Greenacres Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, LLC members, shareholders, minority investors, and family co-owners in Greenacres and across Palm Beach County who believe someone entrusted with their money or their company has put their own interests first. The firm handles business and real estate litigation throughout South Florida, and a good share of its work involves partners and managers who cannot or will not account for what happened to company funds.

A Greenacres breach of fiduciary duty attorney is usually called when something has already gone wrong: distributions stopped without explanation, a partner opened a competing business using company contacts, a manager paid himself through side arrangements, or a co-owner sold company assets to a relative at a discount. Fiduciary claims are different from ordinary contract claims because the law holds certain people to a higher standard of loyalty and candor. The decisions you make in the first weeks, including what to preserve, what to demand, and whether to seek emergency relief, often shape the entire case.

Who Owes a Fiduciary Duty, and What Breaking It Looks Like

Not every business relationship creates a fiduciary duty. Managers of an LLC, corporate officers and directors, general partners, and people who hold or control money on behalf of others are the usual defendants. Majority owners can also owe duties to minority owners in certain circumstances. Whether a duty exists, and how far it reaches, depends on the person’s role, the governing documents, and the facts of the relationship.

The core duties are loyalty and care. Loyalty means a manager cannot use the company’s money, opportunities, or confidential information for personal gain. Care means acting with the diligence a reasonable person would use in the same position. Operating agreements and shareholder agreements can shape these duties, and drafting language matters, so the document should be read before any claim is framed.

Common Fiduciary Disputes in Greenacres Business and Property Ownership

• Diverted Company Funds: A partner or manager moves money into personal accounts, pays personal expenses through the business, or commingles company and private funds so the books cannot be reconciled.
• Self-Dealing Transactions: The company buys from, sells to, or leases from an entity the manager secretly controls, usually on terms that favor the insider.
• Usurped Business Opportunities: A co-owner takes a deal, client, or property that belonged to the company and steers it into a separate venture.
• Minority Owner Squeeze-Outs: Controlling owners cut off distributions, withhold financial information, or manipulate compensation to pressure a minority member into selling cheap.
• Refusal to Provide Books and Records: A manager stonewalls requests for financial statements, bank records, or tax filings, which often signals there is something to hide.
• Family Business Betrayals: A sibling, parent, or in-law running the company treats it as a personal account, with the added strain of relationships that predate the business.
• Co-Owner Disputes Over Real Estate: A partner who manages a shared property collects rent, takes loans against it, or lists it for sale without the other owners’ knowledge.
• Waste and Mismanagement: Assets are spent, sold, or allowed to deteriorate in ways that injure the company and the owners who depend on its value.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Fiduciary Duty Litigation

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team has represented business owners, investors, and families in South Florida disputes for decades. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is the territory where fiduciary claims arise.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on your matter knows the file. Calls are returned within 24 hours under a strict policy, and conference calls are scheduled at times that work for you. Clients who live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut but own interests here can rely on the firm to handle the local court appearances.

The firm’s recent record includes a 32-page final judgment from the Broward County Circuit Court, entered after a five-day bench trial, awarding a client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That result reflects the kind of trial preparation fiduciary cases demand: documents, timelines, and testimony tied together precisely. The firm also uses mediation and arbitration where they serve the client, and aims for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than prolonging a case.

What to Do Now if You Suspect a Partner or Manager Is Betraying the Company

Start by securing what you can lawfully access. Copy the operating agreement, shareholder agreement, financial statements, tax returns, bank statements, and any emails or messages that touch the conduct in question. Do not log into accounts you are not authorized to use, and do not remove originals from company premises. Evidence gathered improperly can hurt you more than it helps.

Next, resist the urge to confront the other owner before you know what the records show. A confrontation tends to prompt deleted files, shifted money, and a sudden story. A written request for books and records, sent after counsel has reviewed your rights, is usually the better first move. If funds are actively leaving the company, the question becomes whether to ask a court for emergency relief to freeze assets or stop transfers while the case proceeds. Courts will consider that kind of request, but it needs a well-documented factual basis.

Mind the clock. A claim founded on a written instrument, such as an operating agreement, generally carries a five-year limitations period. Contract claims that are not based on a written instrument carry four years, and fraud carries four years from discovery, subject to a 12-year cap. Because a fiduciary claim can overlap with these theories, and because other deadlines can apply depending on how the claim is framed, do not wait to find out which one governs your case.

