Settlement Valuation
A written independent business valuation for negotiation, mediation and property-settlement discussions after a divorce or separation. Written so that both parties and their advisers can follow the reasoning.
What this report is for. The Settlement Valuation is prepared for negotiation and mediation purposes. It is not prepared for filing or reliance as expert evidence in court.
For one reasonably straightforward business with complete and reliable records, the Settlement Valuation includes:
The report values the business or ownership interest instructed, at the valuation date agreed in the engagement letter, from the documents provided. Where a document is missing, the report says so and explains how the gap was treated.
See an outline of what the report covers.
The Settlement Valuation is intended to assist with:
Where the parties are working out a settlement between themselves, with or without lawyers, and need a figure for the business that both can understand and test.
Where a mediator or family dispute resolution practitioner needs the business value settled before the rest of the pool can be discussed.
Where the parties or their solicitors are exchanging proposals and the business is the item that is holding things up.
Where one or both parties simply need to know what the business is worth before deciding how to proceed.
Where an adviser wants an independent valuation to review alongside the accounts, or to check an expectation one party holds.
Where it is not yet clear whether the matter will proceed to court. The Settlement Valuation identifies the interest, the date and the issues that drive the value, so you and your lawyer can decide whether an expert report is needed.
Draft report within 5 to 7 business days after receiving payment and all required information. The period runs from the later of payment and receipt of everything on the checklist. If documents arrive in stages, or raise questions that need answers, we tell you how the timing is affected rather than letting the date slip quietly.
The Settlement Valuation is prepared for negotiation and mediation purposes. It is not prepared for filing or reliance as expert evidence in court.
It is not prepared under formal or joint instructions, does not address the expert-evidence requirements that apply in court proceedings and is not signed as an expert report. If your matter is before the Court, or your lawyer expects it will be, read about the Family Law Expert Valuation.
The report explains what the business is worth and how that figure was reached. It does not advise on how the property pool should be divided, what you should accept or how your matter should be run. Those are questions for your lawyer.
The valuation is reached independently of who instructs it. We do not prepare a higher figure for one party or a lower figure for the other, and the report is written so that the other party and their advisers can follow the reasoning.
The valuation relies on the documents provided. It does not replace the exchange of financial information between the parties, and it cannot verify what it has not seen.
It values the business or ownership interest instructed. Real property, superannuation, vehicles and personal assets are outside its scope.
Step by step
Complete the confidential enquiry. We confirm that the Settlement Valuation is the appropriate scope for the matter, complete an initial conflict check and send an engagement letter setting out the fee, the interest to be valued and the valuation date.
On acceptance, the fee is paid and we send a document checklist. Provide the financial statements, tax returns, management accounts and ownership documents through the process we confirm at engagement. Business documents only: we do not need affidavits or personal evidence.
We review the business and its structure, normalise the earnings, select and explain the valuation methodology, consider the business-specific risks and the sources of goodwill, and value the interest. Where a question arises, we ask you or, if authorised, your adviser.
You receive a draft so that errors of fact can be corrected before the report is finalised, and one round of factual corrections is included. The review is for facts only: a figure we have misread, an ownership percentage that is wrong, a document we were not given. The conclusion is not open to negotiation.
We issue the signed final report to you and, where you have authorised it, to your adviser.
The expert report is a separate engagement, subject to the same conflict and suitability assessment as any other. The appointed expert independently reviews the material, may ask for further information and forms their own opinion.
Start with what you need. Keep the full credit.Upgrade within three months and your $2,495 + GST settlement fee is credited in full. The standard upgrade is the $2,000 + GST difference, subject to expert acceptance and any additional scope. How the credit works →
Common questions
Yes. That is one of the uses it is prepared for. The report gives the mediator and both parties a reasoned, independent figure for the business and shows how it was reached, so the discussion can move from what the business might be worth to how the pool should be divided. It is written to be read by the other party and their advisers as well as by you.
No. The Settlement Valuation is prepared for negotiation and mediation purposes. It is not prepared for filing or reliance as expert evidence in court. It is not prepared under formal or joint instructions and does not address the expert-evidence requirements that apply in court proceedings. If your matter is before the Court, or your lawyer expects it will be, the Family Law Expert Valuation is the appropriate service. If you later need the expert report, the settlement fee is credited on upgrade within three months; the terms are set out under the upgrade credit on the fees page.
Yes. A Settlement Valuation can be instructed by one party or by both. Where it is instructed jointly, both parties receive the same document checklist, the same draft for factual review and the same final report, and we correspond with both sides equally. A joint instruction often makes the report easier to use in negotiation because neither party chose the valuer alone.
The report is written so that it can be tested. Every adjustment, assumption and method is explained, and the sources are identified, so a disagreement can be narrowed to the specific point in dispute rather than the figure as a whole.
Send what you have and tell us what is missing. Some gaps can be worked around, for example by using tax returns where financial statements were never prepared. Others cannot, and the report will say so and explain how the gap was treated. Where a document is held by the other party or the business's accountant, your lawyer can advise on how to obtain it. The 5 to 7 business days do not start until the checklist is complete.
Whichever the matter requires, and the engagement letter records which. Often both are needed: the value of the whole business, then the value of the particular interest held, which may differ because of the size of the holding, the rights attached to it and the structure through which it is held. The report explains the effect of the structure on the value of the interest.
Yes, for the scope described on this page: one reasonably straightforward business or ownership interest, valued at one date, with complete and reliable records. Where the enquiry shows something different, for example several related entities that each need to be valued, or records in a state that requires reconstruction, we say so at the scope stage and price it before starting (an additional business or entity is from $1,500 + GST). You will not receive a different figure after the work has begun.
Yes, where you authorise it. We can deal directly with your adviser on documents, dates and the interest being valued, and with a referring professional where that is how the matter is being run. Tell us in the enquiry who we may speak to. Where a report is prepared as a single expert, communication follows the instructions and, in general, goes to both sides.
You can tell us what you expect and why, and that context can be useful. It does not change the method or the conclusion. A valuation that is steered towards a preferred figure is of no use in a negotiation and of no use to a court, because the other side will test it. What you receive is a reasoned figure with the working shown.
Yes. If you first obtain a Settlement Valuation and later require a Family Law Expert Valuation, the full $2,495 + GST settlement fee will be credited when you upgrade within three months. You pay only the $2,000 + GST difference. The expert report is a separate engagement, subject to the same conflict and suitability assessment as any other. The appointed expert independently reviews the material, may ask for further information and forms their own opinion. A matter that settles at negotiation or mediation needs nothing further. Where an expert report was always going to be required, starting there is usually the better path, and we will say so.
$2,495 + GST, fixed fee. Draft report within 5 to 7 business days after receiving payment and all required information. Or call 0433 475 518 or request a call back. Phone hours are 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday (Sydney time).
The Settlement Valuation is prepared for negotiation and mediation purposes. It is not prepared for filing or reliance as expert evidence in court.