Estate planning attorneys, tax counsel, and litigators require appraisals that withstand scrutiny. Whether the valuation supports a tax filing, informs settlement negotiations, or serves as evidence in federal court, the report must be defensible — methodologically sound, adequately documented, and prepared by a qualified appraiser who can articulate the basis for every conclusion.

Art appraisal for legal purposes differs from appraisals prepared for insurance or collection management. The audience is not the collector but the IRS examiner, the opposing counsel, the judge. The comparable data must be verifiable. The reasoning must hold under cross-examination. The methodology must conform to USPAP standards and meet the evidentiary requirements of the applicable jurisdiction.

We work with attorneys across the spectrum of art-related legal matters: estate and gift tax filings requiring qualified appraisals under Treasury regulations, charitable contribution valuations subject to IRS Art Advisory Panel review, equitable distribution in divorce proceedings, partnership dissolutions involving art assets, damage quantification in insurance disputes, and fraud allegations where market value is at issue. For estate and tax matters, we prepare qualified appraisals for IRS Forms 706, 709, and 8283, structured to meet the documentation requirements that determine whether a valuation survives examination. Our reports address the complexities that arise in significant collections — fractional interests, blockage considerations, attribution questions, works with limited market data, and holdings spread across multiple jurisdictions.

For litigation, we provide expert reports, deposition testimony, and trial testimony. Tobias Czudej's litigation experience includes expert reports in federal court in the Southern District of New York, damage and loss quantification, and written expert testimony. Susan McDonough has provided expert valuation reports and deposition testimony in federal court, including complex historical valuations spanning decades, and appraisal review reports evaluating opposing counsel's expert submissions.

For appraisal review assignments — where you need to assess the adequacy of an existing appraisal before relying on it or challenge an opposing expert's methodology — we conduct reviews in accordance with USPAP Standards Rule 3. Tobias Czudej and Susan McDonough co-authored the chapter on appraisal review in Appraising: The Definitive Guide, for which Susan served as Managing Editor.
We engage early. Understanding the legal issues at stake and the specific valuation questions the court or agency will need resolved allows us to scope the analysis appropriately and structure the report to serve the matter effectively. We coordinate with your team throughout the engagement, providing the documentation you need in the format you need it.

Our reports are prepared with the understanding that they may be subject to adversarial scrutiny. The methodology is defensible, the comparable data is verifiable, and the reasoning can withstand cross-examination.

To discuss an engagement, contact us directly.