Dania Beach Family Business Dispute Attorney

A family business dispute is rarely about one thing. It starts as a disagreement over money or control, but it is tangled up with holidays, inheritances, old promises, and who got the bigger share of a parent’s attention. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents siblings, parents, children, spouses, in-laws, and longtime friends who own companies and property together, and we handle these cases for clients in Dania Beach and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County.

If you are searching for a Dania Beach family business dispute attorney, you are probably dealing with a specific problem: a brother who stopped answering questions about the books, a parent who wants to hand the company to one child, a co-owner who is drawing a salary no one approved, or a property no one can agree to keep or sell. Dania Beach sits among marine businesses, aviation-related companies, warehouses, restaurants, and family-held real estate, and many of those enterprises are run by relatives who never put the hard questions in writing. The question that matters is usually the same: what do the governing documents say, and what does Florida law allow when they say nothing?

Family disputes carry a weight that ordinary commercial cases do not. We handle them with discretion, and we keep our focus on your financial interests while we look for the resolution that lets you move forward, whether that means a buyout, a structured separation, or a courtroom fight.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Family Business Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a South Florida business and real estate litigation firm that represents business owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County and Broward County, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests here. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts between partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file, so you are not starting over each time you call. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable, and we schedule conference calls at times that work for everyone involved, which matters when family members live in different cities.

Results matter too. After a 5-day bench trial, the Broward County Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment in May 2024 awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is the kind of document-driven, detail-heavy trial work family business cases require, because these disputes usually turn on the exact wording of an agreement and the history of how the owners actually dealt with one another.

We are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that serves your goals and your budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Clients often arrive thinking they want the most aggressive lawyer available. What most want is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do.

Family Business Conflicts We Handle for Dania Beach Owners

• Sibling Co-Owners Who Inherited a Company: When a parent’s death leaves several children holding shares or membership interests, disagreements over who runs the company, who gets paid, and whether to sell can freeze operations. Remedies range from negotiated buyouts to judicial dissolution.
• Parent and Child Succession Conflicts: A founder who wants to keep control and a son or daughter who wants to modernize or take over often disagree about compensation, equity, and timing. Disputes over promised ownership are frequently tested against whatever was put in writing.
• Spouses and In-Laws Sharing Ownership: Ownership split across marriages, divorces, and extended family creates competing claims to control and distributions. We protect our client’s financial position while respecting the family dynamics.
• Missing or Diverted Company Funds: Unpaid distributions, personal expenses run through the company, commingled accounts, and a relative who cannot account for money can support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds, along with emergency relief to stop assets from being moved.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: Family companies often run on an agreement signed years ago and rarely read. Buyout formulas, transfer restrictions, and management provisions become the center of the case once trust breaks down.
• Deadlocked Management: Two sides with equal control and no way to break a tie can leave a company unable to make decisions. Under Florida’s LLC statute, deadlock combined with threatened or actual irreparable injury is one recognized ground for judicial dissolution.
• Jointly Owned Real Estate: Family-held rental buildings, commercial parcels, and inherited homes raise partition questions when co-owners disagree about keeping, renting, or selling. Partition and title disputes are a regular part of our real estate litigation practice.
• Minority Owner Oppression: A relative who holds a small stake can be frozen out of information, distributions, and decisions. We represent minority owners seeking records, a buyout at fair value, or court intervention.

What to Do Right Now When Family Owners Stop Agreeing

Start by gathering paper. Pull the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles of organization or incorporation, any buy-sell terms, loan documents, leases, tax returns, bank statements, and any emails or texts where ownership, compensation, or promises were discussed. Family businesses often run on informal understandings, so those messages can matter a great deal. Do not delete anything, and do not move money around to “protect” it; that can be used against you later.

Next, look at the clock. Florida sets different limitations periods for different claims. A claim founded on a written instrument generally must be brought within five years, while a contract claim not founded on a written instrument carries four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, subject to an outer cap of twelve years, and a request for specific performance has only one year. Because a single family dispute can involve several of these theories at once, waiting to see whether tempers cool can quietly cost you a claim.

If money is leaving the company or property is about to be transferred, the situation may call for emergency court action rather than a letter. Temporary and permanent injunctions exist for exactly this purpose, and we pursue early injunctive relief to preserve company assets and real property while the dispute is pending. In a corporate dissolution case, Florida courts may also issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve assets, and in an LLC case the court may appoint a receiver or custodian after notice to the parties and a hearing.

Know where your case would be heard. A dispute with more than modest money at stake belongs in circuit court, and for Dania Beach that is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Broward has a complex business division within its circuit civil court that handles matters such as the dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation, and a case can be directed there under the circuit’s administrative order. If the company or property also has ties to Palm Beach County, that county falls in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, may come into play when federal claims or diverse parties are involved.

