Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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.

Dissolution of marriage in Nebraska is heard in the District Court of the county. Federal matters are heard in the District of Nebraska. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Nebraska 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. Valuation and earning-capacity 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.

Shared Criteria, Separate Purposes

The statute says what each remedy is for, and that discipline should carry into the analysis

Most statutes list factors and leave the function of each remedy to be argued. Nebraska states it: the property division distributes the marital assets equitably; alimony provides continued maintenance or support where the relative economic circumstances make it appropriate.

The practical consequence is worth stating because it is easy to blur. An argument that really goes to ongoing need belongs to the support question, not to the size of the property award — and evidence assembled for one does not automatically answer the other. A schedule that quietly mixes the two invites an obvious attack, and the attack is fair. The better approach is to answer each with the evidence that fits it: valuation and tracing for the division, income and requirement analysis for support.

Earning capacity is constrained by custodial responsibility, not assessed in the abstract

The criteria include the ability of the supported party to engage in gainful employment without interfering with the interests of any minor children in the custody of such party. That is a real limit on how an earning-capacity opinion may be built.

A figure derived from full-time work in a spouse’s former occupation is not responsive if that schedule cannot be reconciled with the children’s care. The analysis has to model what employment is actually available on hours that fit — which changes the occupational range, the hours assumed, the wage evidence that applies, and frequently the cost of care that would be needed to work at all. Presenting the constrained figure alongside the unconstrained one, with the difference explained, is usually more persuasive than either alone, because it shows the court exactly what the custodial responsibility costs.

Career interruption is named, so it is measured

Interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities sits in the criteria alongside contributions to the marriage. Measuring an interruption means establishing the path that was actually on foot — the occupation, the trajectory, the earnings at the point of interruption — and then the position now, with the gap and whatever it would take to close it stated as figures rather than as a narrative.

Contributions include the care and education of the children

The history of contributions each party made to the marriage expressly includes contributions to the care and education of the children. Quantifying that is the same exercise as any unpaid contribution: what the work involved, over what period, what it displaced in the contributor’s own earnings, and what replacing it would have cost.

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 Nebraska law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Custody-Constrained Earning-Capacity Analysis

Modelling what employment is genuinely available on hours compatible with the care of minor children — occupational range, hours, applicable wage evidence and the cost of any care required — and presenting it against the unconstrained figure so the difference is visible.

Career-Interruption Measurement

Establishing the career path in progress at the point of interruption and the position now, with the gap and the cost and duration of closing it quantified rather than described.

Contribution Valuation

Measuring contributions to the marriage including the care and education of the children — what the work involved, what it displaced, and what replacing it would have cost.

Marital Estate Valuation for the Division

Valuing and inventorying the marital assets for the distributive question specifically, kept separate from the support analysis so neither borrows the other’s evidence.

Business Valuation Disputes

Valuation of closely held businesses and agricultural operations for 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 or commodity concentration.

Hidden Asset Tracing

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

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 — in Nebraska, very often including whether an earning-capacity figure respected the custodial constraint the statute imposes or assumed full-time availability.

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

My spouse says I could go back to full-time work. Is that the test in Nebraska?

Not on its own. The criteria refer to the ability to engage in gainful employment without interfering with the interests of any minor children in your custody. An earning-capacity figure that assumes a schedule incompatible with caring for the children has not answered the statutory question.

How is that modelled?

By identifying what work is genuinely available on hours that fit, with the applicable wage evidence and the cost of any care that would be needed. Showing that figure next to the unconstrained one makes the effect of the custodial responsibility visible rather than assumed.

I gave up my career for the family. Does Nebraska account for that?

Interruption of personal careers or educational opportunities is among the criteria. It is measured by establishing the path that was in progress, the earnings at the point of interruption, and the position now — with the gap and the cost of closing it quantified.

Is the property division meant to support me?

No. The statute distinguishes them: the property division distributes the marital assets equitably, and alimony provides continued maintenance or support where the relative economic circumstances make it appropriate. Evidence gathered for one does not automatically answer the other.

Which court hears a dissolution in Nebraska?

The District Court of the county.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a Nebraska 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?

Earnings history and tax returns for both parties covering the period before and after any career interruption; records of education or training and what it cost; childcare arrangements and costs; a full inventory and valuation of the marital assets; and for a business or farm, tax returns and financial statements, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements and payroll records. Childcare cost and availability records are the item most often overlooked, and the statute makes them load-bearing.

What credentials should a financial expert in a Nebraska 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 Nebraska 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. The firm accepts engagements in other states as well — see states served for how the analysis differs elsewhere.