Valuation of Marital Assets
Personal Property Valuation Resources
Thank you to our newest employee Courtney Eskew for her research into some of the many personal property valuation websites. Proceed with caution, but when I think that our main source in the early years of my practice was a Sears Catalog, this is a cornucopia.
One caveat: you can value a car accurately by entering make, model, mileage, and condition, but real estate (not included here), and retirement assets can be very complicated. See my footnote **
- www.KBB.Com : The Kelly Blue Book Vehicle Valuation site. You will need the make, model, conditions, and accessories for the vehicle you are valuation. Use the “private party sale” valuation, not retail, wholesale, or trade in.
- NADA: https://www.nada.com/ : Another motor vehicle valuation site.
- https://www.beckett.com/price-guides/: Sports Card Valuation site.
- https://www.commercialtrucktrader.com/ : Valuation and sale of commercial vehicles.
- https://antiques.lovetoknow.com/Main_Page Valuation of Antiques.
- https://www.pinterest.com/antiques/ : Pinterest heavily relies upon posted photo-arrays.
- https://www.TheSprucecrafts.com : Crafts, Antiques, and Collectables
- https://www.apmex.com/ : Coin Collector Site
- https://tinyurl.com/y2t3hzdf : Consumer Reports Coin Valuation
- https://www.ebay.com/ : The Ebay website contains a vast array of consumer goods, outdated products, electronics, and replacement parts. Real things for sale. Useful in valuation and acquiring that item you just can’t find elsewhere.
- https://www.clagrills.com/ : Think of Ebay for grills! I had to include this site, founded by my Father’s cousin W. Lark Hunter to provide you those parts to keep your grill working!
- https://www.fastline.com/ : Farm and construction equipment.
- https://www.hunker.com/13403078/how-to-price-used-power-tools : Valuation of used power tools.
- https://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/skills-and-know-how/tools/buying-guide-for-secondhand-tools : DIY valuation of secondhand tools.
- https://raincatcher.com/valuation/ : Business valuation.
- https://valueyourpension.com/ : Purports to assist you in getting a present value of your pension.
- https://www.rockseeker.com/ : Rocks; precious stones, artifacts, arrowheads.
- http://www.arrowheadshop.com/ : Native American artifacts, arrowheads.
- https://ourpastimes.com/ : various collectables, games, hobbies, interests.
- https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/ : collectables, hobbies, crafts.
** Remember that retirement assets exist in two main categories:
a. “Defined contribution plans”. These are “tax deferred” funds or accounts. They really exist. They can be cashed in (with penalty and tax payment), and they can be borrowed against, but they are relatively easy to value.
b. “Defined benefit plans”. These funds do not “exist” in the sense that they represent a promise for their future. The classic example, a miners’ pension is funded by the workers who follow. The value must be calculated as a “present value” based on length of service, life expectancy, and age. That calculation takes an “expert”, and it may not be there if the fund goes bankrupt because the industry reduces in size. Thus, you hear of pension plans failing. They are also harder to divide by Qualified Domestic Relations Plans (QDROS). But above there are a couple of sites that purport to assist you in calculating a “present value”.
Your job as a divorce litigant will be to get accurate information from your retirement “Plan Administrator”. That is essential! fffffffffff
This post was written by Burton Hunter