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Divorce appraisals of jewelry. A necessary evil for many soon to be ex-couples.

 

For many years I refused to do this kind of work preferring to let others handle this unfortunate, inconvenient and often somewhat ugly matter surrounding a divorce.   Maturity, more patience and understanding, has led me back into the fray in these contests.  Most of the time, it seems the wife intends to keep the jewelry as part of the division of marital property.  Often, the items have a huge amount of negative sentimental value by that time, but one expects the wife to keep the jewels in most cases regardless of the mixed emotions.  What is the right “value” to place on such settlements?  Should the decision as to who takes the jewelry have anything to do with the value?  I think not.  Whichever party takes all or part of the jewelry ought to get it at a value that they can liquidate it in a fairly rapid yet orderly manner and not at some wildly high “retail” value that no consumer could sell it for.

To me, it is fair that either party who takes jewelry as part of a property settlement in these matters gets those items at a value that can be obtained in orderly liquidation and with reasonable effort to get a fair price.  Truthfully, if that always happened there would be little argument over the jewelry, but sadly this is rarely the case.  Jewelry is so different than cars or real estate when it comes to the difference between retail and liquidation market values.

As a solution to the problem of divorce settlement, I suggest having the two parties mutually agree to use my services jointly so that there is no hint of favoritism in the conclusions made in the appraisal.  This can cut the cost of the appraisal in half for each party if they are willing to split the expense, or if one party is paying the other does not need to pay.  Having dual appraisals simply leads to further expense in courtroom arguments over which appraisal to accept.  Lawyers are the prime beneficiary of disagreement and courtroom time.  Divorcing couples are best served by getting the final ruling and going on with their lives.

If I can be of service to you in a divorce, please contact me.  I am willing to work for either party as well as under mutual agreement.  That is a suggestion, but not a requirement.