Most of us have a view on the value of our home. We may know what other similar homes in the road have sold for recently and we may scan the property section of the local paper at the weekends. But when it comes to a divorce establishing the value of your home is crucial.
The matrimonial home is often the single most valuable asset in the marriage. In many cases it represents 70-80% of the total assets of the couple. So it is really important to be able to identify how much it is actually worth.
An estate agent will be able to give you an indication of what the home will sell for in the current market. But their view may be clouded by their desire to secure your instruction to sell the property and you may end up with an inflated value which flatters the property.
And the value of the matrimonial home may not simply be what a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller for the home. Other factors may have an impact on what the home is worth. For example, a wife may be very keen to keep the matrimonial home as part of her divorce settlement particularly if the children are to live with her after the divorce. In this case, the home is likely to be worth significantly more to the wife than simply its market value.
In many divorce cases professional valuers are used to arrive at a valuation of the matrimonial home. As independent advisers their opinion carries weight and authority. Their job is to value, not to sell, the home and as such no conflict exists to cloud their judgement. However, a professional valuation does cost money – as a rule of thumb fees are calculated on the basis of a percentage of the value of the property although some valuers may charge by reference to an hourly rate with or without a cap on the total fees.
If you and your partner more or less agree on the valuation of the matrimonial home and the difference in value is relatively small, it may not be worth instructing a valuer to carry out a full valuation because of the costs involved. If you want a professional valuation for your peace of mind, a valuer may be able to provide a preliminary valuation which will not be as detailed and thorough as a full valuation but which will cost a lot less.
If you can’t agree on the value of the matrimonial home, you could each appoint separate valuers and then compare the results. If you can then agree on the value, this can be reflected in the divorce settlement. A better and more cost effective option would be to appoint just one valuer – a single joint expert – to act for you both in determining the value of the home.
In cases where you can’t agree on the value of the home nor on a valuer who can act for you both, the court will appoint an expert whose duty it is to report to the Court on the value of the home. You would both then be bound by the value arrived at by the expert unless the Court gave you leave to introduce new evidence which might alter the valuation. So, as with so many aspects of a divorce, if you can agree matters with your partner early on it does make the process so much easier to navigate.