Tamarac Business Divorce Attorney

Tamarac sits in Broward County, so a company dispute between co-owners here lands in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, a court system that has a dedicated complex business division for certain entity dissolution and large commercial cases. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, LLC members, shareholders, and family co-owners in South Florida, and a Tamarac business divorce attorney from our team handles the separation of owners who can no longer run a company together.

A business divorce is not one lawsuit with one outcome. It can end in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the whole company, a structured wind-down, or a court order dissolving the entity. Which path is available depends on what the operating agreement or shareholder agreement says, how the entity was formed, and what the other owner has actually done.

Most disputes start with something concrete: a partner who stopped contributing, distributions that quit arriving, books nobody will show you, or two 50 percent owners who cannot agree on anything. The sooner those facts are pinned down, the more options you keep.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for a Business Divorce in Tamarac

The Andrew M. We serve clients in Tamarac and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County, including Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Boca Raton, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests here. Our lawyers handle business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, disputes over missing company funds, partition and title actions, and injunctions.

Andrew M. Schwartz, Founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

We practice as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court, and we are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation. We look for the resolution that fits your goals and your budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

The firm also has recent trial results to point to. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is the kind of detailed, document-driven work business divorces demand, since outcomes so often turn on the exact wording of agreements and the history between the parties.

Situations That Lead Tamarac Owners to Seek a Business Divorce

• Deadlocked Management: Two equal owners, or a board split evenly, cannot approve basic decisions. Under Florida’s LLC statute, deadlock is a ground for judicial dissolution only when it cannot be broken and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring.
• Buyout and Valuation Fights: One owner wants out, or wants the other out, and the two sides disagree on what the company is worth. Valuation methods, discounts, and who controls the financial records often decide the number.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: A partner ignores capital call terms, transfer restrictions, non-compete clauses, or approval requirements. The agreement’s exact language usually controls the remedy.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A manager or controlling owner self-deals, diverts opportunities, or favors one side. Minority owners are frequently the ones who need relief here.
• Missing or Misused Company Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and personal expenses run through the business can support claims for an accounting and recovery of money.
• Oppression of Minority Owners: A majority holder freezes out a minority member by withholding information, cutting distributions, or shutting them out of decisions.
• Family Business Breakups: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different plans, or in-laws who share ownership face disputes about control and compensation along with the relationships involved.
• Co-Owned Real Estate Tied to the Business: When partners also own property together, a partition action or quiet title claim can run alongside the entity dispute.

What to Do Now If Your Business Partnership Is Breaking Down

Start by getting your documents in one place: the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles of organization or incorporation, amendments, tax returns, bank statements, loan guarantees, and any emails or texts where the dispute began. Look specifically for buyout formulas, deadlock provisions, dispute resolution clauses, and anything requiring mediation or arbitration before suit. Those clauses can change where and how your case proceeds.

Next, preserve access. If you have login rights to accounting software, bank portals, or shared drives, do not delete or alter anything, and do not take records you are not entitled to. Quietly keeping copies of what you already have lawful access to is very different from grabbing files after being locked out. Talk to a lawyer before you do either.

Watch the clock. Florida sets different limitations periods depending on the claim: five years for an action founded on a written instrument, four years for oral or implied contract claims, and four years from discovery for fraud, capped at twelve years. Claims for specific performance carry a one-year period. A professional malpractice claim, which can matter if an accountant or lawyer was involved in the problem, has a two-year period running from when it was or should have been discovered. Waiting to see if things cool down can quietly burn through these windows.

Where the company is losing money or assets are leaving, move quickly. A court can issue injunctions and, after a hearing with notice to the parties, appoint a receiver or custodian in an LLC or corporate dissolution case. Emergency relief is a real tool, but it requires prompt, well-documented evidence.

For Tamarac companies, a circuit civil case generally belongs in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, which sits at the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale and has regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Certain cases, including dissolution of some business entities and large business litigation, may be directed into the circuit’s complex business division through a filing procedure set out in its administrative order. Cases involving federal questions or diverse out-of-state owners can also end up in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Smaller claims by amount may be heard in county court, while larger business disputes belong in circuit court.

Finally, avoid the common mistakes: signing a buyout term sheet without a valuation, firing or locking out a co-owner without checking the agreement, moving money “temporarily,” and telling employees or customers about the dispute before you have a plan.

How Florida Law Lets a Court End a Company Partnership

For LLCs, a member or manager can ask a circuit court for dissolution on specified grounds: the company’s affairs are conducted unlawfully, it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the articles and operating agreement, controlling members or managers have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, or the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or underway. Courts can also, on a showing of sufficient merit, appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest.

