What Would You Pay For That?

When something keeps appearing in my life, I'm sure it's meant for a blog post.  The thing that has come up time and again over the last week is value.  Value is an integral part of life here in the Trenches.  Our clients have property to value.  Those of us who toil here assign a value to the services we provide.  Really, what is value?  Merriam Webster defines value a few ways:   the monetary worth of something; relative worth, utility, or importance; something (as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable.  Value is all around us in the Trenches.  It's an intrinsic part of our world.

Maryland is an equitable division state.  That means the court is supposed to deal fairly and equitably with the marital property.  One of the facts the court looks at to determine what is equitable is the relative value of the property owned by the marriage.  How do people decide how to value their property?  Wait, did I say value their own property?  Is that even OK?  Sure it is.  Who better than the owner of a property to talk about its value.  Anyway, how would someone value their property?  It depends on that the property is.  Let's talk about a few.  

If the property is a house, value can be determined by comparing the house to other houses that have sold recently in the area.  The value of the house can also be what an appraiser says it is.  An owner could use the assessed value for property taxes as its value.  Maybe a realtor can give them an idea of the price for which they would list the house.  Of course, an owner could simply take a guess too.

What about cars?  There's the Kelly Blue Book.  Then there's Auto Trader.  I suppose there's also Craig's List.  When you look at the Kelly Blue Book, do you use trade in value, dealer price or private party sale?  It depends on whether you want your car to be worth a lot or worth a little.  

Retirement accounts?  Well, most of those have statements.  The same with bank accounts.  

Oh, and your stuff?  Unless it's Baccarat or a Picasso, it's pretty much worthless.  That's right, worthless.  An owner can testify to the value of their stuff, but a judge is probably not listening.  The value of the stuff is yard sale value.  That's right, yard sale value.  Take all of your stuff and put it in the yard with a for sale sign on it.  That's the value.  Sentimental value means nothing.  It's all just stuff with a price tag.

One last thing - debt.  I know you have a mortgage on your house and a loan on your car.  I know they're substantial.  They may even exceed the value of the house or the car.  In your world, that's a negative value.  In the Trenches, the value can never be less than zero.  That's right, zero is the lowest number in the Trenches.  That's my world, and yours if you visit me here in the Trenches.