As you know, the most important for the correct execution of documents for determining the value of property are two things: what do you need to evaluate (real estate, cars, equipment, etc) and for what (presentation in court, at a notary, bank, embassy…). The process of valuation and documentation often depends on the purpose for which the work is done. The Act states, that any independent evaluation has purpose, which must be specified in the conclusions on value, and the report itself can be used only for the purpose for which it was developed. The most common valuation for a court is real estate valuation: apartments, premises, lands and houses.
Features of evaluation for the court
In preparing documents for presentation in court, the employer is required to pay particular attention to the selection of contractors, in particular lawyers and appraisers. After all, even an incorrect statement of claim entails a loss of time, and often money. What can we say about the fact that a useless lawyer can easily, as they say, «screw up» at first glance absolutely simple and winning case.
In addition, be sure to pay attention to the choice of appraisal company. In contrast to evaluation for notary, reports, which is going to be in the court, will be closely reviewed by the opposing side to find weaknesses in the work and to try to show that the documents provided are incorrect and cannot be accepted as evidence in the case.
Often customers still at the stage of telephone conversations say that they are interested in distorting the market value in one way or another. But we try to explain that such understatement makes no sense. Moreover, this idea may «come out sideways» for the customer. After all, the second party may insist on the examination, which will show that this expert evaluation understated or overstated, after which the court may see in the actions of the customer signs of fraud, which will definitely affect the outcome of the entire case.
Be careful of approaching appraisers who advertise on their websites only services to determine the value for a notary and do not mention the specifics of working with courts! In most cases, this indicates that this valuation company has no experience of such work, so, most likely, will not be able to perform them qualitatively, which means you risk losing time and money.
Real estate valuation for court
It should be noted once again that purposefully to make a distorted assessment of real estate for the court is not only pointless, but also harmful for the same customer. But how can you focus, what value of real estate will reflect the real picture? In the case of a typical object such as apartment in Kyiv, it is easy for you to navigate on market value. For this, it is enough to go to one of the specialized sites with advertisements for the sale of real estate and to pick up several objects, as much as possible similar to yours. In the case of apartments, the following main characteristics should be considered:
- location (the best option – the same home);
- type of house (choose for comparison only apartments in our type of house);
- total area;
- number of rooms;
- floor – if the apartment is on the first or last floor, the objects for comparison should be the same characteristics;
- interior condition («under repair»/«without decoration», «satisfactory»/«residential», «good»/«fresh renovation»).
Since often in real estate ads many of the above parameters are not specified, we recommend to focus on the announcements of sites where there are sections «verified apartments» or something similar. Since the site inspector was personally at each of these sites, the information on them differs firstly from the usual declarations of completeness, secondly is that such a declaration has more trust.
Divorce estate evaluation
Court valuation is most often required for the divorce of spouses to determine the market value of their joint property. We specialize in such works, so we have accumulated quite rich experience of their quality execution.
Valuation of property for the court implies only a fair determination of value without any distortion to either party. We have already written that apart from the moral aspect, such «frills» will not benefit anyone. In the event that one of the parties disagrees with the results of the assessment, the court will usually order an expert opinion. And in turn, it is very simple and unambiguously indicate all the bottlenecks in the report of the unscrupulous appraiser. Thus, the party that organized the distorted evaluation will simply lose time and money. Well, the court may well see in such actions signs of fraud, which in turn will lead to a decision against such a side.
Most often, in case of divorce, real estate is evaluated: apartments, houses and land plots, garages. In the second place, based on our practice is evaluation of cars.
How the valuation affects on court fee
Many of our clients, who go to court without the assistance of a lawyer, do not understand why it is necessary to evaluate at the stage of filing a claim. The appraisers explain that depending on a certain value of the property, an appropriate court fee will have to be paid. How much would the plaintiff have to pay to start the trial?
The court fee depends on three factors:
- An individual or legal entity files a claim.
- Type of judicial action: division of property, divorce, recognition of ownership, etc.
- Market value of property, subject of future litigation.
For those who want to understand in detail all the intricacies of the court fee, we advise you to familiarize yourself with the Law of Ukraine «On Court Fee». However, in our practice, the most common cases of ordering an evaluation for the court are filing of a lawsuit by individual, about property, or property division on divorce. Below are the court fees for these typical cases.
| Judicial act | Rate of court fee |
|---|---|
| Filing a claim of property character by an individual | 1% of the claim price, but not less than 0.4 and not more than 5 minimum subsistence levels for employable persons |
| Filing a claim for division of property upon dissolution of marriage | 1% of the claim price, but not less than 0.4 and not more than 3 minimum subsistence levels for employable persons |
Please note that when it comes to litigation over the ownership of an apartment in Kiev, in most cases the court fee is paid at the maximum fixed level. After all, 1% of the market cost of housing in the capital almost always exceeds three or five times the subsistence minimum. For reference: according to 7th article of Law of Ukraine «On the State budget of Ukraine for 2024» the subsistence minimum for employable persons is UAH 3,028.00. That is, for example, in 2024, the maximum court fee in the process of division of property upon divorce is UAH 9,084.00.
How to file a lawsuit, if you have no documents
It is often the case that during the divorce proceedings one of the parties does not have documents on the property or vehicle and/or the opportunity to arrange the access of the appraiser to inspect the disputed property. This may be due to both objective factors (lost documents) and subjective (the other side does not give documents and/or access).
Many customers, especially those who sue without the help of lawyers, at this point comes a state close to panic. In fact, this behavior of your opponents will not cause any problems. There are procedures in place to assess property in the event of divorce precisely for the lack of documents or the inability to access real estate or a car. You can contact our appraisers, who will tell and advise the action plan tailored to the circumstances of your case.
It is also worth paying attention to another fairly common situation when evaluating during divorce proceedings. It may be that the disputed vehicle has already been sold by the other party at the time of the lawsuit for partition. After all, unlike real estate, the sale of a car does not require notarized consent of the spouse. Whoever is listed on the vehicle registration certificate is considered to be the administrator of the property, even though it is a joint property. All this is compounded by the fact that the plaintiff has no documents on the car. We want to immediately calm you. Such situations are common, so there are legal schemes and procedures that allow the valuation of even such property. And prepare a complete set of documents for filing in court.
It is very important to observe all the requirements of the legislation with meticulous accuracy during the evaluation of property in case of divorce. Otherwise, lawyers of your opponents «break» report of your appraiser simply on formal grounds and procedural flaws.
How do you order a service?
Another feature of court evaluation is that each case is unique. That is why there is no model list of documents needed for the appraiser’s work. We often face either the fact that the facility is not accessible (for example, the second party lives in the apartment and does not allow the person, who filed a lawsuit). Or access to the facility is, but there is no document on it – this is often the case when inheriting through the court.
Our appraisal company specializes in the execution of works for presentation in court. Having many years of experience in the provision of such services, we perform them qualitatively, which is confirmed by the reviews and expertise repeatedly conducted on them within the consideration of court cases. If you plan to order an expert evaluation for the court or for a start just get professional advice on the matter, you are welcome to contact us!
