — the £325,000 nil rate band
• GOV.UK, Dealing with the estate of someone who's died — the administration period, Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax during it

This guide explains the process in general terms and is not advice about a particular estate. Where an estate is near a threshold, or involves trusts, gifts, business assets or foreign property, take professional advice.

Related guides

• IHT205 or IHT400? Which Inheritance Tax form you actually need
• What is an excepted estate?
• How to apply for probate without a solicitor
• How long does probate take?
• How much does probate cost in the UK?
• What to do when someone dies: the first two weeks