Delray Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

If you own a share of a Delray Beach business, a restaurant, a medical practice, an investment property, or a family company, and you suspect the person running it has been putting their own interests ahead of yours, you are facing a decision that carries a clock. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Delray Beach and across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and a Delray Beach breach of fiduciary duty attorney is often the first call these owners make once the numbers stop adding up.

Fiduciary duty claims rarely begin with a dramatic discovery. They begin with small things: distributions that stop arriving, a managing partner who will not share bank statements, an LLC member who forms a competing company down the road, a related-party contract that nobody approved. A person who manages a company, controls its money, or holds a position of trust over co-owners owes duties of loyalty and care, and when those duties are broken the law offers real remedies, including an accounting, recovery of diverted funds, removal of a manager, and in the right circumstances an order that stops assets from moving while the case is pending.

These disputes tend to unfold in phases. First comes the information gap, where the owner realizes they cannot see what they need to see. Then comes a demand for records, often met with delay or hostility. Then comes the decision about whether the problem can be negotiated, mediated, or must be filed in court. Knowing which phase you are in shapes everything that follows, and acting early usually preserves more options than waiting for certainty.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving clients in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach County, Broward County, and South Florida. The firm represents business owners, investors, and families in partnership disputes, business divorces, contract litigation, and conflicts over money and missing funds. Many of those cases are, at their core, claims that someone with control abused it. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests here also rely on the firm, which handles the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, 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 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 federal experience matters in South Florida disputes that cross state lines or involve parties who live elsewhere.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file and can answer when a client calls, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy. Recent results reflect the kind of document-heavy, wording-driven work these cases demand: after a 5-day bench trial in Broward County, the Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and they look for the resolution that serves the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Situations That Give Rise to Fiduciary Duty Claims

• Diverted or Misused Company Funds: A manager pays personal expenses from company accounts, commingles business and personal money, or cannot account for cash that came in. These cases often combine claims for an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds, and they are where emergency relief to freeze or preserve assets is most often sought.
• Self-Dealing and Related-Party Contracts: A managing member steers company business to a firm they secretly own, leases property to the company at inflated rates, or awards contracts to relatives. The core question is whether the transaction was disclosed and fair to the company and the other owners.
• Freezing Out a Minority Owner: Majority owners stop distributions, cut a minority member out of decisions, withhold financial records, or pay themselves salaries that consume all profit. Delray Beach’s many closely held companies, from hospitality businesses to professional practices, make this a recurring pattern.
• Competing With the Company: A partner or member quietly forms a rival venture, diverts clients or opportunities, or uses confidential information to build a parallel business while still drawing from the original one.
• Unpaid Distributions and Disputed Capital Contributions: Profits that should have flowed to owners are retained or redirected, or contributions one owner made are treated as loans, gifts, or nothing at all. These disputes depend on the operating agreement and the paper trail.
• Family Business Betrayals: Siblings, parents, children, or in-laws who share ownership and one of them controls the books. These cases require discretion alongside firm protection of the client’s financial interests.
• Waste and Mismanagement of Assets: Managers who let property deteriorate, sell assets below value, or take on reckless obligations. Under Florida’s LLC statute, misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury is itself a recognized ground for judicial dissolution.
• Co-Owners of Real Estate Who Act Unilaterally: One owner collects rent, takes out loans against a shared property, or keeps sale proceeds without sharing them, sometimes leading to partition or quiet title claims alongside the fiduciary claim.

What to Do in the First Weeks After You Suspect a Breach

The most useful thing you can do right away is gather what you already have a right to hold. Operating agreements, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, tax returns, K-1s, bank statements you have received, prior financial statements, emails and texts discussing money, and any amendments or side agreements all matter. Do not access accounts or systems you are not authorized to enter, and do not take originals from the company’s offices; the court will care how evidence was obtained, and an owner who overreaches can hand the other side a counterclaim. Write down a timeline of what changed and when, because the date you knew or should have known about the problem can shape how limitation periods apply.

Deadlines in Florida depend on how the claim is framed. A claim founded on a written instrument, such as an operating or shareholder agreement, has a five-year period. A contract claim not founded on a written document has four years. Fraud-based claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. Negligence-based claims are now limited to two years for causes of action that accrued after March 24, 2023, and professional malpractice claims also carry a two-year period measured from when the claim is or should have been discovered. Because a single set of facts can support several theories, each with its own period, waiting to see whether things improve can quietly cost you a claim.

Next comes the records demand. Members and shareholders generally have statutory and contractual rights to inspect company books, and a written, well-documented request often reveals a lot, either through the documents produced or through the refusal to produce them. Your attorney can send that request in a way that builds the record for court if needed. If you believe assets are about to be moved, sold, or spent, that is the point at which counsel can evaluate a motion for a temporary injunction, which asks the court to preserve the status quo while the dispute proceeds. The court must hold a hearing after notice to the parties before appointing a receiver or custodian for an LLC, so these remedies are real but procedural, and they work best when supported by organized evidence.

Where a case is filed depends on the amounts and the nature of the claims. Claims above the county court threshold belong in circuit court, which for Delray Beach residents means the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit sitting in and for Palm Beach County, with the South County Courthouse located in Delray Beach and the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. If the business or the opposing party is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, including its complex business division in Fort Lauderdale, may be the proper forum. Disputes with diversity of citizenship can also land in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale among other cities.

How a Fiduciary Duty Case Typically Unfolds

Most of these cases start with a pre-suit phase that is more important than clients expect. Your attorney reviews the governing documents to determine what duties the agreement creates, modifies, or attempts to waive, because Florida’s business entity statutes give operating agreements considerable room to define standards, and the exact wording often decides whether conduct is a breach or merely a bad business decision. The review also identifies who actually owes the duty: a manager, a controlling member, a general partner, a corporate officer or director, or in some settings a majority shareholder toward minority holders.

