What date should the appraisal be as of?
The effective date is not the date the report is written, and choosing it wrongly is the quiet way a perfectly good appraisal becomes unusable. Pick your matter and see which date governs — and, where the law does not fix one, who does.
1 What is the appraisal for?
2 Key date
Pick a matter type
Different matters are governed by very different rules.
Why the effective date is the first question we ask
An appraisal is an opinion of value as of a stated moment. Change the moment and you change the answer, sometimes by a great deal. USPAP requires the appraiser to identify the effective date as part of defining the problem, and to state both the effective date and the date of the report — two separate dates that are frequently not the same.
When the effective date precedes the report date, the assignment is retrospective, and that is a different research problem, not merely an older one. The appraiser has to reconstruct the market as it stood, using evidence a buyer or seller would reasonably have had at that time. Data from after the effective date is not forbidden, but it can properly be used only to confirm trends that a participant at the time would reasonably have considered — not to import hindsight.
USPAP is copyrighted and not published free in full text, and its rule numbering was renumbered between recent editions. We cite the substance of the requirements — identify the effective date, state both dates, comply with the scope of work and competency rules — rather than quoting rule numbers we cannot verify against a licensed current copy. If you need the exact citation for a filing, ask and we will pull it from ours.
Advisory Opinions are guidance, not enforceable Standards Rules. The enforceable requirements are the Standards Rules and the Scope of Work and Competency Rules.
Retrospective work we do routinely
Date of death, years later
Estates are frequently opened and valued long after the fact. Reconstructing a market from three years ago is normal work; the discipline is in using only what was knowable then.
Stipulated divorce dates
Counsel agrees a date, or the court sets one. We value to that date and state it as an assignment condition, so the report cannot be attacked for using the wrong one.
Date of loss
Insurance claims run on the condition and value immediately before the loss — which often means valuing property that no longer exists, from documentation.
Prior tax years
Amended returns, late-filed estates, and property tax appeals all reach backwards to a statutory date.
This tool organizes published rules so you can see where you stand before you call anyone. It is not tax, legal, or engineering advice, and it is not a determination. Confirm the outcome with your CPA, your attorney, or the official who actually makes the decision. Valuation dates in litigation are set by the court or by agreement of counsel. Get yours in writing before anyone starts work.
Sources
Where these rules come from
Every threshold and requirement on this page traces to one of the following. Read them yourself — we would rather you did.
- IRC §2031 and §2032 — date of death, and the six-month alternate valuation election
- Treas. Reg. §20.2032-1 — all-or-nothing, the one-year deadline, and the protective election
- IRC §2512 and Treas. Reg. §25.2511-2 — date of the gift, and when a transfer is complete
- Treas. Reg. §1.170A-17(a)(4)–(5) — the charitable signature window and valuation effective date
- A.R.S. §25-318 and §25-211 — equitable division; and note that §25-211 is a characterization rule, not a valuation date
- Meister v. Meister, 1 CA-CV 19-0618 FC (Ariz. App. 2021) — wide discretion to choose a valuation date; no Arizona authority requires date of service
- 11 U.S.C. §522(a)(2), §506(a)(2), §1325(a)(4) — petition date for schedules; plan effective date for the Chapter 13 liquidation test
- A.R.S. §42-11001 and the ADOR appeals guide — Arizona valuation date and the appeal timeline
- Walker v. Auto-Owners Ins. Co., CV-21-0236-CQ (Ariz. 2022) — actual cash value includes depreciation, but labor may not be depreciated
Want this handled properly?
We confirm the effective date in writing before work begins and state it in the report, so the date can never become the thing your opposing party attacks. Quoting is free, the fee is fixed in writing before any work begins, and a credentialed appraiser signs the report.