Do I need a Surveyor's quote to sell under Probate?

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My mum died in last year and I'm in the final stages of clearing out her house.

It's an 'old ladies' house in an inexpensive area - it will sell for much less than the Inheritance Tax threshold. Somewhere between £150,000-£180,000 from what I can work out by looking at similar properties nearby.

Do I need to get a Surveyor's quote, does anyone know? I know that property sold under Probate is supposed to be for the 'maximum price' but can I find that out via (free!) Estate Agents or do I need to get a surveyor in?

TIA

An estate agent will value it for probate purposes.

Thanks.

im in scotland in the same boat and my lawyer told me if i got the value wrong for confirmation (scotland version of probate) and it sold for more than id be liable for capital gains tax so ive got an estate agent to come out to give me a value rather than guessing

Thanks. I 'guessed' when I was applying for probate because the threshold for Inheritance Tax is much higher than the house will sell for.

Maybe the exactly current value doesn't matter so much in Inheritance Tax won't be due.

As pp above says, it's capital gains tax you need to be aware of if it sells for significantly more than the value you submitted for probate purposes. That's a separate tax to inheritance tax so it doesn't matter that the estate wasn't liable for inheritance tax. Just check your figures when you come to sell and get advice from your solicitor or an accountant if the 'gain' between the probate figure and sale figure is significant.

I had to get 3 estate agents valuations and the probate solicitor took the midpoint of the three valuations.

I got 3 Estate agent valuations also for DM's house (£200k) and took midpoint also, it is called Market value and is the value at date of death.

We are selling my late parents house and haven't had to get a valuation for probate. The market value was sufficient for the process to get started.

You don't need a surveyor, but I would advise getting at least a couple of estate agents round to value it. If it sells for significantly more than the value you put for probate the estate will be liable for CGT.

Thanks all, esp for the information about Capital Gains Tax.

I'll get some Estate Agent quotes and use a midpoint.

The housing market where her house is is very stable, so it's extremely unlikely there'll be any surprises between the figure I put for probate (which was a very optimistic estimate of what it might sell for) and what it does sell for eventually.

Thanks once again.