Field notes — every blog post from Miner Appraisals

Divorce & family law

For family-law attorneys, mediators, and parties to a Utah divorce — effective-date strategy, equitable distribution mechanics, and how the appraisal lands in the record.

• Utah divorce appraisal — the four decisions to make before hiring anyone (June 2026)
  The pre-engagement guide every Utah divorce skips — effective date, scope, single appraiser vs. two competing appraisers, and who pays. Utah Code 30-3-5, USPAP joint engagement mechanics, and the cost/turnaround math for Wasatch Front cases.
• Date of separation vs. date of trial — choosing the Utah divorce appraisal effective date (May 2026)
  An appraiser's view of the most consequential decision in a divorce valuation — three candidate dates, active vs. passive appreciation, and how to instruct the appraisal so it survives trial.

Estate, probate & retrospective

For estate-planning attorneys, executors, trustees, and CPAs — date-of-death valuations, retrospective methodology, and the legal anchors that hold the report together.

• What attorneys should know about retrospective appraisals (April 2026)
  Why date-of-death valuations are different from current-market work — and exactly how to brief the appraiser to avoid revisions, supplemental reports, and last-minute deposition pressure.

Property tax appeal

For Utah homeowners and property-tax consultants — Board of Equalization process, evidence the BOE actually wants, and the September 15 filing reality.

• Reading your Utah property valuation notice: a county-by-county guide (May 2026)
  What the late-July Notice of Property Valuation and Tax Changes means line by line, across all eight counties, and the three red flags that mean you should appeal before September 15.
• The Utah property tax appeal deadline: a September 15 checklist (May 2026)
  A time-boxed checklist counted backward from September 15 — when to commission the appraisal, the three evidence options ranked, and county filing mechanics.
• How much will a Utah BOE appeal actually save you? (May 2026)
  The per-$1,000 rule of thumb, two worked Wasatch Front examples, the multi-year ROI on the appraisal fee, and the honest line below which you shouldn't bother.
• Is a Utah property tax appeal worth it? How to tell before you pay (May 2026)
  A 10-minute self-screen with three comps, plus an honest list of when the assessor is right and you should leave it alone.
• What a Salt Lake County BOE appeal hearing actually looks like (May 2026)
  The Salt Lake County appeal start to finish — the filing window, the evidence ranked, what the hearing room actually feels like, and what happens if you lose.
• Filing a Utah property tax appeal: the appraiser's view (March 2026)
  A walkthrough of the Board of Equalization process and what makes a winning case — comparable evidence, the January 1 lien date, and the realistic odds for each county.

Estate planning & lifetime gifts

For estate-planning attorneys, CPAs, and donors — calendar-driven content on the timing and qualified-appraisal standards behind Form 709 gifts, charitable donations, and trust funding.

• Real estate vs. personal property in a Utah estate — who appraises what (July 2026)
  The USPAP split between real property (Standards 1-2) and personal property (Standards 7-8), the IRS "qualified appraiser" rule under Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-17, and the practical checklist for a mixed Utah estate — house, furnishings, vehicles, collections, ag equipment — with the ASA/ISA/AAA referral map for the personal-property side.
• Utah probate inventory appraisals — what judges actually want to see (June 2026)
  Utah Code 75-3-706 read out loud — the 3-month-from-appointment deadline, self-appraise vs. qualified-appraiser decision math, the litigated-estate belt-and-suspenders standard, and the sample Schedule A format Utah district courts process without friction.
• IRC § 1014 step-up basis — why Utah heirs need an appraisal even without estate tax (June 2026)
  A worked Sugar House bungalow example showing the five-figure tax difference between a documented and undocumented basis step-up, plus retrospective appraisal mechanics for deaths years in the past and the Utah Transfer on Death Deed wrinkle that often skips the appraisal entirely.
• Form 706 real estate appraisals — a Utah CPA's quick reference (June 2026)
  The CPA-facing quick reference — qualified-appraiser credentials under Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-17, the report-content checklist, IRM 4.25.5 guidelines, IRC § 6662 accuracy-related penalties (20%/40%), and the adequate-disclosure defense.
• Utah date-of-death appraisals — what executors actually need to know (June 2026)
  The procedural guide for first-time personal representatives — the 3-month Utah Code 75-3-706 inventory deadline, alternate valuation date math, what makes a USPAP-compliant retrospective report, and how to vet a qualified appraiser before the calendar runs out.
• GRATs, IDGTs, and family LPs — real estate funding appraisals for Utah estate planners (June 2026)
  The attorney-and-advisor deep dive — GRAT seed valuations under IRC § 2702, IDGT installment-sale coordination, family LP fractional-interest discounts (typical 25-40% combined), and the 2026 federal-exemption sunset driving HNW planning urgency.
• Form 709 gift tax appraisals — what Utah year-end gifts actually need (June 2026)
  The $19,000 annual exclusion, the adequate-disclosure rule under Treas. Reg. § 301.6501(c)-1(f) that controls the 3-year statute of limitations, fractional-interest discounts, and the December 28 checklist most year-end gift plans skip.
• Form 8283 real estate appraisals — what Utah donors actually need (June 2026)
  The qualified-appraisal rules under IRC § 170(f)(11) — the $5,000 threshold, the 60-day signature window, Section B mechanics, and the Form 8282 recapture trap if the donee sells inside three years.
• When to commission a year-end real estate appraisal in Utah (June 2026)
  The Q4 calendar — when to commission, the gift-date trap, county recorder closures, and the 6-week countdown to Dec 31 that keeps a year-end gift from slipping into January.

