My father in law passed away at the end of August 2021. Unfortunately, due to COVID and a backlog at the medical examiner's office, we did not receive the official death certificate until early March of 2022. Not only that but due to the situation of the death, the house had to be completely disinfected, all mobile items removed, and carpet removed. It was then disinfected, repainted and new carpet was installed. It was put on the market on July 8 and was sold just last week. The settlement date is July 29, 2022.
My question is for tax purposes, would the FMV be the sold price? The big issue is that we have was the backlog of getting the death certificate and I have emails to a US Senator asking for help in the matter because we were told it could take up to a year to get the death certificate. That office is notorious for being understaffed and I have articles pointing that out prior to COVID.
The reason why I'm hoping that we can use the sales price as the FMV is that the market in that area spiked within the last 3 months. The house on Zillow went from $205K to $260K. The 260K is what the house sold for.
Any thoughts? Suggestions?
