Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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.

Divorce in North Dakota is heard in the District Court. Federal matters are heard in the District of North Dakota. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts North Dakota 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 disclosure 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.

The Three Things That Decide a North Dakota Case

The valuation date is set by statute, and it is earlier than people expect

Valuation date is one of the largest single drivers of outcome in any financial case, and most states leave it to argument. North Dakota does not. The valuation date for marital property and debt is the date the parties mutually agree on. If they do not agree, it is sixty days before the initially scheduled trial date.

There is a safety valve, and it has a condition attached. Where there is a substantial change in the value of an asset or debt between the valuation date and trial, the court may adjust that valuation as necessary to reach an equitable distribution — but it shall make specific findings that the other date is fair and equitable.

Two practical consequences follow. First, the default date is fixed by a trial setting rather than by the events of the marriage, so a business, a farm operation or a portfolio may need to be valued as at a date that has already passed by the time an expert is engaged — which is a documentary exercise and should not be approximated from current figures. Second, moving off that date requires evidence of a substantial change, and “substantial” is a quantified comparison between two dates, not an impression. Where values have genuinely moved, presenting both dates and the reason for the difference is what allows a court to make the findings the statute requires of it.

A present-value calculation is mandatory where a government pension replaced social security

This provision is rare, and where it applies it is decisive. Where one spouse is covered by the civil service retirement system or another government pension in lieu of social security and is not entitled to receive full social security benefits, and the other spouse is a social security recipient, the court shall compute what the present value of the social security benefits would have been to the government-pension spouse during the covered period, and subtract that amount from the value of the government pension to determine the pension’s marital portion.

The statute says “shall compute” — it is a required calculation, not an argument a party may raise. Performing it means establishing the covered period, reconstructing the social security benefit that would have accrued over it from the earnings record, selecting and supporting discount and mortality assumptions, and reducing to present value — then applying that as an offset before the marital share is determined.

The number is frequently large, and in practice it is frequently not done at all, or done by taking a pension statement at face value. Where a teacher, a federal employee or another government-pension participant is involved, this calculation should be on the list from the first week of the case.

A judgment is not final where disclosure was not complete

The court may redistribute property and debts in a post-judgment proceeding where a party has failed to disclose property and debts as required by the rules adopted by the supreme court, or fails to comply with the terms of the distribution order.

That changes the value of a thorough asset search in both directions. For a party who suspects something was left out, the work retains its value after judgment, so a discovery that arrives late is not automatically wasted. For a party making disclosure, an omission does not become safe once the decree is entered.

What supports an application of this kind is the same forensic work that would have supported the original case: establishing from records that an asset existed at the relevant time, that it was not disclosed, and what it was worth. It is an evidentiary exercise rather than an allegation, and the records that prove it tend to become harder to obtain as time passes — which is an argument for acting on a suspicion early rather than filing it away.

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 North Dakota law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Valuation at a Statutory Date

Valuing a business, farm operation, professional practice or portfolio as at the date the statute fixes rather than as at today, reconstructed from the records of that period, together with the comparison that shows whether a substantial change has since occurred.

Social Security Offset Calculations

Performing the computation the statute requires where a government pension stands in place of social security — establishing the covered period, reconstructing the benefit that would have accrued, supporting the discount and mortality assumptions, and applying the offset to determine the pension’s marital portion.

Non-Disclosure and Post-Judgment Work

Establishing from records that an asset or debt existed and was not disclosed, and what it was worth at the relevant date — the evidence a post-judgment redistribution application rests on.

Business Valuation Disputes

Valuation of closely held businesses for divorce, 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.

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.

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 North Dakota, very often including whether the valuation was performed as at the statutory date and whether a required social security offset was calculated at all.

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

What date is our property valued at?

The date the parties mutually agree on. If there is no agreement, the statute sets it at sixty days before the initially scheduled trial date.

Our business has changed a lot since then. Can a different date be used?

Where there is a substantial change in the value of an asset or debt between the valuation date and trial, the court may adjust the valuation as necessary to reach an equitable distribution, and must make specific findings that the other date is fair and equitable. Showing the change is a matter of valuing both dates and explaining the difference.

My spouse has a government pension instead of social security. Does that matter?

Yes, and the statute requires a calculation. Where one spouse is covered by a government pension in lieu of social security and is not entitled to full social security benefits, and the other is a social security recipient, the court must compute the present value of the social security benefits that would have accrued during the covered period and subtract it from the pension’s value to arrive at the marital portion.

Is that offset calculation optional?

The statute uses “shall compute”. It is a required step where the circumstances apply, though in practice it is often overlooked or replaced by taking a pension statement at face value.

I think my spouse hid assets and the divorce is already final. Is it too late?

Not necessarily. The court may redistribute property and debts in a post-judgment proceeding where a party failed to disclose property and debts as required, or failed to comply with the distribution order. Establishing it is an evidentiary exercise, and the records tend to get harder to obtain over time.

Which court hears a divorce in North Dakota?

The District Court.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a North Dakota 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?

For a valuation, financial statements, tax returns and transaction records spanning the statutory date rather than only the most recent period. For a pension offset, the pension documentation and the covered spouse’s earnings record. For a business, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements and payroll records. Records covering the statutory valuation date are the ones to secure first — the date is usually in the past by the time an expert is engaged, and interim statements are what make that date reconstructable.

What credentials should a financial expert in a North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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.