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Valuing the contents of a house is one of the most practically challenging parts of estate administration. HMRC requires the open market value — what the items would fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly, not what they originally cost or what they would cost to replace. Its IHT400 notes say you do not have to get a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods where you can use publicly available data to estimate the value — but that if you think an item may be worth more than £1,500, or you are not sure, it advises getting one.
Open market value is the price the asset would achieve if sold between a willing seller and a willing buyer, neither of whom is under any compulsion to complete the transaction. For household contents, this is typically much lower than either the original purchase price or the cost of replacing the item new.
HMRC's notes define it as “the realistic selling price for the item… the price the item would have been likely to fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly”. For most second-hand furniture, clothing and kitchen equipment that is a small fraction of what was paid. No official source publishes typical second-hand values, so this guide gives none — the figure has to come from what comparable items actually sell for.
The open market value is assessed at the date of death, not the date of the valuation or the date probate is granted. If there has been a significant gap between the date of death and the valuation, make a note of the date of death and ask the valuer to assess value as at that specific date.
For most estates, the most practical and cost-effective approach is to invite one or two house clearance companies to visit the property and provide a written estimate of the total value of the contents. House clearance companies deal with second-hand household goods daily — they have a good sense of what items will fetch at auction or through their own sales channels, which is exactly the open market value HMRC requires.
Ask for the estimate in writing, on the company's headed paper, stating the date of the visit and an overall value (or itemised values for significant items). Keep this document safely as part of your estate records.
HMRC does not name house clearance companies, or any other route, in its guidance. What its notes say is that publicly available data is enough for ordinary goods, and that the value you need is “the realistic selling price for the item… the price the item would have been likely to fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly”. Where that approach stops being enough is where the property contains items of significant individual value — see below.
IHT407 gives three categories their own boxes, which is a fair guide to what HMRC expects to see itemised — and it asks you to enclose a copy of any professional valuation you have. These are the kinds of item where the £1,500 test is likely to bite:
HMRC's own trigger is the £1,500 figure and the phrase “or you're not sure”. Where a valuation turns out to have been too low, additional IHT and interest follow; penalties under Schedule 24 to the Finance Act 2007 depend on behaviour, and there is none where reasonable care was taken. See our guide on how to avoid an HMRC probate investigation for more on how HMRC scrutinises estate valuations.
Personal possessions include everything in the home that belongs to the deceased and is not separately categorised as cash, investments, or property. The main categories are:
Also check for any items stored in garages, lofts, sheds, or storage units that belong to the deceased.
Some assets are reported separately on the IHT return and should not be included in your personal possessions valuation:
Second-hand cars are the specific example HMRC gives of an asset you can value yourself: its notes say you do not need a professional valuation “where you can use publicly available data to estimate the value, for example, to value second hand cars”. It does not name a particular pricing guide or listings site, and this guide will not either — use comparable vehicles of the same make, model, year, mileage and condition, and keep a record of what you looked at.
Box 2 of IHT407 tells you what to record: manufacturer, model, year of manufacture, registration number or first registration, condition at the date of death and mileage, the date and gross proceeds if the vehicle has since been sold, and the open market value at the date of death. Vehicles share that box with boats and aircraft.
If the vehicle is unusual — a classic car, a prestige vehicle, or a modified car — HMRC's £1,500 test and its “or you're not sure” caveat point towards a professional valuation rather than a comparison against ordinary listings.
There is no £500 threshold in HMRC's guidance, and no published rule that a modest total escapes scrutiny. The figure that does appear is £1,500, and it works two ways.
In the IHT400 notes: “You do not have to get a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods where you can use publicly available data to estimate the value, for example, to value second hand cars… If you think any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you're not sure, we advise you to get a professional valuation.”
On the form itself: box 1 of IHT407 asks for “any individual items of jewellery valued at £1,500 or more”, and box 4 takes the total of everything else — including jewellery below £1,500 and ordinary furniture — with the note “You do not need to list these items here”.
So a low total does not need itemising. That is not a licence to under-estimate: box 5 asks whether any of the items in that total were individually listed on the deceased's household insurance policy, and if they were, HMRC wants a copy of the policy.
For most estates, a simple written schedule is sufficient. This should:
You do not need to submit this schedule to HMRC unless they ask for it — but keep it with your estate records in case of a compliance check. Section 240 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984 sets how long HMRC has, running from the later of the date the tax was paid or the date it became due: four years normally, six where the loss of tax was careless, twenty where it was deliberate.
If the estate requires a full IHT400 return, household and personal goods are reported on Schedule IHT407 — Household and Personal Goods. This schedule asks for:
Where you have a professional valuation for anything in boxes 1, 2 or 3, the form asks you to enclose a copy.
The total from IHT407 feeds into the main IHT400 form as part of the gross estate calculation.
If the estate is below the inheritance tax threshold (£325,000 nil-rate band) and probate is being applied for on a PA1P or PA1A form, you will still need to provide an estimated value of the deceased's personal possessions as part of the gross estate calculation for the probate application — even if no IHT400 is required.
House contents are just one part of the estate valuation. For the property itself, see our guide to valuing property for probate. For a complete picture of everything an executor needs to identify and value, see our estate administration checklist and our guide to what counts as an asset for probate.
Not for ordinary goods. HMRC's notes: “You do not have to get a professional valuation for ordinary household and personal goods where you can use publicly available data to estimate the value… If you think any item may be worth more than £1,500, or you're not sure, we advise you to get a professional valuation.” So the trigger is the individual item, not the total.
The open market value — in HMRC's own words, “the realistic selling price for the item… the price the item would have been likely to fetch if sold at auction or otherwise advertised publicly”. That is usually far below replacement value or original purchase price for ordinary clothing, furniture and kitchen items, and they all sit in the box 4 total on IHT407 rather than being listed individually. No official source publishes typical figures for second-hand household effects, so this guide does not give any.
Value them first, whatever you do next. In England and Wales an executor's authority comes from the will rather than the grant, so distributing before the grant is not itself unlawful — but doing it before the debts and tax are settled leaves the executor personally liable for what the estate then cannot pay, and HMRC needs the date-of-death value regardless. An administrator under a grant of letters of administration has no authority before the grant at all. In Scotland, where the grant is confirmation, an executor has no title to deal with the estate until confirmation is issued.
This is a serious matter. If items have been removed from the estate before they could be valued or distributed according to the will, this may constitute taking estate assets without authority. As executor, you should document the situation carefully, make enquiries of family members, and if valuable items are missing, consider seeking legal advice. Misappropriating estate assets can give rise to claims against the individual who took them.
Yes. Even for small estates below the £325,000 nil-rate band, the probate application (PA1P or PA1A) requires you to provide the gross value of the estate, which includes personal possessions. You will need a reasonable estimate of the contents value even if no detailed IHT return (IHT400) is required. See our guide to whether you need probate for guidance on when a full IHT400 is required.
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