My client's husband recently passed away a month ago. He had no will, so everything he had passed to his wife.

As part of her husband's belongings, the client received a bronze statue, created by a very famous artist.  Her husband had originally received this artwork as a gift from his former father-in-law 20 years ago, when he was married to his 1st wife.  The client is wife #2.

Client is in a financial situation where she has to sell the artwork. Christie's auction house wants to sell her bronze statue and believes they can get between $40K -$60K pre-commission. She's worried about the tax effect. I am thinking there is no tax effect since she inherited the artwork when her husband passed and it has a stepped-up basis to the current market value. They live in a community property state (AZ), but since the husband received the artwork before they were married, I think it's not joint property.

I want to make sure I'm on the right track with the basis.