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Appraisal (prisée)

The prisée, a term of French law, is the valuation of movables, lot by lot: its texts, the deeds that provide for a valuation, and what Marto prepares.

The texts that name it

The texts are linked on Légifrance, in French. Judicial officers (commissaires de justice) alone are qualified, under the laws and regulations in force, to carry out the inventories, appraisals and public auctions of tangible or intangible movables prescribed by law or by a court decision (Ordinance No. 2016-728, art. 1). The same section I ends by applying without prejudice to the competence of other public or ministerial officers and of other legally authorised persons. Under this article, Légifrance cites the Conseil d'État decision of 28 December 2017 (Nos. 401947, 402067 and 402093). It annuls the 2° of section I quoted above insofar as it brings appraisals and inventories that do not relate to a judicial sale of movables within the judicial officers' monopoly.

The same article adds that judicial officers may organise and carry out the sales, inventories and appraisals that belong to the activity of a voluntary auction operator under article L. 321-4 of the Commercial Code, with the qualifications that article requires.

The Commercial Code sets the limitation period of liability actions: civil-liability actions brought in connection with appraisals and with voluntary and judicial auctions of movables are time-barred five years after the hammer sale or the appraisal (Commercial Code, art. L. 321-17).

The deeds that provide for a valuation

  • The estate inventory: it values the assets and liabilities item by item (Civil Code, art. 789) and contains the description and valuation of the property (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 1330).
  • The guardianship inventory: it contains a valuation of the real property and of the movables with a realisable value above 1,500 euros (Code of Civil Procedure, art. 1253).
  • The duties due on death: the value of movable property is set unless proven otherwise and, in particular, failing deeds of sale, by the valuation in the inventories drawn up in the form of article 789 of the Civil Code within five years of the death, for household furniture (General Tax Code, art. 764).

With Marto

Each inventory picks its valuation mode: one amount per lot, or a low and high range. Changing the mode converts the lots already entered without losing anything. A label such as "pour mémoire" (for the record) can replace the amount, and a lot can stay without an estimate.

The amount is dictated to the assistant or typed in, and corrected lot by lot. The assistant stays off until you accept it.

The official record totals the valuations by section, then for the inventory. It comes out as a PDF: a ruled frame, black on white apart from the photos, and no added mark, with the numbered lots, their main photo, their valuation and the judicial officer's signature block. The list of lots also comes out as Excel.

See also estate inventory and guardianship inventory.