If a wife sells a rental property she acquired when her husband passed, can she use the value of the house at the time of his passing as her basis for reporting the sale?

[terri0009]

A wife owned a rental acquired from her late husband who acquired it from his previous late wife.

[AlanT · Accepted solution]

Yes, the basis of property inherited from a decedent is generally one of the following:

• The fair market value (FMV) of the property on the date of the decedent's death 
• The FMV of the property on the alternate valuation date, but only if the executor of the estate files an estate tax return (Form 706) and elects to use the alternate valuation on that return. See the Instructions for Form 706.