Cases from Greenacres are generally filed in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, when the amount in controversy exceeds the county court threshold. Business disputes in the county are heard at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, with other courthouses serving different parts of the county. If the defendant or the property is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit would hear the case, and it maintains a complex business division for larger commercial disputes. Where federal jurisdiction applies, the Southern District of Florida sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Remedies Available When a Fiduciary Breaks Faith

Remedies depend on what was taken and what you need back. Money damages compensate for losses caused by the breach. An accounting forces the fiduciary to document where company money went. Courts can order disgorgement of profits the fiduciary earned through disloyal conduct, impose constructive trusts over improperly acquired assets, and issue injunctions to stop ongoing harm.

When the relationship cannot continue, Florida’s LLC statute allows a member or manager to seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury, illegal or fraudulent conduct by controlling members, and deadlock that threatens irreparable harm. In those proceedings a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioner’s interest. For corporations, shareholders have parallel dissolution rights, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy out a petitioning shareholder at fair value, with a 60-day window for the parties to agree on price before the court steps in. Dissolution is a serious step, and sometimes the better outcome is a negotiated buyout or structured separation.

Questions Greenacres Owners Ask About Fiduciary Duty Claims

What is a breach of fiduciary duty?

It is a violation of the heightened duties of loyalty and care owed by someone in a position of trust, such as a manager, officer, director, or partner. Typical examples include self-dealing, taking company opportunities, and misusing company funds.

Do LLC members owe each other fiduciary duties in Florida?

It depends on the member’s role and the operating agreement. Managers and controlling members commonly owe duties to the company and other members, while ordinary members in a member-managed company may owe duties tied to their management authority. The agreement’s language matters.

Can a majority owner breach a duty to a minority owner?

Yes. Freezing out a minority owner through withheld distributions, hidden information, or manipulated compensation can support a claim, depending on the facts and the governing documents.

How long do I have to file a claim?

The applicable period depends on how the claim is framed. A claim founded on a written instrument has five years, while one not based on a written instrument has four, and fraud runs four years from discovery with a 12-year cap. Get the dates reviewed early.

What proof do I need?

Bank records, financial statements, tax returns, agreements, emails, and messages are the usual building blocks. The goal is to show the duty, the breach, and the resulting loss, and an accounting can fill gaps when records are incomplete.

Can I get money frozen before the case ends?

Courts can issue temporary injunctions to stop assets from being moved or spent while a case is pending. These requests require a strong, documented showing, so preparation matters.

Is a fiduciary claim the same as a breach of contract claim?

No, though they often appear together. A contract claim rests on what the agreement promised. A fiduciary claim rests on duties the law imposes because of the relationship, which can reach conduct the contract never mentioned.

What if the person who took the money is a family member?

The legal analysis is the same, but the strategy often differs. Many family business disputes resolve through negotiated buyouts or mediation, and the firm handles these cases with discretion while still protecting your financial interests.

Can I sue if I live out of state but own a Greenacres-area business interest?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida business or real estate interests, handles local court appearances, and keeps you informed without requiring you to travel for each hearing.

Should I hire a lawyer before or after confronting my partner?

Before, in most cases. A confrontation can trigger destroyed records or moved assets. Having counsel review your rights and plan the first move preserves your options.

Do these cases always go to trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm’s attorneys are experienced in each. Others require a court decision, and the firm prepares every case with that possibility in mind.

Does the firm work with other attorneys on these matters?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from referrals by other lawyers, including out-of-state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes, and the firm keeps referring counsel informed throughout.

Serving Fiduciary Duty Clients Across Greenacres and Palm Beach County

The firm’s work begins in Greenacres and extends through the communities around it, including Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Atlantis, Palm Springs, and Haverhill. To the north and west, it serves clients in West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Riviera Beach. To the south, the firm represents owners in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Highland Beach.

The firm also serves clients throughout neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and nearby communities, and across South Florida generally. Owners living in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in the region are also part of the firm’s practice.

Speak With a Greenacres Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer

If you suspect a partner, manager, or relative has betrayed your trust in a business or shared property, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your documents, explain where you stand, and lay out realistic options. Whether the answer is a demand, a negotiated exit, emergency court relief, or a full trial, the firm will tell you plainly what makes sense. Call to speak with a Greenacres breach of fiduciary duty lawyer and schedule a consultation.