Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Ohio 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 Ohio 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.

Divorce in Ohio is heard in the Court of Common Pleas, in its Division of Domestic Relations where the county maintains one. Federal matters are heard in Ohio’s two federal judicial districts — the Northern District and the Southern District. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Ohio 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 characterisation 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 Ohio Cases Turn on Tracing

Ohio divides marital property equally unless an equal division would be inequitable, in which case the court divides it in the manner it determines equitable. The arithmetic of that split is rarely where an Ohio case is won or lost. The fight is usually about which side of the line an asset falls on — and Ohio draws that line in a way that rewards, and sometimes requires, detailed financial work.

Passive appreciation on separate property stays separate

Income and appreciation on separate property that accrued passively during the marriage remains separate property in Ohio. This is close to the opposite of the rule in some other states — Pennsylvania, for instance, pulls the increase in value of separate property into the marital estate whether it grew passively or not. The practical consequence in Ohio is that the analysis has to separate growth that simply happened from growth that someone produced. An inherited brokerage account that rose with the market, a premarital property that appreciated on its own, a gifted business interest that grew without the owner’s involvement — each requires the passive component to be identified and quantified rather than assumed.

Commingling does not destroy separate property — losing the trail does

Mixing separate property with other property does not, by itself, convert it into marital property in Ohio. The exception is the whole case: separate property loses its character when it is no longer traceable. So an inheritance deposited into a joint account is not automatically gone. Whether it survives depends on whether the deposits, withdrawals and transfers that followed can be reconstructed from the records with enough clarity to identify it.

That is a forensic accounting question, not a legal one. It is answered with bank and brokerage statements, general ledgers, transfer records and, frequently, reconstruction of periods where records are incomplete. Where the trail can be followed, the separate claim stands on evidence rather than on assertion. Where it cannot, no amount of argument replaces the missing records.

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 Ohio law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Separate-Property Tracing

Following an inheritance, gift or premarital asset through the accounts it passed into, identifying what remains attributable to it, and documenting the path so it can be tested on cross-examination — together with an honest statement of where the records run out.

Passive Versus Active Appreciation Analysis

Separating the growth in a separate asset that occurred on its own from growth produced by a spouse’s efforts, contributions or management, and quantifying each — the analysis Ohio’s separate-property rule makes necessary.

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.

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 Ohio, very often including whether a tracing opinion actually traces anything or simply asserts a conclusion.

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 Ohio split marital property fifty-fifty?

Ohio begins from an equal division. A court departs from it where an equal division would be inequitable, and then divides the property in the manner it determines equitable. So equal is the starting point rather than the guaranteed outcome.

I put my inheritance into our joint account. Have I lost it?

Not necessarily. In Ohio, commingling separate property with other property does not by itself destroy its separate character. What matters is whether it remains traceable. That is a records question, and it is frequently answerable even years later — which is exactly the work this kind of engagement involves.

My premarital investments grew during the marriage. Is that growth marital?

Passive income and appreciation on separate property remains separate in Ohio. Growth attributable to a spouse’s own efforts or contributions is treated differently, so the analysis has to distinguish the two rather than treat the whole increase as one number.

Which court hears a divorce in Ohio?

The Court of Common Pleas, in its Division of Domestic Relations where the county has one.

Can a Florida-based expert work on an Ohio 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 tracing engagement specifically: statements for every account the separate asset passed through, from as close to its origin as possible to the present, plus transfer records and closing documents. For a business: tax returns and financial statements, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements and payroll records. Gaps in the account history are the most common obstacle, and reconstructing those periods is part of the work rather than a reason to stop.

What credentials should a financial expert in an Ohio 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 Ohio 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.