The starting point
Agree the property interest, valuation date, purpose and intended recipients before instruction. A valuation can inform negotiations or proceedings, but it does not decide the division of assets or either party’s legal entitlement.
Start with the question that needs answering
A family home can carry years of work, memories, and understandable disagreement. Putting a value on it does not settle those matters. It gives the parties and their advisers a reasoned figure for a particular property interest, at a particular date. That is useful work in its own right.
I would start by asking what the report is for. Is it to inform a private discussion, support mediation, or provide evidence in proceedings? The answer affects the instruction, the intended readers, and the reporting requirements. A short sales appraisal should not quietly become a court report simply because somebody forwards it to a solicitor.
Identify the property and the interest
The address is only the beginning. A house may come with adjoining land, an occupied flat, a business premises, or an interest shared with somebody else. The solicitor should identify the ownership position and the interest to be valued. The valuer can then assess that interest on clearly stated assumptions.
The Circuit Court’s family-law rules require property particulars and, for relevant property disputes, details of the interest claimed and its basis (Courts Service, n.d.-b, Order 59, rr.15–16 and 20). That is a useful reminder to get the description right at the outset. An estate agent should not decide disputed legal ownership by looking at a gate or listening to one account of family history.
Keep value and settlement separate
An opinion of market value does not determine how a settlement should be divided. Nor does it automatically show the cash available after a mortgage, taxation, selling expenses, or other liabilities. Those are separate questions for the appropriate advisers.
Suppose, as an illustration, that a home is valued at €300,000. That figure alone says nothing about what either person should receive. Even a simple equity calculation needs reliable information about debt. The legal treatment of the asset requires considerably more than arithmetic.
Make the process manageable
Agree access arrangements through the appropriate person, particularly where direct contact would cause difficulty. Provide the same relevant documents through the agreed instruction channel. Flag extensions, defects, tenancies, and earlier reports, even where they may complicate the picture.
My preference is for a report that somebody can follow without having to take the conclusion on trust. The reader should see what was inspected, what evidence mattered, and where uncertainty remains. In a sensitive instruction, a calm process and a well-explained opinion are worth far more than a promise of the figure somebody hopes to hear.
References
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Courts Service (n.d.-b) Circuit Court Rules, Order 59: Family law. Available at: Circuit Court Rules, Order 59: Family law (Accessed: 1 November 2026).
Further reading
Wyatt, P. (2022) Property Valuation. 3rd edn. Wiley-Blackwell. Edition, context & purchase links View / buy at publisher
Wylie, J.C.W. (2020) Wylie on Irish Land Law. 6th edn. Bloomsbury Professional. Edition, context & purchase links View / buy at publisher
Books listed for further reading have not necessarily been consulted in full. See the reading room for the basis of each recommendation.
General information for Irish property matters. The requirements of a particular instruction should be discussed with the appropriate professional. Editorial approach and source policy.
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