Coconut Creek Business Divorce Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Coconut Creek, Broward County, and across South Florida when co-owners can no longer work together and someone has to decide what happens to the company. The firm handles partnership disputes, LLC member conflicts, shareholder fights, buyouts, and judicial dissolution, along with the contract, real estate, and injunction work that tends to travel with them.

A Coconut Creek business divorce attorney gets calls that rarely start with the words “business divorce.” They start with a locked bank account, a partner who stopped answering emails, a distribution that never arrived, or a co-owner who hired a relative and changed the locks. Somewhere in that mess is a legal question: who controls the company, what is each owner’s interest worth, and is there a way out that does not destroy the value both sides built?

Florida gives co-owners more tools than most of them realize, and a few of those tools come with short clocks. Whether you want to keep the business, sell your share, or force an exit, the sooner the options are laid out against your actual operating agreement, the more leverage you keep.

What a Business Divorce Actually Involves

There is no single “business divorce” lawsuit. The label covers a family of disputes, and the right path depends on how the company is organized and what the owners signed. The first document to pull is your operating agreement (for an LLC), shareholder agreement (for a corporation), or partnership agreement. Many of them already contain buyout formulas, deadlock procedures, expulsion rights, or valuation methods, and those provisions can resolve a dispute faster than a courtroom ever will.

For an LLC, Florida’s statute lets a member or manager ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds. Those include operations being conducted unlawfully, it no longer being reasonably practicable to run the business under the operating agreement, controlling owners acting or being expected to act illegally or fraudulently, company assets being wasted or misappropriated to the company’s injury, and owners being deadlocked with irreparable injury threatened or already occurring. Once a petition shows enough merit, the court can appoint a receiver or custodian, or order that the petitioner’s interest be purchased, after notice and a hearing. If your operating agreement has a deadlock sale mechanism and it is started before the court finds deadlock grounds, that contractual mechanism generally takes the place of a dissolution order or court-ordered buyout.

For corporations, a shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include the corporation having abandoned its business without liquidating within a reasonable time. A key feature is the buyout election. In a shareholder-initiated dissolution case, the corporation, or failing that one or more shareholders, can 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 on those terms. The election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. The corporation also has to notify the other shareholders within 30 days of the filing that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy. Filing for dissolution does not cancel a shareholder’s right to use a compliant deadlock sale provision in a shareholder agreement.

That means the filing itself is often the start of a negotiation, not the end of one. A Boca Raton business litigation attorney who understands these mechanics can use a dissolution petition to move the other side toward a fair buyout, while a corporation facing one has an obvious way to keep its doors open.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Divorce Cases

The Andrew M. Andrew M. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in a business divorce, where a dispute can start in a Broward or Palm Beach circuit court and sometimes involves federal questions or parties from out of state.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file and can answer when you call. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court. Mr. Schwartz has said clients often begin by wanting the most aggressive lawyer available, and what they really need is someone who acts as the situation demands and uses finesse when finesse will do, with fees that make sense next to what is at stake. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, so a dispute that can be settled sensibly does not get dragged out for its own sake.

On the trial side, in a 5-day bench trial in Broward County, the firm obtained a 32-page final judgment from the Circuit Court awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Business divorces often have real estate at their center, and that result reflects the firm’s ability to carry a complicated contract and property dispute through a full trial and win.

The Disputes That Lead Coconut Creek Owners to Seek a Business Divorce

• Deadlocked Management: Two 50/50 owners disagree on a major decision, such as hiring, borrowing, selling, or expanding, and the company cannot act. This is a recognized ground for judicial dissolution when irreparable injury is threatened, and it is also where a deadlock sale clause in your agreement may control.
• Buyouts and Valuation Fights: One owner wants out, or wants the other out, and the sticking point is price. Disputes turn on discount assumptions, goodwill, how debt is treated, and which valuation date applies.
• Minority Owner Freeze-Outs: A majority owner cuts off information, stops distributions, pays himself or herself through salary and perks, or sidelines the minority member from management.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, disputed capital contributions, or a partner who cannot explain where company money went. These cases often involve claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty, and sometimes emergency relief to freeze assets.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: A co-owner ignores transfer restrictions, non-compete terms, capital call obligations, or approval requirements, and the contract language decides the outcome.
• Family Business Splits: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different visions, or in-laws sharing ownership. These disputes carry personal weight on top of the money, and they need discretion as well as firm financial protection.
• Co-Owned Real Estate Held Through the Business: When the company’s main asset is a building or parcel, the business divorce can run alongside a partition action or a title dispute over who actually owns what.
• Emergency Situations: A partner moving assets, locking out the other owner, or about to sell something critical. Temporary and permanent injunctions can hold the status quo while the case is decided.

What to Do Right Now If Your Partnership Is Coming Apart

Start by getting your hands on the paper. That means your articles of organization or incorporation, the operating or shareholder agreement and any amendments, tax returns, bank statements, financial statements, loan documents, and anything showing capital contributions and distributions. If you only have access through the other owner, ask for copies in writing now. Members and shareholders generally have records rights, and a refusal is itself useful evidence later. Do not take company property or access accounts you are not authorized to use; that can hand the other side a counterclaim.

Next, stop and read what your agreement says about exits before you send a heated email. Many agreements require notice, a cure period, mediation, or arbitration before anyone can file suit, and skipping those steps can cost you time and credibility. Others have buy-sell triggers that start running the moment one owner sends a particular notice, so you want to know about that before you say something that sets it off.

