Questions about capital gains on property that sat in probate for 5 years

[Anthony Buonanoma]

Hello, this is my first post and I'm hoping someone can give me a bit of advice. I had a relative pass away in September 2016 and they left several family members properties. I was left a paid off condo in Margate, FL that had a value of approximately $70,000. (I live about 2 hours away from the property over in southwest Florida myself). The estate was a mess since it was all just in a last will and testament and none of it was in a trust or quit claim deed. On top of that there was back taxes owed on the estate so everything sat in probate for approximately 5.5 years. Not knowing that the process would take so long to close, the property sat empty for a couple years before being rented out in my step-mother's name (I took care of the rental property needs for that time but my name was not on the ownership of it yet). 

Fast forward to May 2022 and the condo finally got put into my name. I had a renter in there and ultimately sold the condo to that renter in March of 2023. The condo selling price was $100,000. Per my real estate agent at the time, the condo's value actually saw a slight decrease from the time the condo was put into my name in May of 2022 and the time I sold it in March 2023. I know that capital gains tax will apply for this. And it appears to be short term capital gains.

My questions about tax liability with this are as follows:

1. At what date would the value of the property be considered for capital gains? Upon death (September 2016) or upon myself officially taking ownership of the properly when probate was closed in May of 2022? I would assume I cannot be responsible for paying taxes on a property that I didn't own yet until May of 2022 so I'd like to get clarification of that.

2. If my tax responsibility only spans from May of 2022 until the time of sale in March 2023, then how would the value of the properly be calculated at the time I took ownership (May 2022). With probate lasting 5 years the value of the property increased a good amount to what I am assuming would have been $105K-$110K, and where would this value come from in regard to what I would submit for taxes?

3. If as I mentioned about the value of the property technically lost some value from the time I took legal ownership in May of 2022 and the time I sold it in March of 2023, what does that mean for capital gains? Does that mean I wouldn't pay taxes on it since I technically lost money of the property in that short time? And if so, would that mean I could get some kind of deduction from that since the property was sold somewhat at a loss? 

4. Or does this all mean that I am responsible for the capital gains tax on the value increase on the property from the time of death through when it sold (approximately $30,000 value difference)?

Sorry for writing an epic novel, but very much appreciative of anyone that can help to shed some light on all of this.

Thanks so much!

Ant