§ 4.301 - Appraisal report.

(a) Order for appraisal; date for determining fair market value. In all probates, at the earliest possible stage of the proceeding before issuance of a probate decision, when the record reveals to the Superintendent: (1) That the decedent owned interests in land located on one or more of those reservations designated in § 4.300 and (2) that any one or more of the probable heirs or devisees, who may become a distributee of such interests upon completion of the probate proceeding, is not enrolled in or does not have the required blood quantum in the tribe of the reservation where the land is located to hold such interests against a claim thereto made by the tribe, the Superintendent shall order an appraisal of the decedent's interests. If there is a surviving spouse whose interests may be subject to the tribal option, the appraisal shall include the value of a life estate based on the life of the surviving spouse in one half of such interests. The appraisal shall be made on the basis of the fair market value of the property, including fixed improvements, as of the date of decedent's death.

(b) Who may conduct the appraisal; submission of the appraisal report to the administrative law judge. Qualified appraisers shall appraise the property and submit an appraisal with a summary thereof to the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall file the appraisal report with the administrative law judge and retain a copy in the Superintendent's office. Interested parties may examine and copy, at their expense, the appraisal report at the office of the Superintendent or administrative law judge.