Date of Death Appraisals in Fresno and the Central Valley: Farmland, Orchards and Commercial Property in Estates and Trusts

Central Valley families hold a lot of real estate in trusts, and much of it was bought decades ago: almond and pistachio orchards on the east side of Fresno County, a raisin vineyard near Selma, row crop ground on the west side, a dairy outside Tulare, a packing house in Reedley or Lindsay, a strip center in Clovis, an apartment building near Fresno State, a truck stop on Highway 99 or a warehouse in Bakersfield. When the owner dies, the first number the trustee, the executor and the CPA all need is what each property was worth on the date of death. Our statewide guide to date-of-death appraisals covers the basics, and our commercial property appraisal page covers how a commercial report is built. This page covers what is different when the property is in Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings or Kern County.

When does a Central Valley estate or trust need a date-of-death appraisal?

Most of the time when the property is farmland, commercial, multifamily or income-producing. Common reasons:

• Stepped-up basis. Under Internal Revenue Code Section 1014(a), property acquired from a decedent generally takes a basis equal to its fair market value at the date of death. Section 1014(b)(6) also covers the surviving spouse’s half of California community property, if at least half of the community interest was includible in the decedent’s gross estate. For an orchard bought in the 1980s, the gap between the old basis and the date-of-death value can be large, so the CPA needs a supported number.
• Estate tax returns. For larger estates, the value of each property goes on the return. Under Section 2032, the executor can elect to value the estate as of six months after death instead, but only if the election lowers both the gross estate and the tax. For qualifying farms, Section 2032A lets the executor elect a farm use value instead of fair market value, with a limit on the total reduction. Those elections are the CPA’s and attorney’s call, and they can mean more than one value for the same land.
• Trust administration. A successor trustee dividing or selling property needs values to treat beneficiaries fairly and to report to them. See trust administration appraisals.
• Equalizing shares. One child keeps farming the home ranch, another takes the Clovis retail building and a third takes cash. A value for every property, on the same date, is what makes that split fair.
• Property tax. Reassessment, the parent-child exclusion and any appeal of the new value all turn on the date of death and the value on that date (see below).
• Disputes. Heirs, trustees and creditors sometimes disagree about value. An independent, well-supported report keeps the conversation on the evidence.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Your attorney or CPA decides which values you need.

Where are probate cases heard in Fresno, Tulare, Kings and Kern counties?

In the superior court of the county where the decedent lived:

• Fresno County: probate is heard at the B. F. Sisk Courthouse, 1130 O Street, Fresno, and a case starts with a petition filed with the Probate Clerk there.
• Tulare County: probate is handled at the Visalia County Civic Center, 221 South Mooney Boulevard, Visalia.
• Kings County: cases are heard at the Kings County Superior Court, 1640 Kings County Drive, Hanford.
• Kern County: probate is heard at the Juvenile Justice Center, 2100 College Avenue, Bakersfield, where the probate department moved in January 2022.

In a formal probate, the personal representative must file an inventory and appraisal within four months after letters are first issued, unless the court allows more time (Probate Code Section 8800). Under Section 8902, the court-appointed probate referee appraises the real property in the inventory. That referee value serves the court’s inventory. Trustees, heirs and CPAs often still order an independent narrative appraisal for basis, for dividing land or for a dispute. We do not act as a probate referee. We provide independent appraisals to trustees, executors, heirs and their attorneys and CPAs.

Many Valley farm families hold land in living trusts, so the estate never sees a courtroom. Then there is no referee, and the successor trustee needs values on their own.

Why does the date of death decide Prop 58 or Prop 19?

Because the date of death is the date of the change in ownership. The State Board of Equalization’s Prop 19 guidance says the law in effect on the date of death applies, including when a revocable trust becomes irrevocable at death. That matters for exactly the kind of property Valley families tend to hold: farmland and buildings owned for decades, with a Prop 13 base year value far below what the property is worth today.

• Date of death on or before February 15, 2021 (Prop 58). A parent could transfer to a child, without reassessment, the principal residence with no value limit plus other real property up to a lifetime limit of $1,000,000 of factored base year value per transferor.
• Date of death on or after February 16, 2021 (Prop 19). The parent-child exclusion is limited to a family home or a family farm, with a value limit, and Prop 19 eliminates it for other real property. An inherited packing house, retail building or apartment building generally gets a new base year value at its market value as of the date of death.

For a family farm, Revenue and Taxation Code Section 63.2 applies the exclusion separately to each legal parcel. A Valley farm is often several legal parcels with different plantings, wells and improvements, so the appraisal may need a value for each one. See farm and ranch appraisals with several parcels.

Under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 480, the change in ownership statement for a death (BOE-502-D) is due within 150 days after the date of death, or, if the estate is probated, when the inventory and appraisal is filed. If the assessor’s new value looks too high, a supported date-of-death appraisal is the evidence for an appeal. For 2026, the State Board of Equalization lists November 30, 2026 as the end of the regular assessment appeal filing period in Fresno, Tulare and Kern counties; Kings County’s 2026 regular period ended September 15. See property tax appeal appraisals.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Confirm how Prop 58 or Prop 19 applies, and your deadlines, with your attorney, your CPA or the Assessment Appeals Board.

What Central Valley issues change a value as of the date of death?

