Given watch by husband of deceased, do I need to pay for valuation?

[denhaag]

When my MIL died, her husband gave me the watch she was wearing. It was one he had bought her.
I've now been asked to get it valued as it forms part of her Estate. No problem there, he understands that but it was given at a time of great emotion etc.

So, the valuation is £75. Should I ask him to pay for this (I guess he'll take it out of her Estate?).

I like the watch and am touched, but I don't really want to pay £75 in order to keep it in my possession.

I have no experience of this at all. I suppose I could just give it back to him and say I'm happy to receive it once it's all above board.

Thinking about it, I'll just pay for it. He'll see how much it cost to get it valued when I give him the formal valuation.

Why is the valuation that much? A valuation to satisfy probate doesn't have to be super accurate. Ball park figures is all I've needed.

Oh, that's interesting, thank you. As I said, I have no experience.
Where does one go for a ball park figure?
My brief googling suggested that I would need a formal valuation, but perhaps that it just for possessions over a certain value. I can ask him what he paid for it I suppose and go from there. I presume he must have told the solicitor he had given the watch to me and the solicitor then asked for it to be valued.

An auction house is likely to give you a free valuation, eg
https://www.tennants.co.uk/departments/watches/?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA5Ka9BhB5EiwA1ZVtvJfqLVJP5NZUZXHYXayq8hQWxHpfYwrhjwZ8Wv-Xj2knV60v4AWJVhoCaRsQAvD_BwE

or this online watch specialist.

www.chrono24.co.uk/info/valuation.htm

Watches tend to be either fairly pricey or pretty much worthless...
Watches for women are valued considerably lower than watches for men - unless they are also jewellery - i.e. have diamonds etc.

Brands such as Rolex / Jaeger-le-Coultre etc. may have quite a bit of value in the 1000s - but any fashion brand watch etc. will have virtually no secondhand value...

if you are able to post a picture of it / the brand / etc. then someone may be able to give you a good indication... - if not, sign up to a forum such as watch-u-seek.com and ask the question there with a picture 9so you are not identified on here)

My understanding is insurance will only pay out at the most recent valuation or purchase price if you have the paperwork if it gets stolen. You might need an insurance valuation anyway if you want to ensure it. There is also a limit to how many high value items you can have on an insurance policy so you should check that too (I had to upgrade our insurance recently because I was given an expensive watch).

I am not talking about the insurance value at this stage. Valuations for insurance and probate are different I believe.

Interesting, I was assuming they were the same! Good to know.

I understand the value for probate (what it's worth) will be significantly less than the value I will insure it for (how much to replace).

I'd thank him but hand it back to him if it's being included as part of the estate. He must have decided himself to include it on the probate forms, so he obviously thinks it's quite valuable. I'd explain to him that if he's decided it's part of the estate for probate purposes, then you'd feel better if it's only given to you after probate is granted. I'd let him know how touched I am and that I would love to have it but it's only right that it's handed over after probate is granted (after recently completing probate for an elderly relative, he actually shouldn't be dispersing the estate until probate is granted anyway).

This has a page: https://www.tennants.co.uk/services/professional-valuations which states "Individual items with a value of £1,500 or more are required, by law, to be specifically identified. However, because it is useful for executors, we will give more detailed descriptions of items with a lesser value." and "Our fees are calculated on an hourly basis and are highly competitive"

Can you get a ballpark off EBay's "completed / sold" listings?

This seems sensible. In fact, maybe when he spoke to me about it he wanted to ask me to give it back, but couldn't find a way to ask me.

It is a Longines watch.
As I said, it was given to me at an emotional time.

Well I could, but I think for probate they need something more formal.

Hi, if you don’t mind me asking which company did you upgrade to? Thanks!

@denhaag Yes, he probably handed it over without really thinking things through at what was, as you say, a very emotional time. You aren't supposed to distribute a deceased's estate until probate has been granted. I'm surprised he's included it if he's already given it away, probably not thinking straight.

I typed my response before you dropped that it was a Longines!

When we had to apply for probate for a non relative I just googled and got a ball park figure for most things. a couple of items where we didn't have a clue a local jewellers told us a rough guestimate.

My Longines watch was £1,350 brand new a couple of years ago. Second hand ones in are between £500-700

For insurance you use the value it would cost you to replace a stolen/damaged item. For probate you use the value you could sell that item for in 2nd hand condition.

We’re with Halifax, specified items can’t be more than £35k. So we had to upgrade to whatever their premium policy is.

If he needs it valued for probate then he should NOT have given it to you. Probate needs to be officially granted before assets are distributed.

Give it back and let him do it properly. I would also assume he has it valued under his own house insurance if it's that valuable so he should actually know it's ballpark figure. He can use that

This obviously makes sense, I’ve never had to deal with probate before so assumed a valuation was a valuation but of course it’s not!

He's just lost his wife to dementia. He is doing everything through a solicitor, who has (I hope gently) told him just this.

If he bought it her then really I don't know why he even told them about it unless she has listed it in her will.

You generally only have to get proper valuations etc if the estate is over 3 million or over 250,000 has been given away in the last 7 years (along with a few other specific instances.

Do you have the model of the watch? If it's under £1,500 you can estimate the value without the need for a professional valuation.