House valuation for probate: county tax assessor or market value?

[IceSlider]

I am the executor of an estate that includes a single family house. This house is located in Seattle, WA, which is claimed by many to be one of the hottest residential real estate markets in the country. This has resulted in an anomalous situation where the value of the house as determined by the county tax assessor is significantly lower than the market value as measured by recent sales of similar nearby houses (e.g., $650K county assessor vs $850K market). For probate I am preparing a list of the estates assets which places a value on each asset. Which house value is the appropriate one to use? Furthermore, if I use the county assessor value for estate tax determination can I use, sometime in the near future, a stepped up base using the current market value for determining the capital gains on the property?

[ostell]

I'm afraid that this is a UK based forum and you are unlikely to get a relevant answer. I would say, though, that they would probably use the market value.

The county assessor is for the raising of taxes? Something similar here where the assessed tax value rate is nothing like the value and it is the value that is used for probate.