Settling property assets after a marriage or family breakdown is never a fun thing to do, but there are some simple rules you can follow to make it an easier process for everyone involved.

As a property valuer with decades of experience in family law and property settlement, I’ve seen all sorts of family property drama unfold, and it’s not a great place to be. So save yourself more hassle by getting on the same page as your (former) loved ones and try to tick the following boxes:

• Joint instruction is always preferred in terms of securing a valuation for your property. This means you and your other parties (ie, husband, wife, sibling, parent, etc) will seek the valuation together and agree on the purpose of the report. The alternative is that only one party will instruct the valuer and pressures them to create a higher or lower valuation figure in order to reduce or increase the settlement in their favour. While a CPV will always seek to write a report that satisfies the client’s needs, they are bound by market evidence and legal guidelines so won’t ever come up with a valuation that helps ‘rip someone off’. Preparing joint instructions just makes it simpler to apply a fair and transparent valuation that is less likely to be challenged or require another report to be commissioned later on… Joint instructions = win/win in the long run!
  
• You don’t always need a lawyer or solicitor to be involved in a property settlement and it’s often better for everyone if you can move through the process without them (especially considering their fees!). Whether legal practitioners are involved or not, a Certified Practising Valuer will always write their report in accordance with Civil Procedure rules in the event that the matter ends up in court… even if it doesn’t seem likely at the outset.
  
• If you do need to lawyer up, keep it friendly. The more both or all parties can agree on from the start, the less will end up being paid in legal fees or new valuation reports. It’s fair to expect that using lawyers will save a lot of stress and soul-searching through what is already a stressful process, but remaining civil can still save you loads. And remember, a CPV is an impartial party in the property settlement, so they don’t want to know how the other party cheated on you or failed to adequately parent the kids unless it’s had an impact on the property itself.
  
• Have keys. There has unfortunately been more than one occasion when I have been asked to prepare a property valuation for family law purposes, only to be told on the day of inspection to climb in the kitchen window! If you don’t have legal access to the property for inspection purposes, don’t expect your CPV to be up for some casual break and enter… after all, it’s best for everyone that the CPV remains impartial and uninvolved, so keep it this way from the start!

Reach out for my advice on how to maintain minimum standards of fairness and respect during a tricky time, or have your solicitor send me some instructions after you have digested these hot tips.

Meantime, be nice to your wife or mother and reap the rewards down the track…