Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Connecticut 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 Connecticut 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 Connecticut is heard in the Family Division of the Superior Court — the Superior Court being the state’s single trial-level court of general jurisdiction — filed in the judicial district where either party resides. Appeals run to the Connecticut Appellate Court and from there to the Connecticut Supreme Court. Federal matters are heard in Connecticut’s single federal judicial district. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Connecticut 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. In a state with a concentrated high-net-worth bar, that distance is worth more than it sounds.
• 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 Connecticut Changes the Analysis

Connecticut divides property under an equitable-distribution framework, but with a feature that sets it apart from most states: it is an “all-property” state. Courts may consider every asset either spouse owns, and Connecticut does not draw the marital-versus-separate line that governs elsewhere. That changes a forensic engagement in three concrete ways.

Characterisation stops being the main event

In most states the first and often fiercest question is whether an asset is marital or separate. In Connecticut that question carries far less weight, because inherited property, gifts and premarital assets are all within reach. Effort that would go into tracing an asset’s origin in another state is better spent in Connecticut on valuing it correctly and on documenting the acquisition story.

Timing and source become evidentiary, not definitional

When and how an asset was acquired still matters in Connecticut — not to decide whether it can be divided, but to influence how it is divided. An asset acquired late is more likely to stay with the spouse who acquired it; one acquired early in a long marriage is more likely to be divided more evenly. That makes a clear, records-based acquisition history genuinely persuasive rather than merely procedural.

Valuation carries more of the argument

Where nearly everything is on the table, the number attached to each asset does more work. For a closely held business that means the normalization questions decide more than usual: owner compensation, discretionary expenses run through the company, related-party transactions and customer concentration.

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 Connecticut 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.

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

Can a Connecticut court really divide property I owned before the marriage?

Yes. Connecticut is an “all-property” state, so premarital assets, inheritances and gifts are all within the court’s reach unless a prenuptial agreement or another protective step applies. This is one of the clearest differences between Connecticut and most other states.

Then does tracing an asset’s origin still matter?

It matters, but for a different purpose. Origin and timing no longer decide whether an asset can be divided; they inform how it is divided. A documented acquisition history is therefore an argument about fairness rather than a threshold question.

Which court hears a divorce in Connecticut?

The Family Division of the Superior Court, filed in the judicial district where either party resides. The Superior Court is Connecticut’s single trial-level court of general jurisdiction.

Does Connecticut split everything fifty-fifty?

No. Connecticut applies equitable distribution, which means fair in the circumstances rather than automatically equal, with the court weighing a range of statutory factors.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a Connecticut 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.

Do you review another expert’s report?

Yes. Rebuttal work is a substantial part of the practice — identifying method departures, assumptions the record does not support, and figures that cannot be traced to a source.

What credentials should a financial expert in a Connecticut 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 Connecticut 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.