Forensic Accountant & Business Valuation Expert for Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin is heard in the Circuit Court of the county. Federal matters are heard in Wisconsin’s two federal judicial districts — the Eastern District and the Western District. Mr. Friedman is regularly engaged in matters in states across the United States, as well as in international matters, and the firm accepts Wisconsin 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, appreciation and needs 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.

Two Questions Decide a Wisconsin Case

Hardship is a threshold, not an adjective

Because the door into gifted and inherited property opens only on hardship, the analysis cannot rest on comparative fairness. Fairness is not the test, and an argument built on it is answering a question the statute does not ask. What the test requires is evidence about sufficiency: income against actual need, over a defined period, with the shortfall quantified.

The distinction that matters is between a reduced standard of living and genuine financial privation. A household spending less than it used to is not the same as a household that cannot meet its needs, and only the second reaches the threshold. Establishing which one is in front of the court means building a documented budget — what the household actually requires, what income and assets are actually available, and what the gap is — rather than comparing lifestyles before and after.

Appreciation produced by both spouses is a different question, and it is usually the bigger one

Where gifted or inherited property grew in value during the marriage through the efforts of both spouses, that appreciation forms part of the marital estate. So the asset can be excluded while its growth is not, and the two have to be measured separately.

That is the familiar active-versus-passive decomposition, and in Wisconsin it carries direct consequences: an inherited business that both spouses worked in, an inherited property they improved together, an inherited portfolio one of them actively managed. The original value stays out; the portion of the growth attributable to their joint efforts comes in. Separating the two requires the asset valued at the date it was received and again now, with the increase apportioned between market forces and effort — and with the effort side supported by what the records actually show about who did what.

Tracing decides whether the exclusion applies at all

The exclusion extends to property paid for with gifted or inherited funds, which makes tracing the first task rather than an afterthought. An inheritance that funded a house, a business or a brokerage account can carry its protected character into that asset — if the path can be followed. Where it cannot, the claim to exclusion weakens regardless of where the money originally came from.

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 Wisconsin law.

Forensic Accounting and Litigation Support

Hardship and Sufficiency Analysis

Building a documented household budget against available income and assets and quantifying the shortfall — framed to the statutory question of hardship rather than to comparative fairness, and distinguishing a reduced standard of living from an inability to meet actual need.

Appreciation Apportionment on Excluded Property

Valuing a gifted or inherited asset when it was received and again currently, then apportioning the increase between market forces and the efforts of the spouses — with the effort side tied to what the records show about who contributed what.

Separate and Gifted-Property Tracing

Following gifted or inherited funds into the assets they purchased, establishing whether the protected character carried through, and documenting the path together with an honest statement of where the records run out.

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 Wisconsin, very often including whether a hardship opinion measured sufficiency or simply compared lifestyles.

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

Is my inheritance safe in a Wisconsin divorce?

Gifted and inherited property is generally kept out of the divisible estate, and the protection can extend to assets bought with those funds. The exception is hardship — if refusing to divide it would create a hardship on your spouse or the children, the court may reach it.

What counts as hardship?

It is a higher bar than a drop in living standard. The question is sufficiency: whether income and available resources actually meet need. Answering it takes a documented budget and a quantified shortfall, not a comparison of how things used to be.

My spouse says the split should just be fair. Is that the test?

Not for reaching gifted or inherited property. Fairness is not the standard there; hardship is. An argument framed around fairness is addressing a question the statute does not ask on that issue.

We both built up the business I inherited. Does that change anything?

Yes. Where gifted or inherited property appreciated during the marriage through the efforts of both spouses, that appreciation is part of the marital estate even though the original asset is excluded. The two figures have to be measured separately, which is the main analytical work in these cases.

Does Wisconsin divide the estate equally?

The property subject to division is presumed to be divided equally. What is often contested is not the percentage but what belongs in the divisible estate in the first place.

Which court hears a divorce in Wisconsin?

The Circuit Court of the county.

Can a Florida-based expert work on a Wisconsin 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 tracing: documentation of the gift or inheritance and statements for every account the funds passed through. For appreciation: a value at the date received and currently, plus whatever shows who did what. For hardship: several years of household expense history, income records and current asset and liability statements. A hardship analysis needs actual spending records, because a budget assembled from estimates is the first thing an opposing expert will take apart.

What credentials should a financial expert in a Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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.