Page 32 - December 2019 Bar Journal

FEATUREESTATE PLANNING

CHOOSING A PERSONAL

PROPERTY APPRAISER

A HOW-TO GUIDE

BY JAMES CORCORAN, JD AAA ASA CFE

ersonal property appraising is an and the International Society of Appraisers The IRS has rules governing personal
unregulated profession. If you (ISA) are a pre-selected group of qualified property appraisal that include a definition
hung out a shingle, you could and credentialed appraisers. of an “IRS Qualified Appraiser.” These
legally represent yourself as an Certified or Accredited members of these rules preclude any appraiser who has
P appraiser tomorrow. organizations met rigorous educational and any of the foregoing conflicts. Ever
Accredited or Certified members of the testing requirements; they are subject to wonder why most of these conflicted
major national appraisal organizations, the continuing education requirements. They appraisers are not Certified or Accredited?
Appraisers Associates of America (AAA), must submit appraisal documents for peer The IRS rules specifically identify
the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), review prior to certification or accreditation. Certified and Accredited members of
The national organizations each have national organizations as “IRS Qualified
comprehensive ethical codes that are Appraisers.” You may incur liability if you
James Corcoran JD AAA ASA CFE designed to assure competence and select an appraiser who has a conflict of
CORCORAN APPRAISAL GROUP independence. Independence is essential: interest or is deemed to be incompetent.
Fine Art & High Value Personal Property conflict of interest is a lurking problem in An important caveat — some of the

42 years experience selecting an appraiser. national organizations sell low-priced

Independent, skilled Any appraiser who has or anticipates memberships for which the appraiser
and IRS qualified having an interest in the property to be does not have to meet the certification or
appraisers appraised (and any appraiser who sold the accreditation requirements. This deception

Deaccession property to be appraised to the present or is not uncommon. You would do well to
consultations a prior owner) has an inherent conflict of confirm that the appraiser you select is

(216) 496-3665 interest. This includes galleries, dealers, currently a Certified or Accredited member
corcoranfinearts@gmail.com and auction houses, each of which has a in good standing. Mere membership is
CorcoranFineArts.com bias and self-interest that precludes a truly essentially a worthless credential and is
Certified and Accredited Appraisals independent appraisal. priced accordingly.
Follow these guidelines and you can be
assured that you have used due diligence in
CONNECT WITH US the selection of an appraiser.

James Corcoran JD, LLM is admitted
to practice in New York, Ohio,
Massachusetts, and California. He
is President and Senior Appraiser
at Corcoran Appraisal Group
International. James is a longstanding Certified
Appraiser with 39 years of personal property
appraisal experience at Corcoran Appraisal Group
#MyCMBA #MeetMeAtTheBar International. He has been a CMBA member
since 2000. He can be reached at (216) 767-0770
or corcoranfinearts@gmail.com.

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