Property Lawyers Geelong: Family law property valuations explained
Often, two parties to a family law property dispute will have vastly different opinions as to what particular property is worth. The property in question may be the former matrimonial home, an investment property or a business, or even sporting memorabilia or collectable items. If you’re facing this situation, seeking advice from experienced property lawyers in Geelong is crucial.
What if we can’t agree on what our property is worth?
Regardless of the nature of the property, the process for determining a value is likely to be the same. First, your lawyer and the lawyer for the other party will try and negotiate an ‘agreed value’ for the property. Each party will state what they believe the property is worth and the reason why they believe this. If no agreement can be reached, then a ‘joint expert’ will be appointed to value to property.
What is a joint expert?
A joint expert is a person with expertise in the particular type of property being valued, and who is impartial. In most cases, the expert will be paid equally by both parties and will have special experience in valuing property for family law purposes. Your lawyer and the lawyer for your ex partner will draft a ‘joint letter of instruction’ setting out what property needs to be valued, and obligations to value the property impartially and the format that this valuation should take. There are several organisations in and around Geelong and the Surf Coast that provide good quality and thorough valuations of real property and businesses.
What happens once the joint expert is appointed?
Once the joint expert has been appointed they will inspect the property and prepare a report setting out the proposed value of the property and the reasons why they have attributed this value to it. The reports are typically very long, and extremely thorough.
Where the property is a business, an expert such as an accountant will be given access to the books to determine a proposed value. In cases where the property in dispute is not land, but is a chattel, someone with expertise in that particular chattel will be jointly appointed. This will be the case regardless of whether the chattel is a car, jewellery, art or memorabilia.
In most cases, the appointment of a joint expert is sufficient to reach an agreed value for property. However, there are some times when one or both parties disagree with the value or methodology of a joint expert. After the report is provided to the parties, there is an opportunity to ask the expert questions regarding their methodology and the reasons that they have decided on a particular value. Your property lawyer may elect to do this if you do not agree with the valuation.
What if I don’t agree with the valuation?
If you are still unhappy with the valuation, you may seek to adduce your own evidence regarding valuation by appointing an ‘adversarial expert.’ Often, the adversarial expert and the joint expert will be able to reach an agreement on a value through a ‘conference of experts.’ Where this is unsuccessful, both parties will present their proposed valuations to the judge at trial (sometimes called a final hearing). The judge will hear the expert’s evidence and determine which valuation they consider to be more reliable. It is quite unusual for the value of a property to become an issue at trial.
What is the first step in a property settlement?
Obtaining a reliable and realistic valuation in a property dispute is extremely important. In most cases, the property value that is in dispute is the former matrimonial home, which makes up the majority of the total asset pool. For this reason we always recommend clients obtain quality legal advice as early as possible in the property division process.
Get in touch with our Geelong lawyers on 52928000 to discuss property valuation and other options for your property, or contact property lawyers in Geelong: https://cornishlawyers.com.au/get-started/