Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for California Matters

Working With Out-of-State Counsel

Joey Friedman, CPA, P.A. is a litigation-focused forensic accounting and business valuation firm engaged by counsel in California matters. The firm is based in Florida and works nationwide, handling records-based analysis remotely and traveling for deposition and trial testimony as a matter requires. Mr. Friedman has testified in state, federal and foreign courts, for plaintiffs and defendants, in civil, criminal and marital proceedings. The firm does not prepare income tax returns and does not provide tax planning services. The firm accepts engagements in other states as well — see states served for how the analysis differs elsewhere.

Dissolution of marriage in California is heard in the Superior Court of California for the county in which the matter is filed. Federal matters are heard in California’s four federal judicial districts — Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts California engagements in state and federal proceedings alike.

Retaining a forensic accountant from outside the state is common in financial disputes, and in some matters it is preferred:

• Conflict distance. An out-of-state expert is less likely to have prior or ongoing relationships with the parties, their businesses, their banks or their other advisors.
• Records-based work travels. Tracing, normalization and damages analysis are performed on documents and data. The location of the analyst does not change what the records show.
• Independence is visible. Where the parties move in the same local professional circles, distance from those circles is easier to explain to a finder of fact.

Why Community Property Changes the Analysis

In an equitable-distribution state the argument is often about what a fair split looks like. In California the split of the community estate is equal, so the argument moves to what belongs in that estate and what it is worth. Three consequences follow.

The date of separation is a factual question, and it is contested

California fixes community property at the date of separation, and that date is not simply the day someone moved out. The statutory test has two parts — an expressed intent to end the marriage, and conduct consistent with that intent. That makes it an evidentiary question built from records: when accounts were divided, when filings changed, when spending patterns diverged, when a household stopped functioning as one. A forensic accountant can often date that break from the financial record more precisely than either party remembers it.

The separation date and the valuation date are not the same date

The date of separation determines what is community property. A later valuation date determines what that property is worth. Conflating the two is one of the most common errors in these matters, and it can move a business valuation substantially — particularly where the business kept growing, or declining, in the months between.

Tracing and characterisation carry the case

Because income earned after separation is separate property, and because premarital and inherited assets can be commingled beyond easy recognition, the work is tracing: following contributions, reimbursements and commingled funds through the accounts to establish what is community and what is not.

Personal versus enterprise goodwill

Where a business depends on one individual, part of its value may not transfer to a new owner. The firm calculates and separates the transferable value from the non-transferable value and documents the basis for each. This is a financial calculation, not a legal determination — how that split is treated is a matter for the court under California law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Hidden Asset Tracing

Following money through business accounts, related entities and personal accounts to establish what exists and where it went — common in divorce and in partnership disputes where one side controlled the books.

Business Valuation Disputes

Valuation of closely held businesses for marital dissolution, shareholder and partnership disputes and buyouts, including the normalization questions that decide most of these cases: owner compensation, discretionary expenses, related-party transactions and customer concentration.

Economic Damages and Lost Profits

Quantifying what was lost, on a method that survives cross-examination, and identifying where an opposing calculation departs from the records it claims to rest on.

Fraud and Embezzlement Investigations

Reconstruction of what happened from the underlying records — misappropriation, fictitious vendors, payroll schemes and diversion — documented so it can be presented to a court, a board or an insurer.

Rebuttal and Opposing-Expert Review

Review of an opposing expert’s report to identify method departures, unsupported assumptions and figures the underlying records do not support.

Deposition and Trial Testimony

Expert testimony in state, federal and foreign courts, in depositions, mediations, arbitrations including AAA, and jury and non-jury trials, for plaintiffs and defendants alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does California really split everything down the middle?

It divides the community estate equally. That is why the contest usually is not about the percentage but about what belongs in the community estate in the first place, and what those assets are worth.

How is the date of separation decided?

By a two-part test: an expressed intent to end the marriage, together with conduct consistent with that intent. Physically moving out is evidence, not the answer. Financial records often show the break more clearly than recollection does — when accounts separated, when spending diverged, when the household stopped operating as one.

Is the date of separation the same as the valuation date?

No, and the distinction matters. The separation date fixes what is community property; a later valuation date fixes what it is worth. Where a business grew or shrank in between, treating them as one date produces the wrong number.

What happens to income earned after separation?

Income earned after the date of separation is generally separate property, which is a large part of why the date itself is litigated and why tracing the accounts matters.

Which court hears a divorce in California?

The Superior Court of California for the county in which the matter is filed.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a California case?

Yes, and it is common. The analysis is performed on documents and data, which does not depend on the analyst’s location, and the firm travels for deposition and trial testimony as a matter requires.

What records are needed to start?

Business tax returns and financial statements for several years, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements, payroll records, and any loan applications or personal financial statements. Incomplete records do not prevent the work; they change its sequence.

What credentials should a financial expert in a California matter hold?

For matters that may reach a hearing, the relevant considerations are accounting credentials, experience with the specific analysis at issue, and a record of testifying. Mr. Friedman is a CPA accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the AICPA and a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Discuss a California Matter

Joey Friedman is a CPA accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) by the AICPA, a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, with more than 25 years in accounting and forensic practice and an expert witness practice serving attorneys and litigants nationwide since 2014. To discuss whether the firm is the right fit for a matter — including scope, timing and whether an out-of-state expert suits the case — call 954-282-9615 or use the contact form.