USPAP-Compliant Appraisals for IRS & Legal Purposes

The intended use decides how a report has to be written and who has to accept it. Choose the reason you need a valuation and we prepare a USPAP-compliant appraisal that the IRS, the court, your insurer, or your lender will rely on.

Need something not listed here? We also prepare appraisals for purchase price allocation, Medicaid and Social Security filings, E-2 visa applications, bonded titles, and total-loss disputes. Tell us the intended use when you request a quote.

Frequently Asked Questions About Appraisal Purposes

Choosing the Right Purpose

Why does the reason for an appraisal change how the report is written?

Because the intended use fixes three things before any value is set: the standard of value, the effective date, and who will read the report. A charitable donation is valued at fair market value on the date of the gift for the IRS; an insurance schedule is valued at replacement cost today for an underwriter; a Chapter 7 filing may call for liquidation value for a trustee. The same item can carry several defensible values at once, and a report written for one use is usually the wrong evidence for another. Tell us what the report is for and we choose the standard and date that use requires.

Can one appraisal report be used for more than one purpose?

Only when both uses call for the same standard of value on the same effective date, and the report names both intended uses. Probate and federal estate tax are the usual pair: both take fair market value as of the date of death, so one report can serve both. Insurance coverage and estate tax cannot share a report, because replacement cost is not fair market value. If you expect a second use, tell us before we start; adding an intended use to a finished report usually means a new assignment.

What if I am not sure which purpose applies to my situation?

Describe the situation and who asked for the appraisal, and we will name the intended use for you. The receiving party usually settles it: an attorney handling an estate, a claims adjuster, a lender's credit officer, or a CPA preparing a return each expects a particular standard of value, and we work back from that. If nobody has asked for the report yet and you simply want to know what something is worth, a fair market value appraisal is the usual starting point.

Standards of Value and Effective Dates

What is the difference between fair market value, replacement cost, and liquidation value?

Fair market value is the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree on, neither under compulsion and both with reasonable knowledge of the facts; it is the standard the IRS applies to donations, gifts, and estates and the one most courts use. Replacement cost is what it would take to replace the item with a comparable one today, which is why insurance coverage schedules use it. Orderly and forced liquidation value assume a sale under time pressure and come in below fair market value, which is why lenders and bankruptcy trustees ask for them.

How is the effective date of an appraisal set?

The purpose sets it. A charitable donation is valued as of the contribution date, and the IRS requires the appraisal to be prepared no earlier than 60 days before that date. An estate is valued at the date of death, or six months later if the executor elects the alternate valuation date under IRC Section 2032. An insurance claim is valued at the date of loss named in the policy. Divorce has no single rule: depending on the state, the court may use the date of separation, the date of distribution, or a date the judge sets, so we confirm it with your attorney before we begin.