Information on this website is general in nature and does not constitute legal, taxation or financial advice. The appropriate valuation scope depends on the circumstances of the matter and any applicable instructions or court orders. A report intended for use as expert evidence requires a separate engagement and must satisfy the applicable procedural and evidentiary requirements.
General information only
This website describes how privately owned businesses are commonly valued when a marriage or de facto relationship ends, and the two services that Family Law Valuations ("we", "us", "our") offers. The pages, articles and answers to common questions are general information. They do not take account of your circumstances, the records of your business, the stage of your matter or the instructions or orders that may apply to it, and they are not a valuation of any business.
No legal, taxation or financial advice
We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice. Where this website refers to the Family Law Act 1975, the Family Law Rules, single expert appointments, court procedure or what a court may take into account, it does so only to explain the context in which a valuation may be used. That is not advice about your matter. Your solicitor is the right person to advise you on your legal position, on whether an expert report is required and on the instructions that should be given.
We do not provide taxation advice or financial product advice. Where a valuation considers a taxation matter, it does so only for the purpose of the valuation.
No guarantee of admissibility or acceptance
We do not claim to be approved, accredited or recognised by any court. We do not guarantee that any report will be admitted into evidence, accepted by a court or given any particular weight. Whether expert evidence is admitted, and the weight it is given, are matters for the Court. A Court Expert Valuation is prepared having regard to the requirements of the Family Law Rules and any orders in the proceedings, but the appointed expert addresses those requirements in the specific engagement, and nothing on this website is a promise that a particular report will satisfy them.
The Settlement Valuation is not court evidence
The Settlement Valuation is prepared for negotiation and mediation purposes. It is not prepared for filing or reliance as expert evidence in court. It is addressed to the person who engages us, for the purpose stated in the report. If a matter later requires an expert report for court, a separate engagement is required, the appointed expert must independently review the material, and a separate quotation is provided before any work proceeds.
The expert engagement is separate
A Court Expert Valuation is a separate engagement. It is subject to an initial conflict and suitability assessment, review of the proposed instructions and acceptance by the appointed expert. An expert report is signed only by an valuer, appropriately qualified and experienced for the engagement, who accepts the instructions and who will be a Chartered Accountant. The appointed expert's overriding duty is to the Court and the expert does not act as an advocate for either party. Nothing on this website is an offer to act as an expert in any particular matter.
Fees
Fees shown on this website are exclusive of GST. The Settlement Valuation fee is a fixed fee for the scope described in the engagement letter. The Court Expert Valuation fee is a starting point and is expressed as "from" a stated amount; the final fee is confirmed in writing after scope review and depends on the business, the entity structure, the quality of the records and the issues in dispute. Court attendance, cross-examination, conferences of experts, supplementary reports, forensic accounting and material additional document review are charged separately. No fee stated on this website applies to a matter until it is confirmed in writing.
A specialist division of Oliver Group
Family Law Valuations is a specialist division of Oliver Group, an Australian business valuation practice. That relationship describes where this division sits and the practice whose offices are available for meetings. It does not mean that any particular person will act on your matter, that Oliver Group will be a party to your engagement unless the engagement letter says so, or that anything on the Oliver Group website forms part of this one. The entity that will engage with you is identified in the engagement letter. Wellness Pty Ltd, trading as Oliver Group and Family Law Valuations
Links to other websites
This website links to legislation, court publications and other external sources so that you can check what we say against the original. We do not control those websites, we are not responsible for their content or availability, and a link is not an endorsement. External material may change after we link to it.
Currency of information
Legislation, court rules, practice directions and professional standards change. Content on this website is current only as at the date shown on the page, and we are not obliged to update it. Anything that matters to a decision you are making should be checked against the current source or confirmed with your own adviser.
No client relationship from reading this website
Reading this website, sending an enquiry, uploading a document or speaking with us does not make you a client and does not create a valuation engagement or an expert engagement. An engagement begins only when we confirm it in writing under our terms of engagement. Until then, we owe you no duty in relation to any valuation, and you should not act on anything on this website as if it were advice about your matter.
Questions
Questions about this disclaimer can be sent to Wellness Pty Ltd, Level 7, 55 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, or through the contact page. Our privacy policy explains how we handle the information you send us.