Finally, resist two common mistakes. The first is confronting the other side by text or in person before you have your documents in order; angry messages tend to surface later as exhibits. The second is signing anything, including a “family compromise” or a revised agreement, without having it reviewed. A hurried signature can waive the very rights you are trying to protect.

How Florida Law Separates Family Owners When Talks Fail

Florida gives courts real tools, but the route depends on the type of entity. For limited liability companies, a member or manager can petition for judicial dissolution on grounds that include deadlock with threatened or actual irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of company assets, controlling members acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, and circumstances where it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement. In an LLC dissolution case, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. One wrinkle worth knowing: if the operating agreement contains a deadlock sale provision that was properly started before the court found deadlock grounds, that provision can take the place of a dissolution order.

For corporations, a shareholder can seek dissolution on statutory grounds, including where the corporation has abandoned its business and failed to wind up within a reasonable time. Importantly, Florida lets the corporation or other shareholders head off dissolution by electing to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value. The corporation must notify the other shareholders of that opportunity within 30 days after the proceeding begins, and if the parties agree on fair value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms. An election to buy is generally irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it, so it is a decision with consequences for both sides.

Real property gets its own track. A partition action in Florida is an equitable proceeding in which the court can divide property among co-owners or, when division would prejudice the owners, order it sold and the proceeds shared in proportion to their interests. The court appoints commissioners to evaluate whether the land can be divided fairly. Where family members inherited the property together, Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act can apply, and it adds protections such as additional steps before a forced sale. Whether a particular property qualifies depends on how title is held and how the co-owners acquired it, which is a question to answer early.

Not every family dispute should end in a courtroom. Many resolve through negotiated buyouts, structured wind-downs, mediation, or arbitration, and we prepare each case with litigation in mind so that any settlement is reached from a position of strength.

Questions Dania Beach Families Ask About Business Disputes

Can I force a relative out of a family LLC in Florida?

It depends on your operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides court remedies for serious misconduct or when the company cannot function. We review the agreement first, then outline which options exist.

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can end through a negotiated buyout, a sale of the business, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

What can I do if a family member 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 injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit over a family business dispute?

The deadline depends on the claim. Written-contract claims generally have five years, oral or implied contract claims four years, fraud four years from discovery with a twelve-year cap, and specific performance only one year. Because several theories may apply, get the dates reviewed promptly.

Does a family business dispute have to go to court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. Our attorneys have experience in all of these as well as courtroom litigation, and we pursue the path most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

What if there is no written operating or shareholder agreement?

Then Florida’s default rules fill the gaps, and the history of how the owners actually behaved becomes important evidence. Emails, tax filings, bank records, and how profits were shared can all help establish who owns what and who agreed to what.

My parent promised me ownership in the business but never put it in writing. Do I have a claim?

Possibly, but unwritten promises are harder to prove and are subject to a shorter four-year period for claims not founded on a written instrument. We look at corroborating evidence such as payments, titles, tax reporting, and consistent statements to others.

Can a sibling force the sale of property we own together?

A co-owner can ask a Florida court for partition, which may result in dividing the property or ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds. If the property qualifies as heirs property, additional statutory protections apply before a forced sale can occur.

If I live in New York or New Jersey, can you handle a Dania Beach company dispute for me?

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

Will a family business lawsuit make the company shut down?

Not necessarily. When the relationship can be saved, we work toward a resolution that keeps the business running. When it cannot, a negotiated buyout or structured wind-down often protects the company’s value better than an all-out fight.

My lawyer is in another state and my family’s company is in Florida. Can your firm work with them?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. We communicate with referring counsel throughout the matter and respect their relationship with the client.

Can I get information about the company’s finances if I am a minority owner?

Owners generally have rights to company records, and being shut out of the books is often a warning sign of larger problems. We can demand records, seek an accounting, and take the matter to court if the information is withheld.

Serving Family Business Owners Across Dania Beach and South Florida

We represent family business owners in Dania Beach and the surrounding Broward County communities, including Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Plantation, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach. Our reach continues north into Palm Beach County, where we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Jupiter. Clients also come to us from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with company interests or co-owned property in South Florida, and we handle the Florida proceedings so they can protect those interests without constant travel.

Talk With a Dania Beach Family Business Dispute Lawyer

When relatives who own a company or property together can no longer agree, waiting rarely improves the position. Our Dania Beach family business litigation attorneys can review your agreements, explain your options under Florida law, and tell you plainly whether the right path is negotiation, mediation, or court. Call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation and discuss your situation.