Marketable Cash Value

Divorce and equitable distribution

Matrimonial valuations generally apply Marketable Cash Value: what the property would net in a sale after commissions and costs, rather than what it would cost to replace. Using the wrong standard is the most common error in these engagements, and it can distort a settlement threefold.

For counsel

Prepared for litigation from the outset

The practice serves as a neutral or as a party-retained expert. Reports are built for litigation from the first page: assumptions stated, methodology explicit, comparables documented and reproducible, and defensible on cross-examination. Deposition and trial testimony are available at the litigation rate.

Matrimonial instructions are taken across Monroe, Ontario, Livingston, Erie and Onondaga counties. References from counsel are available on request.

For individuals

Usually fewer things than you think

The practical question is which items are worth contesting, and the answer is usually a shorter list than either party expects. The pieces with emotional weight and the pieces with financial weight are rarely the same pieces.

The result is an inventory with defensible figures, so the negotiation proceeds on facts rather than assumptions.

The standard

Why replacement value misleads here

A painting might cost $60,000 to replace at retail, be worth $40,000 at fair market value, and net $28,000 after auction commissions and costs of sale. All three figures can be correct. Only the last describes what the marital estate would realize.

A replacement figure in a matrimonial matter systematically overstates the property and hands one party an argument the numbers do not support.

On neutrality

Where the practice is retained as a neutral, both parties receive the same report at the same time, and value is not discussed with either side outside that document.

Common questions

How is artwork valued in a New York divorce?

New York is an equitable distribution state: marital property is divided fairly rather than equally, and art acquired during the marriage is generally marital property regardless of whose name is on the invoice. The standard applied is normally Marketable Cash Value, the net proceeds of a sale, though counsel and the court determine the standard for a given matter.

Can one appraiser serve both parties?

Yes, as a neutral, and it is usually faster and less expensive than dueling experts. Both parties and both attorneys must agree to the engagement and its scope in writing before work begins.

Does the practice testify?

Yes, at deposition and at trial, billed at the litigation rate. Early instruction is preferable to being asked to defend someone else’s report.

What if the other party has already had things appraised?

Send the report. Reviewing an existing appraisal is often faster and cheaper than commissioning a new one, and USPAP sets a specific standard for appraisal review. Sometimes the existing report is sound and the disagreement lies elsewhere.

Rate

$350 per hour

Litigation rate. No project minimum. Fees are never based on the value of the property. Full fee schedule

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