When the marriage ends, the house still needs one number and one date.
An Allentown divorce can turn on a single address: who keeps it, who buys whom out, or whether it goes on the market. What helps is a value for that house as of a date both attorneys accept. Send us the address, why the value is needed and the date your case is using.
Request a divorce appraisal quote · Call (610) 798-1017
Before anyone inspects the house: what needs agreeing?
Pennsylvania is an equitable distribution state, absent from the community-property list in IRS Publication 555. Once either spouse raises the claim, 23 Pa.C.S. § 3502(a) directs the court to split the marital property equitably, in whatever percentages it finds just, leaving marital misconduct out of the reckoning. Its factors include how long the marriage lasted, each spouse's income and needs, and what each did to build up, preserve or dissipate the property.
The name on the deed does not decide what is marital. Anything acquired during the marriage is presumed marital however it is titled, while what a spouse owned before the wedding, and gifts or inheritances from third parties, are generally excluded (23 Pa.C.S. § 3501). If one spouse inherited the house or bought it before the marriage, your lawyer works out how much of its value is marital.
The appraisal stays in its lane: an opinion of the house's market value on the stated date. It does not divide anything, pick who keeps the house or deal with the mortgage. Before ordering, settle who hires the appraiser, whether both spouses will rely on the report and what it is for.
Three things a single price leaves out
The date
Your first call, the inspection and the effective date can sit months or years apart; if counsel picks an earlier date, the research shifts back to that time.
The kind of value
Automated estimates, asking prices and tax assessments are not appraisals. Lehigh County assessments are still tied to 2013 values, the base year of the last countywide reassessment (Lehigh County Assessment), so an assessment notice is a poor guide to what the house would bring now.
The comparables
A rowhouse on an Old Fairgrounds block and a detached single-family house appeal to different buyers. Sales get chosen for type, size, age, condition and location, and the gaps between them are worked through one by one rather than averaged out.
Why Allentown's September median won't settle it
RPR counted 88 sold properties inside Allentown's city limits in September 2026, with a median sold price of $337,500.
September 2026 · Area: Allentown, Pennsylvania · Single Family + Condo/Townhouse/Apt. · Source: RPR, Sold Listings
That one median folds single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses and apartments from across the city into a single figure. Suppose one spouse relies on it and the other cites a twin that sold two doors down: each is talking about other property. The full September figures are on our service area page, with the CSV of source values; they describe one month, not your case's date.
Separation date, hearing date or another date?
Nothing in Pennsylvania's divorce statute or its court rules sets one valuation date for the family home. The Rules of Civil Procedure ask for numbers at two stages:
- Inventory. Rule 1920.33(a) has each party file an inventory showing marital and non-marital assets, each with an estimated value as of the date of separation.
- Pre-trial statement. Rule 1920.33(b) wants each party's statement filed no later than 60 days ahead of the equitable distribution hearing, giving every marital asset a value and its date of valuation, with each listed expert's report attached; the court or hearing officer can alter that timing. Leaving an asset off can cost a party the chance to offer evidence about it.
The statute's single date rule deals only with how much non-marital property grew in value (§ 3501(a.1)). Which date your report carries is therefore a choice you make with your attorney before the appraiser starts, and two dates mean two analyses.
Valuing a past date is retrospective work: the appraiser rebuilds the market around that date and, as far as records allow, the condition of the house back then. Our estate appraisals rely on the same technique.
Lehigh County's divorce offices, and where your attorney decides
Divorce in Lehigh County is handled by the Family Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas, and family court cases are docketed by the Civil Division of the Clerk of Judicial Records. In contested divorce and annulment cases, including the distribution of marital property, the court can appoint its Master in Divorce, an attorney the court employs. This page only explains what the rules call for. Which date, which property and how the value is presented are your attorney's calls.
What to send for a divorce quote
| What to send | How it is used |
|---|---|
| Address, and whether the home is detached, attached, a condominium or a 2-4 unit building | Picks the area and the type of sales to study |
| The effective date your lawyer wants | Separates a current assignment from a retrospective one |
| Who is engaging the appraiser, and every other reader of the report | Fixes the client and intended users at the outset |
| Who is living in the house, and how the appraiser gets in | Decides when the inspection can happen |
| Any repairs, additions or damage after that date | Keeps the house of that date apart from the house now |
| Your pre-trial statement or hearing date | Tells us honestly whether delivery can fit |
Steps in an Allentown divorce appraisal
- Agree the scope. Tell us which Allentown address, why the value is needed, which date counsel chose, who will read the report and when you need it; the written scope, fee and delivery estimate is in your hands before work starts.
- Visit the house. Once entry is set, the appraiser measures, photographs and records condition, along with any records of later changes.
- Work the market. Sales relevant to the effective date are chosen and adjusted, and the reasoning is set down in the report.
- Go over the report. Look at the effective date, intended use and users, and the assumptions and limiting conditions; factual corrections go to the appraiser.
Divorce appraisal cost and delivery in Allentown
For your house and date, ask for a written scope, fee and delivery estimate; the type of home, access, a past effective date and the deadline all move it. If both spouses may use one appraiser, sort out the engagement and the intended users before the visit, and have delivery confirmed before you build a pre-trial statement or a Master in Divorce date around it.
For date-of-death values, see the probate and IRS step-up pages, or all Allentown appraisal services.
Begin with the address and the date counsel names
Use the contact form or call (610) 798-1017 with the house's address, what your divorce needs the value for, and the date your attorney settled on.
Request a divorce appraisal quote · Call (610) 798-1017
Drafted with AI help for The Appraising Group Allentown from 23 Pa.C.S. Chapter 35, Pa.R.C.P. 1920.33 and Lehigh County court pages; it explains Allentown divorce valuations and gives no legal advice.