Property Valuations for Family Law

After a separation, one common way to value property you cannot agree on is a single independent valuer that both of you instruct. If the matter goes to court, the court’s rules prefer, where practicable, a single expert jointly instructed by both parties, and that valuer’s duty is to the court, not to either of you.

This guide explains how that works in New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory, where family law property matters are mostly heard by the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, whose Family Law Rules 2021 apply. It is general information about valuations, not legal advice. Your lawyer advises on your case.

Do we need a formal valuation, or is an appraisal enough?

Not every separation needs a formal valuation. If you both accept a figure, an agreed value is often enough. The more the property is worth, and the further apart you are, the more an independent valuation earns its fee.

What is a single expert valuer?

A single expert witness is one expert who gives evidence on an issue for both parties. Part 7.1 of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Family Law) Rules 2021 sets out how it works. Its stated purpose is that expert evidence is obtained only on a significant issue in dispute and, if practicable, is given by a single expert witness (rule 7.02).

• Appointed by agreement or by order. You can jointly appoint a single expert yourselves (rule 7.03), or the court can order one (rule 7.04). A report from a single expert you jointly appointed can be used in court without the court’s permission.
• No private conversations. Neither party may communicate with the single expert alone, except as the rules permit, and anything one of you sends the valuer must go to the other at the same time (rule 7.03).
• Written instructions. The valuer is instructed in writing, and the parties must give the valuer an agreed statement of facts to base the report on (rule 7.13).
• A duty to the court. The valuer’s duty to help the court comes before any obligation to whoever instructs or pays them (rule 7.18). The report must state the reasons for the valuer’s conclusions and the method used (rule 7.22).

How does a family law property valuation work, step by step?

1. Agree which properties need a value, and at which date or dates. Your lawyers usually settle this.
2. Agree on the valuer. One way is for one of you to suggest two or three independent valuers and the other to choose. If you cannot agree, the court can order a single expert.
3. Send joint written instructions: the property, the purpose, the valuation date, the questions to answer, the agreed facts and the relevant documents, noting that the report may be used in court proceedings.
4. Agree how the fee is shared. Single expert reports are paid for by one or both parties, often in equal shares, as you agree or the court orders.
5. The valuer inspects. Access is arranged with both of you, and anything you want the valuer to know is put in writing to both sides.
6. The valuer issues a signed report to both parties.
7. If something needs clarifying, you can both agree in writing, within 21 days of receiving the report, to confer with the valuer to clarify it. If you cannot agree, either of you can ask the court to order a conference (rule 7.25). Written questions to clarify the report can be put once only: within 7 days after a conference, or within 21 days of receiving the report if there is no conference (rule 7.26). The valuer answers within 21 days of receiving the questions or of the fee for answering being paid or secured, whichever is later (rule 7.27), and the party asking pays the valuer’s reasonable fees for answering (rule 7.28).

Which date is the property valued at?

Usually a current date. Since 10 June 2025 the Family Law Act has spelt out that the court starts by identifying the parties’ existing property and liabilities (section 79(3)), so the value that matters in a settlement is normally a current one. If a matter runs for a long time, or the market moves, the valuation may need updating before a final hearing.

Sometimes the lawyers also want a value at a past date, such as the date of separation. A valuer can value property as it was at a past date, using the sales evidence of that time: see retrospective valuations and how retrospective valuations work. Your lawyer decides which dates the report should address.

What does the valuer actually value?

Market value: the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would agree on at the valuation date, with neither under pressure and the property properly marketed. The valuer analyses sales of comparable properties, the land, the buildings and any planning or title issues. What a valuer looks at explains the inspection in detail.

The report gives the market value of the property itself. It does not deduct the mortgage, the agent’s commission or any tax that would be payable on a sale. Whether any of those are taken into account in your settlement is a question for your lawyers.

Property that often needs a value after a separation:

• The family home, whether a house, townhouse or apartment (residential valuations).
• Investment properties, holiday homes and vacant land.
• Farms and acreage (rural valuations) and business premises (commercial valuations).
• Property held through a family trust, a company or a self-managed super fund. The valuer values the property; your lawyers and accountant work out what that means for each person’s interest.
• A family business is different: it needs a business valuation, not a property valuation. Family Law Valuations, also part of Valuation Group, values businesses for family law matters.

Does the family law valuation set your tax or stamp duty?

Usually not directly, but it helps to know how the pieces fit.

• Capital gains tax. When property moves from one partner to the other under a court order or certain binding financial agreements, a relationship breakdown rollover generally applies automatically. The ATO explains that the partner receiving the property generally takes on the original cost base, not the family law value. Your accountant can confirm how this applies to you.
• Stamp duty. New South Wales and Victoria, for example, exempt transfers made because of the breakdown of a marriage or relationship from transfer duty if the conditions are met (Revenue NSW and the State Revenue Office Victoria). Your lawyer or conveyancer checks whether an exemption applies to your transfer.

What if you disagree with the single expert’s valuation?

Start with the report itself. Check that the facts and instructions were right: the land area, the improvements, any defects and the sales relied on. If something needs clarifying, the rules allow a conference or written questions within the time limits in the steps above, with both sides copied in. Both are only for clarifying the report (rule 7.24), so ask your lawyer about anything beyond that.

If you still disagree, you cannot simply commission a second report and rely on it in court. Once a single expert has been appointed, the court’s permission is needed for another expert’s report on the same issue (rules 7.08 and 7.10). In deciding, the court weighs matters including cost, delay, complexity and whether a single expert should give the evidence (rule 7.11). A party who wants the single expert cross-examined at a hearing generally pays the valuer’s reasonable fees for attending (rule 7.09).

How much does a family law property valuation cost?

The fee is quoted for each matter and depends on the property and the scope. We tell you in writing whether we can take the matter on, and nothing is booked or charged until you have accepted the valuer, fee and timing. Property Valuations Australia takes requests for property in New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT and the Northern Territory, from Sydney and Melbourne to Canberra and Darwin.

Request a family law valuation or read more about family law property valuations.