Litigation & bankruptcy

For attorneys and debtors — how a real estate valuation functions as evidence in contested proceedings.

• Diminution-in-value appraisals for Utah construction-defect claims (July 2026)
  Repair cost is not the value loss — the market's discount on a house that had the defect, even after repair. The three methodologies (paired-sales, cost-to-cure, stigma), plaintiff-and-defense scope, and Utah Rule 702 admissibility for construction-defect litigation.
• Expert-witness appraiser in Utah district court — what attorneys should know before retaining (June 2026)
  The engagement-letter checklist Utah litigators should send before retaining a residential appraiser — Utah Rule of Evidence 702 admissibility, URCP 26 expert-disclosure timing, deposition-ready USPAP reports, the four cross-examination attack vectors, and the retainer-plus-hourly-plus-day-rate fee structure that should be in writing before the conflict check.
• Chapter 13 cramdown & lien-strip appraisals in Utah (June 2026)
  How a USPAP appraisal decides a cramdown or lien strip under 11 U.S.C. § 506(a) — the wholly-unsecured threshold, what the District of Utah expects, and why a single dollar of value can flip the outcome.

House measurement

For homeowners, sellers, and agents — what ANSI Z765 means for your square footage and how to correct a wrong figure.

• ANSI Z765 explained: why your home's square footage might be wrong on the MLS (May 2026)
  What the standard says, why Fannie made it mandatory in 2022, why your finished basement isn't counted, and how to fix a wrong number on the MLS or assessor record.

PMI removal

For Utah homeowners sitting on 2020–2023 appreciation — how the Homeowners Protection Act, the current-value cancellation path, and a borrower-ordered appraisal end the monthly PMI charge years before the loan schedule would.

• PMI removal in Utah — when appreciation lets you cancel early (July 2026)
  The Homeowners Protection Act's three termination paths, the borrower-initiated current-value shortcut (75% LTV before year 5, 80% after), the FHFA appreciation math showing why most 2020–2022 Wasatch Front purchases already qualify, and the six-week servicer request → appraisal → cancellation sequence.

Process & turnaround

For anyone working against a deadline — how long the appraisal actually takes, where the days go, and how to plan the calendar around it.

• Utah appraisal turnaround times — the honest county-by-county numbers (July 2026)
  The five stages of turnaround, the one-to-two-week baseline for a standard Wasatch Front residential, why a direct (non-AMC) engagement beats the lender route by several days, how comp density diverges from Salt Lake to Summit to Tooele, the purpose-by-purpose differences, and the 3-5 day rush option with its one honest limit.

Buyers & sellers

For homeowners and FSBO sellers — when an independent valuation pays for itself, when it doesn't, and how to read the report.

• Pre-purchase appraisals in a slow Utah market — the buyer-protection tool that matters now (June 2026)
  For buyers in the 2026 market: why the lender's appraisal protects the lender (not the buyer), the slow-market signals where the math flips, and how to use the appraisal contingency in the Utah REPC without losing the deal.
• FSBO pricing in Utah — how a pre-listing appraisal pays for itself (June 2026)
  For unrepresented sellers: why pricing from Zillow in a non-disclosure state quietly costs $15–30k on a Wasatch Front closing, the negotiation anchoring math, and the cases where the $500 appraisal earns its fee back at the first counteroffer.
• Pre-listing appraisal vs. agent CMA — when each is worth it (June 2026)
  A CMA is free; a pre-listing appraisal is $500. Five real differences, the Utah non-disclosure wrinkle that makes CMAs thinner here, and the honest math on which one each house actually needs.
• When a pre-purchase appraisal pays for itself (February 2026)
  Six Wasatch Front situations where independent valuation flips the negotiation — and one where it doesn't.

What is coming

The next several months of writing follow the seasonal calendar. The Utah property tax appeal cluster lands first — reading your county valuation notice, the September 15 deadline checklist, what a BOE hearing actually looks like, and the math on whether an appeal is worth the appraisal cost. After that: year-end estate planning (Form 706, Form 8283, lifetime gift Form 709), evergreen attorney content on probate and date-of-death basis, and the high-SERP-opportunity niches that nobody in Utah currently owns — ANSI Z765 explained, Chapter 13 cramdown appraisals, construction-defect diminution-in-value claims.

If there is a topic the practice should cover that the calendar misses, email [email protected]. Reader requests skip the queue.

How the writing relates to the practice

Each post is paired with a service hub page that covers fees, turnaround, and engagement structure for the work itself. Posts answer the why and how; service pages answer the what does it cost and what do you actually need from me. Cross-links between the two are deliberate. If a post sends you to the matching service hub, that is the right next click — see the full service catalog for the index.