A date-of-death appraisal has to read the property as it was on that date. In the Valley, these come up again and again:

• Groundwater, by subbasin and by date. Under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, groundwater sustainability agencies can limit pumping and set extraction allocations (Water Code Section 10726.4), and the picture has changed year by year. The State Water Board placed the Tulare Lake Subbasin in Kings County on probation on April 16, 2024. The Kaweah Subbasin around Visalia was returned to Department of Water Resources oversight on December 2, 2025, and the Kern County Subbasin on December 8, 2025. Two parcels with the same soil can carry very different values because of their wells, district deliveries and the local plan in place on the date of death. (General information. Ask the groundwater agency or your attorney about a specific parcel.)
• Orchards and vineyards are part of the real estate. The trees and vines go with the land, so their variety, age, condition and yield history on the date of death matter, and so does demand for the packing, processing and storage buildings that serve them. The scale is large: Fresno County reports $9,029,122,000 in agricultural production for 2024, and Tulare County’s 2025 crop report shows $9,142,004,000. Those are gross values, not farm income. See vineyard and agricultural appraisals.
• Williamson Act contracts. The Fresno County Assessor explains that a contract restricts land to agricultural or open space use for at least ten years, renews every year and lowers the assessment. Ending one starts a nine-year nonrenewal period (19 years in a Farmland Security Zone). Whether a parcel was under contract, or how far along nonrenewal was, on the date of death changes what a buyer was getting. See Government Code Section 51244.
• High-speed rail. The California High-Speed Rail Authority is building a 119-mile Central Valley segment from Madera through Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties to Kern County, and reports all 2,288 parcels it needed for that construction delivered. For an estate parcel near the alignment, whether a partial taking, a severed field or an access change had happened by the date of death is part of the value. See eminent domain appraisals.
• Fire in the foothills. The Creek Fire started September 4, 2020, burned 379,895 acres in Fresno and Madera counties and destroyed 856 structures. A foothill ranch or mountain property valued as of a date before the fire is valued as it was then; one valued after is valued with the damage and the market’s reaction in place.
• Leases, farm leases and occupancy on the date. A cash-rented orchard, a share-rented vineyard, a half-vacant center in Visalia or a warehouse with a below-market lease is valued with the arrangements in place on the date of death, even if they changed later.
• Many markets across five counties. A Fresno office building, a Clovis apartment complex, a Hanford retail center, a Tulare dairy and a Bakersfield industrial yard do not trade the same way. Comparable sales have to come from the right submarket and the right time. See our pages for Fresno, Visalia, Tulare and Hanford, Bakersfield and Stockton and Modesto.

Can the appraisal be done years after the date of death?

Yes, and it often is. Farm trusts can take a long time to settle, and sometimes nobody orders an appraisal until land is about to be sold, a sibling wants to be bought out or a dispute starts. A retrospective appraisal uses the sales, leases and market conditions that were known or knowable as of the date of death. What helps most is anything that shows the property as it was then: planting and yield records, well and water district records, farm leases, rent rolls, photos, and records of repairs, permits or entitlements.

What should you send the appraiser?

• The exact date of death and, if there is one, the probate case number and county
• The purpose: basis, estate tax return (including any Section 2032 or 2032A election the CPA is weighing), trust administration, division among heirs, a Prop 58 or Prop 19 matter, or a dispute
• A list of every property with address, APN and property type, in the Valley and anywhere else in California
• For farmland: the legal parcels, planted acreage, varieties and planting years, wells, district water and any Williamson Act or Farmland Security Zone contract
• Rent rolls, leases, farm leases and operating statements from around the date of death
• Any prior appraisals, purchase contracts, offers, high-speed rail correspondence or assessor notices
• The attorney or CPA on the estate, and who else will rely on the report

Your appraiser will confirm the exact list on the first call.

How do Central Valley trustees, attorneys and CPAs work with PM Appraisal?

You call (805) 990-9700 and talk to the appraiser who will inspect the properties and write the reports. No coordinator and no AMC portal. We pick up the phone, and we are your ears and eyes on the property. Our team is based in San Diego County and does not have a Fresno office; the appraiser travels to the Valley and inspects the properties in person. Rush commercial appraisals take 5 to 7 business days. Standard timing depends on the property and scope, so call for a timeline on your assignment.

Our opinions are independent. We never take an assignment that requires a predetermined value, and our value conclusion is never tied to the result anyone wants. If heirs or trustees are on opposite sides, tell us at engagement who the client is and who will rely on the report.

Date-of-death work is one example of what we do. PM Appraisal is a family-owned California appraisal firm with about 40 years of work across the state. We appraise every commercial property type, from farmland, vineyards, land, office, retail, industrial, warehouse and multifamily to gas stations, hotels and motels, medical, care facilities and special-use property, and every kind of commercial appraisal: estate and trust, divorce, retroactive, partition, partner and LLC buyouts, fractional interests, eminent domain, tax appeal, lending and consulting. If the estate holds property in several counties, see multi-property portfolio appraisals. Other county guides: date of death appraisal in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Sacramento, the Bay Area and the Inland Empire. See all services.

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your estate, your trust and your situation.

Keep reading

• Date of death appraisals
• Commercial appraisal in Fresno and the Central Valley
• Commercial appraisal in Visalia, Tulare and Hanford
• Commercial appraisal in Bakersfield
• Farm and ranch appraisals with several parcels
• Vineyard and agricultural appraisals
• Date of death appraisal in California: a guide
• Trust administration appraisals in California
• Retroactive appraisals
• Commercial property appraisal

This article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your attorney or CPA about your situation.