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Divorce and Dissolution AppraisalsBy Gordon Hall7 min read

Family Law Appraisal in San Bernardino County: What Mediators and Attorneys Read First

What mediators and attorneys read first in a San Bernardino County family law appraisal: client, intended users, effective date, comparables, assumptions.

An empty open-plan great room with a vaulted ceiling and exposed wood beams, a wood-cabinet kitchen with an island and stainless appliances at the left, light plank flooring and sliding glass doors to a covered patio and garden at the right.

A mediator or family law attorney who opens a family law appraisal of a San Bernardino County home reads the engagement facts first: who the client is, who the intended users are, what the report will be used for, and the date the value applies to. Next come the comparable sales and where they were found, then the assumptions the appraiser made. The opinion of value comes last; it is only as good as the pages before it.

This article walks through that reading order for marital homes in Upland, Montclair, Rancho Cucamonga, including Alta Loma, and Chino. It belongs to the divorce and dissolution appraisals library; the pillar on how one report serves both sides covers the whole assignment. Nothing here is legal advice.

Page one: the engagement facts

The first check is whether the report was written for this matter at all. Four items, stated near the front, answer that.

  • Client, the party or parties who engaged the appraiser. In a dissolution, that is one spouse or attorney, or both.
  • Intended users, the people entitled to rely on the report. A report written for one spouse's attorney does not extend to the other side or to the court unless they are named.
  • Intended use, what the report will be used for, such as division of the marital estate or a buyout discussion in mediation.
  • Effective date, the date the opinion of value applies to. It can be current, or it can be a past date chosen by the attorneys.

A mediator reads these lines to see whether both parties can use the same document. When both are named as clients and intended users, the arrangement is a joint engagement, and one report goes to both at the same time. When only one side is named, the other side is reading a report it did not commission and may want its own; one appraiser or two compares the two paths.

Why the effective date sits so close to the top

California Family Code section 2552 directs the court to value community assets as near as practicable to the time of trial, and allows a different date after separation and before trial, on notice and for good cause. The valuation date is therefore a legal choice. The attorneys, the parties by agreement, or the court picks it; the appraiser does not.

When the chosen date is in the past, the work is a retrospective appraisal, an appraisal whose effective date is in the past. The common example is a date of separation appraisal. Family Code section 70 defines the date of separation as the date a complete and final break in the marital relationship occurred, and the court weighs the evidence when the parties disagree about it. The appraiser takes the date as given, uses sales that closed on or before it, and describes the house as the evidence shows it on that date. A report carrying both a current and a retrospective value labels each one.

The comparable sales: where they came from

Next comes the sales grid, and the question is whether the sales come from the same market as the marital home. In San Bernardino County that question has local answers.

  • Upland. A house in the Euclid Avenue District or one of the downtown historic districts belongs with other older homes on older lots, not with postwar tracts south of the 210. San Antonio Heights, above the city, is unincorporated county land with horse-keeping lots, and its sales form their own group. Marital home appraisal in Upland works through these pockets.
  • Montclair. Mills Avenue, the city's western boundary, is the county line. A Claremont or Pomona sale across it can be valid evidence, but only with the location difference explained, because the county, the schools and the buyer pool change at the line.
  • Rancho Cucamonga and Alta Loma. An Alta Loma or Etiwanda horse-keeping lot is compared with similar lots, not with a planned-village tract house in Victoria or Terra Vista because that house was closer. Where a community facilities district levies a special tax, the report should say whether the subject carries it.
  • Chino. Horse and large-lot parcels need comparables chosen for lot use, with barns, arenas and stalls addressed for their contributory value, what each adds to the whole property in the market. Homes in The Preserve are compared with similar planned neighborhoods, not with the older center of town.

When a sale comes from across the Los Angeles County line, or from a different pocket, the report should say why it was used and how the difference was adjusted. A reader who cannot find that explanation has found the first question to ask. The San Bernardino County page and the Upland area page describe how these markets behave.

Assumptions and conditions

Then the assumptions. Two kinds matter in family law work, and both must be disclosed.

An extraordinary assumption is an assumption about uncertain facts that, if false, could change the result. If no one inspected the house around the date of separation, the report may assume its condition then was as the parties' photos and records describe. A hypothetical condition is a condition assumed for the analysis that is known to be contrary to fact. If one spouse added a pool or remodeled a kitchen after separation, the attorneys may ask for the value as if that work had not been done. Either is sound when requested, disclosed and explained; neither belongs buried in the addenda.

What the report does not decide

An appraisal is an opinion of market value as of a stated date. It does not decide:

  • whether the house is community property, which Family Code section 760 addresses, or separate property;
  • how the community estate is divided, which Family Code section 2550 leaves to the parties' written agreement or the court;
  • who keeps the house, or on what buyout terms;
  • the date of separation itself;
  • whether the report is admitted in court. Admissibility is always the court's decision.

What the report does and does not decide draws the same line in more detail. If a declaration or testimony may be needed later, that is a scope item to settle at engagement, and court appraisal, declarations and testimony explains how it is arranged.

Numbers that are not appraisals

An automated estimate such as a Zestimate is a statistical estimate from records and nearby sales, and it is not an appraisal. An agent's comparative market analysis, or CMA, is an opinion of likely list or sale price, and it is not an appraisal. The assessed value set by the San Bernardino County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk is taxable value under California's assessment rules, and it is not an appraisal either. None is an independent opinion of market value developed under USPAP, and appraisal vs. estimate sets out the differences.

Next step

Attorneys and mediators can send the address, the value date or dates and the names of the parties through the divorce and dissolution appraisal page, or call (909) 324-6122. The appraiser is independent of both parties, including the one who pays. Fees are set by the scope of the assignment and quoted before work begins, and they do not depend on the value. Reports are typically delivered three to five business days from the inspection.

Sources

Gordon Hall, California Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser, BREA No. AR003877 (lookup: https://www2.brea.ca.gov/breasearch/faces/party/view.xhtml?id=23601). Reports are prepared in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). Nothing here is legal or tax advice; admissibility is always the court's decision.

Frequently asked questions

What should a mediator check first in a divorce appraisal?

The engagement facts near the front of the report: the client, meaning the party or parties who hired the appraiser; the intended users, the people entitled to rely on it; the intended use; and the effective date, the date the value applies to. They show whether both parties can rely on the same report.

Who chooses the valuation date in a San Bernardino County divorce appraisal?

The attorneys, the parties by agreement, or the court. California Family Code section 2552 sets the general rule of valuing assets as near as practicable to trial and allows another date on notice and for good cause. The appraiser applies the date given and does not choose it. Nothing here is legal advice.

Can a divorce appraisal of an Upland or Montclair home use Claremont or Pomona sales?

Yes, when those sales are genuinely the better evidence, but the report must explain why each was used and how the location difference across the Los Angeles County line was adjusted. Sales from the subject's own city and pocket come first.

Does the appraisal decide whether the house is community property?

No. The appraisal is an opinion of market value as of a stated date. Whether the house is community or separate property, how the estate is divided and who keeps the house are for the parties and the court. Admissibility of the report is always the court's decision.

Gordon Hall

Mr. Cali Appraisals

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