The Art of Appraisals

Financial Planning, September, 2008 by Donald Jay Korn

For some assets, there is only one way to find a true value, notes Adriane Berg, an attorney in Lebanon, N.J. "That's the price a willing buyer pays a willing seller at the moment of sale," she says. "Any time before or after, value is a matter of opinion."

Assets subject to this uncertainty include real estate, business interests, collectibles and intellectual property. Most of your clients will own at least some of these items and may need to assign them a value for a variety of purposes, such as a potential sale, inheritance or gift.

More Or Less

A smart advisor will fill in the appraiser about the purpose of the evaluation at the time of the engagement. "When an appraiser asks why you want an asset valued, the question is really whether you want the...

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