Estate Planning · Inherited Property
You've inherited a
property. Now what?
Sell it, rent it, keep it, or split it between siblings — the right answer depends on a probate valuation, a tax position, and a family conversation that all need to happen before any decision is final.
We help you understand:
Every inherited property needs a formal probate valuation — a professional estimate of its open-market value at the date of death, used to calculate any Inheritance Tax due.
An independent valuation (not an estate agent's marketing estimate), which also becomes the property's base cost for Capital Gains Tax if you later sell.
Get this figure right at the outset, and every later decision — sell, rent, or keep — is calculated against an accurate starting point rather than a guess.
Using an estate agent's optimistic asking-price estimate instead of a formal valuation can understate CGT owed later, or overstate IHT paid now — neither works in your favour.
Manages the sale of a property through probate — a process with its own timeline and paperwork, distinct from a standard residential sale.
Coordinating the sale alongside the grant of probate, so contracts can exchange once the executor has legal authority to sell.
Avoids the common trap of agreeing a sale before probate is granted, then finding the buyer walks away during the wait.
Probate typically takes 9–12 months, longer if contested — factor this into any timeline with a prospective buyer.
When a property is left to two or more people, someone eventually has to decide whether to sell and split proceeds, or for one beneficiary to buy the others out.
A Declaration of Trust records the agreed equity split precisely, including any unequal contributions if one sibling later buys out another's share.
Puts the agreement in writing before disagreement has a chance to set in — inherited property is one of the most common sources of family disputes we see.
Where co-beneficiaries can't agree, a Trust of Land structure can hold the property formally until a resolution is reached, rather than leaving it in limbo.
If the property's value has risen between the date of death and the date you sell it, that gain is potentially subject to Capital Gains Tax.
Calculating the gain against the probate valuation, applying your annual CGT exemption, and filing the return within the required deadline.
A confirmed post-transaction valuation check gives HMRC-accepted certainty on the base cost, rather than leaving it open to later challenge.
Residential property gains are taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher rate), with a reduced £3,000 annual exemption.
An inherited property can become a rental investment rather than a sale — turning a one-off inheritance into ongoing income.
Landlord registration, mortgage and insurance implications, and how rental income is taxed once the property is let.
Avoids crystallising a CGT bill immediately, while the property continues to generate income — though CGT still applies eventually on sale.
Once you're renting, you're a property investor — our Property Investors page covers structuring, tax, and succession from here.
The Figures That Shape This Decision
Current UK thresholds relevant to inherited property.
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