You may think that if the estate you are dealing with is not looking likely to breach the Inheritance Tax threshold that you don’t need a professional certified valuation of the chattels. Think again! Are you quite certain that an old master isn’t languishing in the attic? Are you positive that the old pot that holds dried flowers and sits in the corner of the conservatory isn’t a rare 17th century Chinese Imperial vase? If you’re quite happy in your ability to recognise one of these hidden gems thats fine,but if not……..read on!
Several years ago, a charity shop local to me at the time, had a large box containing various clothing and other bits and bobs left on their doorstep overnight…..quite clearly the residue from a deceased estate. On unpacking the items they found what they described as “an old broken wooden thing” and decided that they had better bring it along for me to take a look at. This, after it had sat on the shop shelves priced at £10 for twenty minutes or so.
This “old broken wooden thing” was quite probably the rarest Chinese carved bamboo brush pot ever to come up for auction and it subsequently sold for over £350,000………yes, over a third of a million pounds!
Now obviously this in itself meant that the value of the estate from which it originated breached the IHT threshold but there is something else of huge importance to factor in here. And that is that the sum achieved in auction was a ‘life changing’ amount of money, and with the contents not being checked by a professional prior to dispersal……..somebody missed out in a big, big way!
Did we ever find out just where the brush pot came from? No we didn’t although a few did come forward and ‘claim’ that it came from within their family. However without a ‘gift aid’ form being filled out there was no valid grounds for any compensation anyway, so it will remain a mystery.
So what is the moral of this story……..because there is always a moral to a good tale!
Well its quite simply this. ALL deceased estates should have the chattels valued by a certified professional prior to probate…….a service I offer throughout Norfolk, its neighbouring counties and beyond.
For the sake of the fees involved you can save a lot of potential heartache!
For further details take a look at my website mfvaluations.com Contact me via email at [email protected] or give me a call on 07806 360312
