Property you inherit or receive as a gift

If you receive property as a gift, you are generally considered to have acquired the property at its fair market value (FMV) on the date you received it. Similarly, if you win property in a lottery, you are considered to have acquired this prize at its FMV at the time you won it.

Generally, when you inherit property, the property's cost to you is equal to the deemed proceeds of disposition for the deceased person. Usually, this amount is the FMV of the property right before the person's death. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, property that you inherit because your spouse or common law partner died, or farm property or a woodlot transferred on death to a child, may be treated differently. See the chapter called "Deemed disposition of property" in Guide T4011, Preparing Returns for Deceased Persons, to find out which rules apply to your situation.

Forms and publications

• Guide T4037, Capital Gains
• Guide T4011, Preparing Returns for Deceased Persons