If the matter does not resolve through a demand letter or negotiated standstill, a complaint is filed, usually pleading breach of fiduciary duty alongside related counts such as an accounting, conversion, unjust enrichment, civil theft where facts support it, breach of the operating or shareholder agreement, and, when the relationship cannot continue, judicial dissolution or a court-ordered buyout. The statutory grounds for dissolving an LLC at a member’s request include assets being misappropriated or wasted, controlling members acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, and deadlock that threatens irreparable injury. For corporations, shareholders can pursue dissolution or other remedies, and the corporation or the other shareholders may elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, which the court will enter as an order if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election.

Discovery is where these cases are usually won or lost. Financial claims are proven through bank records, general ledgers, tax filings, and sometimes forensic accounting, and the party accused of diverting money typically controls the records. Depositions of the managers, bookkeepers, and outside accountants fill in the story. Many cases settle after discovery reveals the numbers, often through mediation, and the firm’s experience with mediation and arbitration helps when an operating agreement requires either one. When a case does not settle, it proceeds to trial before a judge or jury depending on the claims, and equitable remedies such as an accounting and removal of a manager are decided by the court.

Throughout, strategy should track the client’s actual goal. Some owners want the money back and the partner gone. Others want to stay in a business they built but with real oversight. Others simply want a clean exit at fair value. The remedies available, and the order in which they are pursued, differ for each.

Questions Delray Beach Owners Ask About Fiduciary Duty Claims

What is a breach of fiduciary duty?

It is a violation of the legal obligation of loyalty, care, or good faith owed by someone who holds a position of trust, such as a manager, partner, officer, or controlling owner. The breach causes harm when that person puts their own interests ahead of the company or the other owners.

Who owes fiduciary duties in a Florida business?

It depends on the entity and the agreement. Corporate officers and directors, general partners, and managers of LLCs commonly owe duties to the entity and its owners. Whether a particular member or shareholder owes duties to the others depends on their role, their control, and the governing documents.

How long do I have to file a breach of fiduciary duty claim?

The period depends on how the claim is pleaded. A claim founded on a written agreement carries five years, a claim on an unwritten contract carries four, and fraud-based theories run four years from discovery with a 12-year cap. Negligence-style claims arising after March 24, 2023 have only two years. A lawyer should evaluate the facts against each period promptly.

Can I recover money my partner took from the company?

Often, yes. Remedies can include an accounting, repayment of diverted funds, disgorgement of profits the fiduciary made, and in some cases additional relief depending on the conduct. Whether the recovery goes to you directly or to the company depends on whether the claim is direct or derivative.

What is the difference between a direct claim and a derivative claim?

A direct claim addresses harm done to you personally as an owner, such as being cut out of distributions. A derivative claim is brought on behalf of the company for harm done to it, such as stolen company funds, and any recovery generally goes to the company. Many cases involve both, and correct framing early avoids dismissal fights.

Can a court stop my partner from moving or spending money while the case is pending?

Possibly. Courts can issue temporary injunctions to preserve assets, and in dissolution proceedings can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. These remedies require a showing supported by evidence, so organized records make a real difference.

Does my operating agreement affect my claim?

Significantly. The agreement may define duties, limit or expand them, set rules for related-party transactions, require mediation or arbitration, and control buyout and deadlock procedures. Some agreements include a deadlock sale mechanism that, if properly initiated before a court finds deadlock grounds, applies instead of judicial dissolution.

What if the person I am accusing is a family member?

The legal analysis is the same, but the handling differs. The firm regularly represents siblings, parents, children, and in-laws who share ownership, and it approaches these cases with discretion while still protecting the client’s financial position. Mediation is frequently productive in family settings.

Do I have to prove my partner intended to steal?

Not for every theory. Breach of fiduciary duty can rest on disloyalty, self-dealing, or failure of care without proof of an intent to defraud. Other counts, such as fraud or civil theft, require additional elements, which is one reason cases are usually pleaded with several theories.

How long does a fiduciary duty case take in Palm Beach County?

There is no fixed answer. Cases that settle after records are exchanged can resolve in months, while contested cases with forensic accounting, multiple parties, and trial can take considerably longer. Palm Beach County circuit cases are assigned to case management tracks, which shapes the schedule once a case is filed.

Can I bring my claim if I live outside Florida?

Yes. The firm represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own South Florida businesses or property, keeps them informed at each stage, and handles local court appearances so they can avoid traveling for each hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if I am not sure how much was taken?

Often that uncertainty is the reason to call. A records demand and, if necessary, an accounting claim are tools designed to determine what happened. An early consultation helps you decide whether the problem calls for a letter, a negotiation, or a filing.

Serving Delray Beach Fiduciary Duty Clients Across South Florida

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents owners in Delray Beach, from the downtown Atlantic Avenue business district and the Pineapple Grove area to the neighborhoods west of Military Trail and the communities along Linton Boulevard. We also serve clients in neighboring Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Gulf Stream, and Ocean Ridge, and throughout western Palm Beach County communities such as Lake Worth Beach, Wellington, and Royal Palm Beach.

Our work extends north through Boca Raton, Lantana, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and West Palm Beach, and south into Broward County, including Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, and Hollywood.

Speak With a Delray Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer

When a partner, manager, or co-owner has abused a position of trust, the choices you make early often determine how much can be recovered and how cleanly you can separate from the problem. A conversation with a Delray Beach breach of fiduciary duty lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team lets you lay out the documents, the timeline, and your goals, and learn which claims and deadlines apply to your situation.

Call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation. We answer the phone, we return calls within 24 hours when we are in court, and we will tell you plainly whether your dispute calls for negotiation, mediation, or litigation.