Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania is heard in the Court of Common Pleas, in its Family Division where the county maintains one; in Philadelphia the division is known locally as Philadelphia Family Court. Federal matters are heard in Pennsylvania’s three federal judicial districts — Eastern, Middle and Western. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Pennsylvania 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 appreciation 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 Pennsylvania Demands More Valuation Work Than Most States

Pennsylvania divides marital property equitably. What sets it apart is how much it pulls into the marital estate, and how precisely it tells you to measure it.

Passive appreciation of separate property is marital

In many states, separate property stays separate unless a spouse’s efforts increased its value. Pennsylvania is different: the increase in value of non-marital property during the marriage is marital, whether it grew because someone worked at it or simply because markets rose. An inherited brokerage account nobody touched, a premarital property that appreciated on its own, a business interest received by gift — each has an increase that belongs to the marital estate.

That means every separate asset needs at least three valuations

The statute requires the increase to be measured from the date of marriage, or a later acquisition date, to whichever of two end dates yields the lesser increase: the date of final separation, or a date as close as possible to the equitable-distribution hearing. So each separate asset must be valued at the start, and at both candidate end dates, and then the two results compared. For a closely held business or an illiquid interest that is a genuine engagement, not a lookup.

Losses net only against that same spouse’s own separate assets

A decrease in the value of one spouse’s non-marital property offsets increases in that spouse’s non-marital property — but it cannot be offset against the other spouse’s increases, or against any other marital property. The practical effect is that the analysis has to be kept in separate columns per spouse; netting everything into one figure produces the wrong answer and is a common error.

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 Pennsylvania law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Separate-Property Appreciation Analysis

Valuing each non-marital asset at the date of marriage or acquisition and at both candidate end dates, computing the increase on each measurement path, and presenting the comparison — with the per-spouse offsetting kept correctly separated.

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 Pennsylvania, very often including whether the appreciation measurement was performed on both permitted paths 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

My inheritance is separate property. Is any of it really at stake in Pennsylvania?

The inheritance itself is non-marital, but the increase in its value during the marriage is marital — even if you never managed it and it simply grew. That is a real difference from many other states, and it is why the asset still has to be valued.

What does “whichever results in a lesser increase” mean in practice?

The increase is measured twice — once to the separation date, once to a date near the hearing — and the smaller of the two increases is the one that counts. Both have to be computed before anyone knows which applies.

If one of my separate assets lost value, can that offset the gain on another?

Yes, but only against your own non-marital property. A decrease in your separate assets cannot be offset against your spouse’s increases, or against other marital property. Keeping the two spouses’ columns separate is essential.

Does Pennsylvania split the marital estate fifty-fifty?

No. Division is equitable — fair in the circumstances, considering statutory factors — rather than automatically equal.

Which court hears a divorce in Pennsylvania?

The Court of Common Pleas, in its Family Division where the county has one. Philadelphia’s is known locally as Philadelphia Family Court.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a Pennsylvania 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 the appreciation analysis specifically: statements or valuations at or near the date of marriage, at separation, and currently, for every non-marital asset. Plus business tax returns and financial statements, the general ledger in native form, bank and credit card statements and payroll records. Date-of-marriage values are the item most often missing, and reconstructing them is part of the work.

What credentials should a financial expert in a Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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.