Skip to content
Mr. Cali Appraisals home
Request an appraisal
Call (909) 324-6122

Estate & Date-of-Death Appraisal in Claremont and the Inland Empire

A retrospective appraisal establishing market value as of the date of death for estate settlement, step-up in basis and trust accounting. Written as its own report type for the executor, trustee, CPA or probate attorney who has to file it, not a mortgage form with a different date typed in. Comparable sales are drawn from the period in question, with the analysis explained so a reviewer can follow it.

Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (opens the state license lookup)

Who orders this

  • Executors and administrators settling an estate through probate
  • Successor trustees administering a trust that holds the house
  • CPAs documenting a step-up in basis for heirs
  • Probate and estate planning attorneys preparing an inventory or a buyout
  • Heirs deciding whether one of them keeps the house

What the report includes

  • A retrospective effective date, meaning the value is stated as of the date of death (or another date your CPA or attorney specifies), not today
  • Comparable sales that closed on or before the effective date and market conditions as they were then
  • The evidence used for the property's condition on that date (photos, listing records, permits, repair invoices) and any assumptions stated plainly
  • The client, the intended use (what the report will be used for) and the intended users (who may rely on it), stated on the first page
  • The effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to, and the date of the report
  • The scope of work, meaning the inspection, research and analysis performed, including any limits on access
  • Comparable sales chosen for era, pocket and lot character, each with the reason it was used
  • Adjustments for differences such as gross living area, lot size, condition and location, each explained
  • Interior and exterior photographs and a measured sketch of the living area
  • A signed certification with Gordon Hall's California license, BREA No. AR003877

The page a reviewer reads first is the sales comparison grid: the subject beside the closed sales, every difference adjusted and explained. This is its shape, left blank.

Sales comparison approach

File no. blank

Sales comparison, blank
RowSubjectComp. 1Comp. 2Comp. 3
Addressblankblankblankblank
Sale dateblankblankblankblank
Sale priceblankblankblankblank
Gross living areablankblankblankblank
Lot sizeblankblankblankblank
Year builtblankblankblankblank
Conditionblankblankblankblank
View / siteblankblankblankblank
Adjustmentsblankblankblankblank
Adjusted valueblankblankblankblank
Figures come from the inspection and the closed sales on your blocks. A blank grid is shown because report contents are confidential under USPAP.

What we need from you

  • The date of death and the property address
  • Who is ordering: executor, trustee, heir, attorney or CPA
  • Access to the property if it is still available
  • Any photos from around that date, and known repairs, permits or additions with rough dates
  • Whether the property has since sold

Retrospective values in older Claremont and Pomona housing

Much of the estate work here involves houses held for decades: Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival homes near the Claremont Colleges and the Village, postwar ranch houses north of Foothill Boulevard, and the historic districts of Pomona, where Lincoln Park, Wilton Heights and Hacienda Park hold homes from the 1880s to the 1940s. These houses often reach an estate with original systems, enclosed porches, back rooms added without permits, or a garage long since converted. A date-of-death appraisal has to describe the house as it stood on that date, so the report records what evidence was used and says where an assumption fills a gap.

The county matters too. Claremont, La Verne and Pomona estates hold property assessed by the Los Angeles County Assessor; a house in Upland, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga or Chino sits with San Bernardino County. The appraisal is the same standard either way, but the comparable sales are chosen from the right side of the line, or the report explains why a sale across Mills Avenue or the Claremont and Upland boundary was the better evidence. The probate referee's inventory valuation is a separate, court-appointed role; an independent appraisal supports the executor, the CPA or an heir buyout alongside it.

Timeline and next step

Reports are typically delivered three to five business days from the inspection. The inspection runs 30 to 60 minutes for a standard single-family home, longer for hillside, custom, multi-family or homes with additions that need to be measured and sketched.

Older effective dates take more research, which is reflected in the scope and confirmed before the engagement.

The fee is set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins. It does not depend on the value, and it is never contingent on a result.

Send the address and the date of death through the order form, or call (909) 324-6122. We are appraisers, not attorneys or tax advisors: your CPA or estate attorney decides how the value is used on a return.

Straight answers

Questions

Can you do a date-of-death or retrospective appraisal?
Yes. Retrospective appraisals set the effective date in the past, commonly the date of death for estate settlement and step-up in basis. The comparable sales are drawn from that period, and the report states the effective date, intended use and intended users clearly for the CPA, attorney or court that will read it. Provide the address and the exact date when you call.
The death was years ago. Is it too late?
No. Retrospective appraisals are routine. The work uses sales that closed on or before the effective date, market conditions as they were then, and whatever evidence exists of the property's condition at the time, such as photos, old listing records or repair invoices, or a walkthrough today with the changes since accounted for.
The house has already sold. Can you still appraise it?
Yes. A sale after the date of death does not establish the date-of-death value. The appraisal can still be made as of the earlier date using records and photos, with the assumptions stated clearly in the report.
California probate already uses a referee. Why order an appraisal?
The probate referee values estate assets for the inventory, and that court-appointed role is not replaced. Executors and families order independent appraisals to understand the number before it is filed, to support an heir buyout, or to give the CPA a documented basis. Your attorney will say which your matter needs.

Related appraisals

Request this appraisal

The property, the purpose and the effective date set the scope and the fee, which is quoted before work begins.

Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (opens the state license lookup)

The property and the assignment

Effective date of value (optional)

The date the value has to apply to: today, or a date in the past such as a date of death or separation.

For estate work, the date of death. For a divorce, the date of separation or trial.

How to reach you

Additions, an ADU, a prior appraisal, a hearing date: whatever shapes the scope.

Nothing is scheduled until you say so.

Prepared by Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877. Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice. How a value is used on a return or in a probate matter is decided by your CPA or attorney, and admissibility is always the court's decision.

Get the value documented before someone else needs it.

Two minutes for a fee quote and a turnaround date. Nothing is scheduled until you say so.

Request an appraisal