One wrinkle matters: if the operating agreement has a deadlock sale mechanism that is started before the court finds deadlock grounds exist, that contractual process applies in place of a judicial dissolution or court-ordered purchase, so long as it is then carried through. Whether someone has triggered it first can reshape the entire case.

Corporations work differently. A shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, including where the business has been abandoned and the company has not liquidated within a reasonable time. Once a shareholder files on certain grounds, the corporation, or if it does not act, other shareholders, may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order for the purchase on those terms. Within 30 days after the proceeding begins, the corporation must notify the other shareholders that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to change it. Throughout, the court may issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take steps to preserve assets while the case is pending.

Co-Owned Property and Business Disputes Together

Business divorces often carry real estate with them. Under Florida’s partition statute, a co-owner can ask the circuit court, sitting in equity, to divide jointly owned land or order it sold. The complaint must describe the property, name the owners and their residences, and state what each holds. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the parties if they agree. When the commissioners conclude the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a public sale and distribute proceeds in proportion to each owner’s interest. A sale on credit requires at least one-third of the price paid down unless all parties agree otherwise.

If the property came through a family and meets the statutory definition of heirs property, a separate set of rules in the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act governs, and a partition in kind cannot be entered unless the court is satisfied that commissioners weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Where ownership itself is clouded, a quiet title action asks the court to cancel competing evidence of title and declare who owns the property. The plaintiff generally must trace title for at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise, and the case can be filed in any county where part of the land lies.

Business Divorce Questions Tamarac Owners Ask

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether they are partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can end through a buyout, a sale, a wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution.

Can I force a partner out of my Florida LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law gives remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. A lawyer should read the agreement before you act.

What if my partner is taking money from the company?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. In urgent cases, a court can issue an injunction to stop assets from being moved or spent while the dispute is pending.

Do we have to go to court?

No. Many business divorces resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps first. Litigation remains available when talks fail.

Which court would hear my case?

Business entity disputes involving more than the county court limit are heard in circuit court. For Tamarac companies that is typically the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit for Broward County, and some cases may be directed to its complex business division. Cases with federal grounds can go to the Southern District of Florida.

How long do I have to sue my business partner?

It varies by claim. A written contract claim carries five years, an oral contract claim four, fraud four years from discovery with a twelve-year cap, and specific performance one year. Fiduciary and other claims have their own rules, so confirm early.

What if our operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If the clause is triggered before a court finds deadlock grounds, the clause generally controls instead of judicial dissolution or a court-ordered buyout, provided it is carried out. Who acts first can matter a great deal.

Can a court appoint someone to run the company during the fight?

Yes. In LLC and corporate dissolution proceedings, a court can appoint a receiver or custodian, but only after a hearing with notice to the parties, and only on a showing of sufficient merit.

Can I be bought out at fair value if I am a minority shareholder who files for dissolution?

In a corporation, the company or other shareholders can elect to buy your shares at fair value to avoid dissolution. If you and the buyers agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court orders the purchase on those terms.

My co-owner and I also own a building together. Can that be handled in the same dispute?

Often it can run in parallel. A partition action can divide or sell the property, and a quiet title action can resolve competing ownership claims. Coordinating them with the company case avoids inconsistent outcomes.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle a Tamarac company dispute?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida business interests, handle the local court appearances, and keep you informed so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Do you work with referring attorneys?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from other lawyers, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. We keep referring counsel informed and respect the existing client relationship.

Serving Business Divorce Clients Across Tamarac and Broward County

We represent owners in Tamarac and the neighboring Broward communities of Lauderhill, Sunrise, North Lauderdale, Margate, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, and Plantation. Our reach continues through Fort Lauderdale, Lauderdale Lakes, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Davie, Weston, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines, along with other cities across the county.

Our team also serves clients in Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, and West Palm Beach, plus owners who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut but hold a business or property interest in South Florida. Whether the company is a restaurant, a medical practice, a construction firm, an investment holding, or a family-run operation, the same questions arise about control, money, and a fair exit.

Talk With a Tamarac Business Divorce Lawyer Before the Dispute Hardens

If you are in conflict with a co-owner, the choices you make in the next few weeks can shape your leverage for the whole case. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreement, assess your options, and explain whether a buyout, a negotiated separation, or a court filing makes sense. Call to speak with a Tamarac business divorce attorney on our team about your situation.