Legal and estate appraisals

Appraisals prepared for legal and tax matters

Appraisals prepared for lawyers, executors, trustees, and accountants are used to establish value where a matter depends on it. These assignments frequently require a value as at a past date, and they call for a report that sets out the evidence and reasoning clearly enough to be relied on and, where necessary, examined.

Assignment types

• Estate and probate valuations for the administration of an estate
• Matrimonial and separation appraisals, including valuation as at a date of separation
• Capital gains reporting and adjusted cost base support for CRA purposes
• Retrospective valuations, including date-of-death and other historical effective dates
• Litigation support, including reports prepared for use in a proceeding

Retrospective valuations

A retrospective appraisal establishes the market value of a property as at an effective date in the past. The analysis relies on sales evidence and market conditions available as at that date. Where a property has since been altered, the appraiser addresses the condition of the property as at the effective date to the extent it can be supported by available evidence.

Reports intended for a proceeding

Where a report may be used in a legal proceeding, the intended use and intended users are confirmed at the outset so that the scope of work and the level of reporting are appropriate. The appraiser maintains a work file supporting the report, and remains independent of the parties and the outcome.

Attendance and testimony

Where a matter proceeds, requests for the appraiser to attend an examination for discovery, an arbitration, or a hearing are considered individually and quoted separately from the appraisal fee. As with the appraisal itself, fees for attendance are not contingent on the outcome of the matter, and the appraiser’s evidence remains that of an independent third party rather than an advocate for either side.