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An early valuation could be important if you are making a gift of land or property.

The advice comes from Gillian Jones, a partner in the company and commercial department of Wollens solicitors.

Gillian, who is based at Wollens’ Barnstaple office, says: “If you are making a gift of  land or other property there is always a chance that at some point you  or your family may need to have an idea of what it was worth.

“If you know that you will need valuation then it is a good idea  to have a proper one done at the outset,  but if you don’t want to go to that expense, or if you think there won’t be a need, then try and make the best assessment of value that you can and keep a note  both of the value and why you decided it  was right because trying to  sort out  an idea of valuation  many years later,  when the property may have changed,  can be difficult and expensive.”

She added: “If you are thinking about  an informal valuation , then you can ask an estate agent for an ‘off the cuff’ figure. Look for similar properties that are up for sale to get comparable evidence of value and it cannot do any harm to agree the value with the person who gets the gift as they are going to have to record a valuation with the Land Registry as part of the fee assessment process.”

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