Last month we had In re Marriage of Hagar, 2010 WL 4807559 (Iowa App.)(Nov. 24, 2010), a recent case in which the court rejected an appraisers’ preliminary “calculations of value” because they lack the more comprehensive judgment and financial review that go into complete conclusions of value. This month we have In re Marriage of Cantarella, 2011 WL 86284 (Ca. App. 4 Dist.)(Jan 11. 2011) (unpublished), a case in which the parties didn’t retain the benefit of attorneys, let alone a business appraiser. In a “do it yourself” divorce, the parties agreed to split the value of the marital business, which they said was worth $60,000. Click here for a free download of the case abstract.

Avoid making these mistakes by attending the AICPA Family Law Conference May 18-20 in Las Vegas. Valuation practitioners such as Stacy Collins (Financial Research Associates), Tom Hilton (Anders Minkler & Diehl), Ron Seigneur (Seigneur Gustafson), Thomas Burrage (Burrage & Johnson), Stacey Udell (Gold Gocial Gerstein), Michelle Gallagher (Gallagher & Associates), Sharyn Maggio (Maggio & Company) and a host of family law attorneys will share their expertise in the growing fields of family law, valuation and litigation support.