Medical Equipment Appraisal for Probate

Value Doctor prepares probate appraisals of medical and healthcare equipment for executors, estate administrators, and probate attorneys who need a defensible date-of-death value before an estate can move forward. Our reports translate the equipment inside a physician's or dentist's practice, imaging systems, surgical suites, and laboratory instruments, into a documented fair market value that satisfies the probate court, the IRS, and the heirs waiting on a resolution.

A healthcare practice rarely closes cleanly when its owner dies. Someone still has to account for the imaging machines, surgical tools, and diagnostic equipment sitting in the office, decide what they're worth, and get that number onto the estate inventory before the court will move the case forward. Skipping that step, or guessing at a number, is what turns a routine estate into a contested one.

Value Doctor's appraisers work across the full range of healthcare settings, including hospitals, surgery centers, imaging centers, dental offices, and independent medical practices, and have appraised everything from a single ultrasound unit to an entire practice's equipment inventory. Each report documents the equipment's condition, the market data behind the number, and the methodology an executor, a probate judge, or an IRS examiner can follow line by line.

Establishing Fair Market Value and the Date of Death for a Probate Estate

Two questions decide how a piece of equipment gets valued for a probate estate: what standard of value applies, and as of which date. Missing either one can distort the taxable estate or delay a distribution to heirs, so our reports answer both explicitly and back them with market evidence.

Fair Market Value: the figure a piece of equipment would realistically bring if it changed hands between a buyer and a seller who both understood what it was worth and neither one was under pressure to act. This is the standard the IRS and most probate courts default to for tangible estate property.

Date-of-Death Value: equipment is valued as of the date the owner died, not the date the appraisal is written or the date the estate eventually settles. That date becomes the reference point for the estate inventory and IRS Form 706. If the estate instead elects the alternate valuation date allowed under federal law, we value the equipment as of that date too.

Dividing the Equipment: once each item carries a documented value, an executor has real options: split the equipment among heirs directly, sell it and distribute the proceeds, or offset one heir's share against other estate assets. None of that is possible until the number exists.

Because the appraisal is independent and prepared in accordance with USPAP, the estate inventory, the tax filing, and any disagreement among beneficiaries can all rely on the same report.

The Documentation a USPAP-Compliant Probate Appraisal Must Include

Value Doctor completes every probate appraisal in accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), published by The Appraisal Foundation. Estate attorneys and executors ask for USPAP compliance specifically because it is the framework that gives a valuation the independence and paper trail it needs to survive a challenge from a beneficiary or a taxing authority.

A probate report from Value Doctor covers:

Equipment Identification: make, model, serial number, age, and condition for every item included in the estate.

Standard and Date of Value: an explicit statement that fair market value applies, and the specific date, date of death or an elected alternate valuation date, the number is tied to.

Market Research: the comparable sales and market data that support the value conclusion for each equipment category.

Appraiser Certification: a signed USPAP certification statement and a summary of the appraiser's qualifications, ready to attach to the estate inventory, IRS Form 706, or testimony if a beneficiary disputes the number.

Our appraisers hold credentials with organizations including the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) and the Certified Appraisers Guild of America (CAGA), and every report we deliver is prepared in accordance with USPAP.