Gandydancer
Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
When my mother died in 2004 her estate consisted of a lot with an uninhabited and uninhabitable cottage that I tore down a couple years later. The estate being far too small for estate tax to be an issue I didn't pay much attention to its value, putting a value of $100k on the lot in my filing, which the probate referee doubled to $200k. Problem is I've finally sold the lot for about $280k which, given the trajectory of prices in the area, is probably a bit less than it was worth when I got it. But I'm looking at paying taxes on a fictional gain of $80k minus expenses unless I can use a more correct value for the value of the property than the referee's assessment. Am I stuck?
When my mother died in 2004 her estate consisted of a lot with an uninhabited and uninhabitable cottage that I tore down a couple years later. The estate being far too small for estate tax to be an issue I didn't pay much attention to its value, putting a value of $100k on the lot in my filing, which the probate referee doubled to $200k. Problem is I've finally sold the lot for about $280k which, given the trajectory of prices in the area, is probably a bit less than it was worth when I got it. But I'm looking at paying taxes on a fictional gain of $80k minus expenses unless I can use a more correct value for the value of the property than the referee's assessment. Am I stuck?