Keep the deadlines in mind. A claim on a written agreement, such as an operating agreement, generally must be filed within five years under Florida law, while a contract claim not founded on a written instrument has four years. A fraud claim carries four years from discovery, subject to an overall 12-year outer limit. A suit for specific performance has just one year. Those clocks can overlap in a single dispute, and the clock that matters is not always the one you expect, so do not assume you have years.

If money is actively disappearing, say so early. Emergency injunctive relief is worth pursuing when assets are moving, and it works better when you act quickly and can show what you know. A court deciding a dissolution case can also appoint a receiver or custodian and preserve assets while the case proceeds, though only after notice and a hearing.

As for where the case would be heard, a Coconut Creek company dispute is typically filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Larger business matters, including dissolution of certain business entities, can be handled in the circuit’s complex business division, and filing directly into that division follows a specific administrative procedure. Circuit court generally hears disputes above $50,000; smaller claims go to county court. Depending on the entities, the property, and the parties, a case might also belong in Palm Beach County’s Fifteenth Judicial Circuit or, where federal jurisdiction exists, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Choosing the right forum early saves months.

When the Dispute Is Over Real Estate

Business divorces and property disputes overlap more than people expect. If the company or the owners personally hold land together, Florida’s partition statute lets a co-owner ask a court either to divide the property or, if division would harm the owners, to order it sold at auction with proceeds split in proportion to ownership. The process begins with a complaint that describes the land, names the owners, and states each owner’s share. The court appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether the land can fairly be divided. If they report it cannot, the court can order a public sale, with at least one-third of the price paid up front unless everyone agrees otherwise.

If the co-owned land was inherited, a different framework may apply. Florida’s heirs property provisions govern partition of certain tenancy-in-common property acquired from relatives, and they add protections, including a requirement that partition in kind not be ordered unless commissioners have weighed specific statutory factors and found that a sale of the property as a whole would harm the cotenants as a group. Whether a given parcel qualifies depends on the ownership facts.

Title disputes work differently. A quiet title action asks the court to settle competing claims and remove a cloud on title, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years. These cases come up when a former partner recorded something against the property, or when a deed or transfer is contested. The firm handles both partition and quiet title as part of its real estate litigation work.

Common Questions About Business Divorce in Coconut Creek

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 in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the business, a structured wind-down, or a court order dissolving the company when the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a partner out of my LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and what the partner has done. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions. Absent those, Florida law offers court remedies in serious situations, including misappropriation of assets or a company that can no longer function. An attorney needs to read the agreement before anyone sends a notice.

My partner is taking money from the business. What can I do?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. If assets are being moved or spent, a court can issue injunctive relief to stop it while the case is pending. Gather bank records and financial statements first.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit against a business partner?

Written-contract claims generally carry a five-year period in Florida, and contract claims not based on a written instrument carry four years. Fraud is four years from discovery, with a 12-year cap. Specific performance is only one year. Which one applies depends on the claim, so get the timing checked early.

Will a dissolution lawsuit automatically shut my company down?

No. In a corporate dissolution case, the corporation or other shareholders can elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, which avoids dissolution. Courts can also appoint a receiver or custodian and keep the business operating while the case proceeds. Many filings are really leverage toward a negotiated exit.

What if our operating agreement has a deadlock clause?

If the clause is started before the court finds that deadlock grounds exist, it can replace a judicial dissolution order or a court-ordered purchase, as long as it is then carried through. How the clause is triggered matters, so the timing of your first move deserves care.

Does a business divorce have to end up in court?

No. Plenty of them settle through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and many agreements require one of those steps first. The firm’s attorneys are experienced in both alternative dispute resolution and courtroom litigation and pursue whichever route fits your goals and budget.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the business is small?

Often, yes, because small companies tend to have thin paperwork and heavy personal stakes. A short review of your agreement and records can show whether you have a strong claim, a weak one, or an inexpensive way to settle. The cost of the dispute should be weighed against what you stand to keep or recover.

What happens if my business partner is also a family member?

The legal standards are the same, but the approach is not. Family business disputes carry relationship costs that ordinary commercial cases do not, so discretion matters. The firm works to protect your financial interests while looking for resolutions that do not blow up the family any more than necessary.

I live out of state but own part of a Florida company. Can the firm still help?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida. It handles the local court appearances and keeps you updated, so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Can an attorney refer my client to you for a Florida dispute?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from other lawyers, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. The firm keeps referring counsel informed and respects the referring attorney’s relationship with the client.

Serving Business Divorce Clients Across Coconut Creek and South Florida

The firm’s work begins with Coconut Creek and the surrounding Broward County communities, including Margate, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Parkland, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill, Sunrise, Plantation, and Fort Lauderdale. From there it reaches north into Palm Beach County, serving owners in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, and neighboring communities.

Business owners in these areas bring disputes involving professional practices, restaurants, construction and trade companies, real estate holding entities, and family-run companies. The firm also represents clients in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose partners or co-owners are located here, handling the Florida side of the case while keeping them informed from afar.

Talk to a Coconut Creek Business Divorce Lawyer

When a partnership has broken down and you need to know whether to negotiate, force a buyout, or ask a court to step in, a conversation with a Coconut Creek business divorce lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can clarify your position quickly. Bring your operating or shareholder agreement and whatever financial records you have, and the attorneys will walk through what the documents allow and what the realistic paths look like. Call to schedule a consultation.