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A widow owned the flat in sheltered accommodation in which she lived until her death in January 2008. A valuation of £175,000 from the management company was accepted by her executor, but the property sold for only £117,000 in July 2012
A widow who was the owner-occupier of a flat in sheltered accommodation died in January 2008. The management company valued the flat at £175 000 and the late owner’s son who was her executor accepted this valuation in good faith and used it for probate purposes.
Unfortunately the flat subsequently proved very difficult to sell and – despite being marketed in the usual way – was not sold until July 2012 and then only for the greatly reduced amount of £117 000.
The executor submitted a claim on form IHT38 (“Claim for relief – loss on sale of land”) to reduce the probate value accordingly but this was rejected because the sale took place more than four years after the death.
The executor feels most aggrieved because he feels that he has acted reasonably throughout did everything he could to sell the flat...
