Divorce Appraisals in Torrance

Usually a date close to trial, and your attorney should state it in writing and send it with your request. We do not pick between dates. If the date has already passed, the work is retrospective, like the work on our estate appraisal page.

The detail: Family Code section 2552(a) has the court value community assets and liabilities “as near as practicable to the time of trial.” Subdivision (b) lets a party ask for a different date after separation and before trial, with 30 days’ notice and good cause. Rule 5.390 lets a judge try the valuation date separately. Form FL-142, the Schedule of Assets and Debts, wants real estate at its gross fair market value on the day it is signed unless it states another date, so a report written this month can be stale by trial.

One spouse, both together, or counsel can order an appraisal. Settle who signs the engagement before the work begins, and list every intended user, for example each attorney and any mediator. If the two of you are thinking of sharing one appraiser, decide who may rely on the report before a date is set.

Often, if it was bought during the marriage, but not always, and that is for you, your attorney and the judge to decide. Family Code section 760 makes what a spouse acquires during the marriage in California community property unless a statute says otherwise, and section 2550 has the judge divide the community estate equally unless the spouses agreed otherwise. Gifts, inheritances and property owned before the wedding generally stay separate. The courts explain this on their property and debts page.

If premarital savings paid the down payment and marital earnings paid the mortgage, that page explains, the equity can be partly community and partly separate, which it calls commingling. The appraiser supplies one input: a reasoned opinion of value on a stated date.

In Los Angeles County Superior Court, most likely at the Torrance Courthouse, 825 Maple Avenue, though your attorney should confirm. Local Rule 2.3 lets a Family Code case be filed in the Central District or in a district where a party lives. Local Rule 2.2 lists the Torrance Courthouse at 825 Maple Avenue among the places the Southwest District holds sessions (Chapter 2 of the local rules), and the court’s Family Law Departments Directory, effective October 1, 2026, shows three general family law departments at 825 Maple.

• Deed and lender statement. FL-142’s real estate line calls for the street address, copies of deeds with legal descriptions and the latest lender statement. The same papers tell us which parcel to appraise.
• The effective date, in writing from your attorney, plus a note if a section 2552(b) request is pending or planned.
• Engagement details: who hires us and who will read the report.
• History of changes: additions, remodels, a garage conversion, and permit dates where you have them. A Torrance lot can include a converted garage or a detached structure, and those facts drive the choice of comparable sales.
• Entry arrangements, particularly if one spouse no longer lives in the house.

The appraiser walks the house, measures and photographs it, and asks what changed around the effective date. Either spouse may be present to point out upgrades. If you cannot be, make sure the appraiser can reach every area and has the paperwork. The steps after the visit are below.

Because a median is built from other people’s houses, not yours. For September 2026, RPR reports a median sold price of $1,050,000 for the Torrance city boundary, from 39 sales, and a median of $703 per square foot. That filter blends single-family homes with condominiums, townhouses and apartments, and it says nothing about one house on the date your case uses. The whole table is on our service area page; the raw numbers are in this CSV file.

Source: Realtors Property Resource (RPR), Sold Listings; September 2026; Single Family + Condo/Townhouse/Apt.; area: Torrance, California; accessed October 7, 2026.

Start by taking specific concerns to the appraiser, since a misunderstanding or an overlooked fact is sometimes the whole issue. We can also do a formal review of another appraisal to USPAP Standards 3 and 4, or simply explain another appraisal report in plain language. If the disagreement stays, a second appraisal from a different appraiser, a mediator or counsel may be the next step.

We can testify as an expert witness, so raise that before you sign the engagement. No appraiser can promise a judge, mediator or the other spouse will accept a report, but every one of ours follows USPAP and states its effective date, intended use and intended users. You can check any California appraiser we assign at the state licence lookup or the national registry.