Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Illinois is heard in the Circuit Court for the county or judicial circuit in which the matter is filed. Federal matters are heard in Illinois’s three federal judicial districts — Northern, 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 Illinois 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 Illinois Puts the Weight on Dissipation

Illinois is an equitable-distribution state: the marital estate is divided in just proportions, which may or may not be equal. What sets Illinois apart is what a court may and may not consider in reaching that division.

Fault is excluded by statute

Illinois requires the marital estate to be divided without regard to marital misconduct. An affair, cruelty or desertion does not earn a larger share. That closes off the moral argument entirely and forces the case onto economic ground — contribution, the economic circumstances of each spouse, and the tax consequences of the division.

But dissipation survives, because it is economic

Spending marital funds for a purpose unrelated to the marriage, once the marriage has begun to break down, is dissipation — and it is a proper consideration. The distinction is the whole game: conduct as immorality is irrelevant, conduct as a drain on the marital estate is highly relevant. Establishing it requires identifying the outflows, dating the breakdown, and showing what the money was used for from the records rather than from allegation. A dissipation claim that cannot be traced does not survive.

The marital presumption runs to the judgment

Property acquired by either spouse after the marriage and before the judgment is presumed marital. A spouse asserting an asset is non-marital generally carries the burden, which again is a tracing problem rather than an argument.

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 Illinois law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Dissipation Analysis

Identifying marital funds spent for non-marital purposes after the breakdown began — dating the breakdown from the financial record, isolating the outflows, and documenting what each was used for, so the claim rests on traced transactions rather than characterisation.

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

Will an affair affect how property is divided in Illinois?

No. Illinois requires the marital estate to be divided without regard to marital misconduct. The moral argument carries no weight in the property division.

Then why does spending behaviour still matter?

Because dissipation is an economic claim rather than a moral one. Marital funds spent for a purpose unrelated to the marriage, after the marriage began breaking down, are a proper consideration — and that is a question about transactions, not character.

How is a dissipation claim actually proved?

From the records. It requires dating the breakdown, identifying the outflows after that point, and establishing what the funds were used for. An allegation without traced transactions behind it does not survive scrutiny.

Does Illinois split the marital estate fifty-fifty?

Not necessarily. Division is in just proportions considering a list of statutory factors, and an equal split is a possible outcome rather than a requirement.

Which court hears a divorce in Illinois?

The Circuit Court for the county or judicial circuit where the matter is filed.

Can a Florida-based expert work on an Illinois 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. For a dissipation question, complete account statements across the whole period of the alleged breakdown matter most.

What credentials should a financial expert in an Illinois 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 an Illinois 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.