Estate and Trust Appraisals

Settling an estate or creating a trust is an important and sometimes stressful matter. As the PR of an estate, Trustee or Co-Trustee of a real estate trust, family trust, revocable or irrevocable trust I recognize and understand the responsibilities you have to administer the affairs of a deceased individual as swiftly and exactly as possible. You can count on me to act reasonably and promptly and with sensitivity to the feelings of those involved.

Attorneys and Accountants rely on my opinions when calculating real property values for estates, trust assets or other matters requiring a market value opinion of real property. I understand the needs of intended users of information contained in a certified appraisal report and am familiar with other parties involved with appraisal reports.

Settling an estate or creating a trust requires an appraisal to establish the fair market value of the residential property involved. Often, a date of death will differ from the date the appraisal is requested and the assignment is completed. I am familiar with the procedures and requirements necessary to perform a retrospective appraisal having an effective date as of a specified date of death. The Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) binds me to protect the Appraiser-Client relationship as well as confidentiality in all appraisal assignments. Laws and regulations further ensure a full degree of professional discretion as it pertains to an appraisal service. 

Too often, uninformed or poorly advised people do not fully appreciate the need to have an independent, confidential and detailed appraisal prepared for the purpose of solving an important real estate valuation matter. As a consequence, they make highly important decisions based on the limited due diligence of others.   

Opinions of value are used in documents filed with revenue authorities and the courts and should be well supported by a detailed report as to how the appraiser (valuation expert) arrived at their value conclusion. Such a report will certainly demonstrate to authorities that the numbers utilized in the report are well founded and substantiated and not "made up" or contrived based on potential commission earnings associated with that opinion.