Divorce advice for appraisals

One of the most common words that married couples love to hate is “DIVORCE”; yet Canada’s divorce rate is one of the highest in the World @ 40%!!!!! This number is staggering but not surprising. From past experiences, the couples emotions are at an all time high and quite often people do not think rationally. The new words of the day are “child support”, “child custody”, “alimony”, “divorce cost”, “timing” however a key term for an appraiser is “property division”.

So who get’s the house?

For all separations there are two options in respect to real estate. The first choice would be to sell the property and divide the proceeds; while the second option would be for one party to “buy out” the other.
This is the time when things may become nasty!

One tidbit of advice is to never become attached to a commodity. Fighting over the LCD TV or that new dining room table takes up your legal representative’s time and in the long run will most likely cost more than their original purchase price.

It is highly recommended that each spouse hire a designated and licensed residential appraiser, known locally as a CRA (Canadian Residential Appraiser). In short, these folks are experts in their local market and these fine appraisers require annual recertification and educational development.
So why would a family require two valuations?


This is done to ensure that there is no undue influence being portrayed by the property owner. It is common to have one spouse wishing (or should I say pushing) for a high value; while the other wishes for a lower amount. As you can appreciate, there is an element of subjectivity with each appraisal, so a wise rule of thumb would be to accept a 10% variance between each valuation.

Another common practice is to hire a single appraiser by both spouses. This is by far the most cost effective measure. In this case, it would be best for both partners to arrange a mutual time to meet with the appraiser, to ensure that the appraiser does not overlook any deficiencies that may not be clearly visible!
Another tidbit of advice is to split the difference between each appraisal, which is save time and money for monopolizing your lawyer’s time.

Please keep in mind, an Appraiser’s final estimate of market value is the only opinion that is accepted within the court of law therefore a Realtor or Mortgage Broker opinions do not apply!

The value of the home is next divided equally between each partner. Another important element is the date of separation, which is sometimes not crystal clear. In this instances, it better to be proactive on having the appraisal completed since I have seen firsthand in the past- many properties appreciate in value rather quickly from the date of separation to the date of disposal.

Generally those folks who are most satisfied with the divorce proceedings are the instances which have been settled quickly. Keep in mind that respect is a two way street and this is not the time to get “revenge” on that the spouse who has not treated you with dignity.

Last January was a historic date in Halifax, as this region hosted the Canada’s first divorce fair. One day was allocated for the males and the next day was allocated for the females.

The verdict is still out on how well this schedule works for same sex couples!

I hope you have learned one facet of the appraisal process during divorces and contact me for further information.

I’ve included links for the Halifax Divorce Fair, Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and the Nova Scotia Real Estate Appraisers Association:

http://www.legalinfo.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=243

http://www.nsbs.org/

http://www.nsappraisal.ns.ca/directory.html