Divorce appraisals in Birmingham, Alabama

One number both sides can read

In a divorce the house is often the largest thing two people own, and each of them may already have a figure in mind. An independent appraisal is a third figure that comes from the neighborhood's actual sales and the house's actual condition, written down so that both attorneys can follow how it was reached. It does not decide who gets what. That is for you, your attorneys and the court.

An agreed date

The appraisal is for one date, and the two sides should agree on which. Your attorney will know which date the case needs. If a long time passes, the market and the house may both change. A report from a year ago is then history, and a new one is a new assignment.

If you and your spouse are not speaking

You do not have to be getting along to call. Ask your attorney who should hire the appraiser and whether one shared report or two makes more sense, and we will work from what they tell you. In Birmingham, a divorce in the county's Birmingham Division is heard by the Tenth Judicial Circuit's Domestic Relations Division, which has its own building at 2124 Seventh Avenue North.

Whose side is the appraiser on?

Neither. If one of you wants the number higher and the other lower, that does not change the work. The analysis follows the evidence for the date, because a value that leans toward whoever hired us is of no use to anyone, least of all in front of a judge.

What helps to have

• The address and the date the value is for.
• Which attorney, or which of you, will receive the report.
• Who can arrange access to the house, in a way both sides can live with.
• Any recent repairs, additions or listing history.

If both of you want to be on the call, that works too. Birmingham homes can look alike on paper and very different on the street, so we ask about the block and the condition before we talk about anything else.