def get_value_list(val_str, delimiter=','):
    """
    Splits an input string using delimiter and returns a list of the
    elements

    val_str:    A string of family specific values. This string is a
                concatenation of multiple values related to a single family
    delimiter:  The delimeter that will be used to split the values' string
    """

    val_str = val_str.strip()
    # split string
    values = val_str.split(delimiter)
    # filter values
    value_list = [x.strip() for x in values if x != '']

    return value_list