Family Law Expert Valuation

A single expert is a valuer appointed jointly by the parties, or by order of the Court, to give expert evidence on the value of the business for both sides rather than each side engaging its own expert. We accept single expert instructions subject to conflict checking, scope review, suitable instructions and acceptance by the appointed expert. Whether a single expert is required, agreed or ordered in your matter is a question for your lawyer.

The expert report will be delivered by a suitably qualified business valuer. They are identified in the engagement, together with their qualifications and experience, so that the parties and the Court know who is responsible for the opinion. Nobody else signs, and no report is issued in the firm's name alone. How reports are prepared and signed is described on the About page.

No valuer or report is approved by the Court, and any firm that says otherwise is overstating its position. The report is prepared to address the applicable expert-evidence requirements in the specific engagement, including the declaration of independence and the duty to the Court. Whether it is admitted, and what weight it is given, are matters for the Court.

One operating business or ownership interest that is reasonably straightforward, with complete and reliable records. For that scope, $4,495 + GST covers the review of the company, trust and loan arrangements, detailed earnings normalisation, the valuation methodologies with sensitivity analysis, the expert declaration, the report and one round of factual corrections. We confirm the scope in writing before work begins. Work outside that scope is priced at the published rates on the fees page.

Only work outside the fixed scope: an additional business or entity, urgent turnaround, formal questions and expert conferences, court attendance, and complex structures or disputed records. Each item has a published rate, listed under Additional work on this page and on the fees page, and is priced before it is done. The fixed fee covers the analysis, the expert declaration, the report and one round of factual corrections.

That depends on the rules that apply to your matter and on what the Court has ordered, and your lawyer will advise. We can accept instructions from one party or from both, subject to conflict checking and scope review. The expert's duty to the Court, and the way the analysis is done, are the same whoever instructs.

Where the parties give different accounts of a fact that affects the value, for example the hours the owner works or whether a family member's wage is at market rates, the instructions can ask the expert to value the business on each set of assumptions. The report then shows the effect of each and explains why it matters. The expert does not decide which account is true; that is for the Court.

Yes, where required. Court attendance is charged separately: remote attendance at $650 + GST per hour, four-hour minimum, and interstate attendance at $6,500 + GST per day, plus travel and accommodation at cost. The report is written with the expectation that it will be tested, whether or not the matter reaches a hearing.

The delivery date is agreed with you before work begins, and runs from payment and receipt of all required information. Urgent turnaround is available at a 25% surcharge. If a date has been set by the Court, tell us in the enquiry so it can be considered at the scope stage.