Family law and litigation business valuation
We prepare single expert and shadow expert business valuations for family law property settlements and commercial disputes, written to the expert evidence rules of the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
A litigation valuation is not a commercial valuation with a cover page. The expert owes an overriding duty to the court, the instructions and assumptions must be disclosed, and every judgement will be tested in conferral or cross-examination. Our lead valuer has extensive experience giving evidence in court proceedings.
Step by step
How a court-ready valuation is prepared
The methodology mirrors a commercial valuation. The difference is in the disclosure, the discipline and the fact that it is written to be attacked.
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01
Take and record instructions
Who appointed us, on what terms, what questions we are asked to answer and at what valuation date. In a single expert appointment the instructions are usually joint and form part of the report.
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02
Gather information and raise requisitions
Requests are made formally and in writing, and unanswered requests are disclosed in the report. What we were not given matters as much as what we were.
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03
Value and cross-check
A primary method with at least one cross-check, and explicit treatment of the three most contested issues: the add-backs, the maintainable earnings period, and the split between personal and transferable goodwill.
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04
Report, confer and attend
A report containing the expert’s declaration, assumptions and limitations — followed by conferral with any opposing expert, a joint report where directed, and attendance at court where required.
Honest scope
When this method fits — and when it does not
Use it when
- A business forms part of a family law property pool
- Shareholders or partners are in dispute over an exit
- You need loss, damages or solvency evidence quantified
- A court has directed a single expert valuation
Look elsewhere when
- You need a quick internal figure for planning only
- No dispute exists and a commercial valuation will do
- You are seeking a number to support a predetermined position
- The matter is better resolved by an agreed indicative range
Common issue: personal versus transferable goodwill
In an owner-run business the largest contested question is usually how much of the goodwill would survive the owner’s departure. One party argues the business is a saleable asset; the other argues it is a job with a logo.
The answer is evidential, not rhetorical: management depth below the owner, whether client relationships are contracted or personal, whether licences are held personally, and what comparable owner-run businesses in that sector actually sell for. Each is addressed on the evidence and the reasoning is set out in full.
A conclusion that holds up in conferral, because the reasoning is visible
Illustrative only. Every engagement is scoped to the specific business, its records and the purpose of the valuation.
What we need
Inputs for this valuation
In litigation the information trail matters as much as the analysis. Requests are made in writing and anything not provided is disclosed.
Open the document checklist →- Letter of instruction Joint or single party, setting out the questions and valuation date
- Financial statements and tax returns Three to five years for each entity in the structure
- Corporate and trust documents Constitutions, trust deeds, shareholder and partnership agreements
- Asset register and property details Valued in-house where the structure holds significant assets
- Loan and related-party balances Including director loans and intercompany positions
- Any prior valuations or offers Disclosed and addressed rather than ignored
A single expert is appointed jointly by the parties or by the court and owes an overriding duty to the court, not to whoever pays. A shadow expert is engaged by one party to review and test the single expert’s report, and their work is usually privileged. We accept either appointment, but not both in the same matter.
Yes. We attend conferrals, prepare joint reports where directed and give evidence where required. Our lead valuer has extensive experience as an expert witness, which is why reports are written from the outset to withstand cross-examination.
Typically four to eight weeks, driven by the court timetable and by how quickly information requests are answered. Where a date is fixed we schedule backwards from it and tell you at the outset what has to arrive by when.
That is what conferral is for. Where a genuine factual error is identified — a missed add-back, a document not provided, an asset valued incorrectly — it is corrected. Where the disagreement is one of professional judgement, both positions are set out so the court can decide.
Yes. Trading companies, asset-holding trusts, service entities, property and self-managed superannuation fund holdings are commonly valued together, with intercompany balances and related-party arrangements normalised so nothing is double counted or missed.
Reviewed by a Certified Practising Valuer
Reviewed by Jarrad Khoury, Director and Head of Valuations — Registered Valuer (QLD, Not Limited), Licensed Valuer (WA, Not Limited), CPV and CBV. Published by Business Valuations Brisbane, the business valuation division of Asset Valuations Group.
Last reviewed
Expert evidence written to be tested.
A free 15-minute scoping call, then a fixed fee in writing. No obligation, and nothing you send leaves our office.
1300 778 033