Lake Worth Beach Family Business Dispute Attorney

In Palm Beach County, a fight between relatives who own a company together usually lands in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and it rarely stays a simple lawsuit. The same facts can support a contract claim, a fiduciary duty claim, a request for an accounting, and a petition to dissolve the company, each with its own rules and deadlines. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate disputes for owners in Lake Worth Beach and across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and family-owned companies are a regular part of that work.

If you are searching for a Lake Worth Beach family business dispute attorney, you are probably dealing with some version of the same problem: a sibling, parent, child, spouse, or in-law who owns part of the business has stopped working with you, or is working against you. Maybe the money no longer adds up. Maybe nobody can agree on who runs the company, or whether it should be sold. What follows covers how these disputes actually work under Florida law, what you can do right now, and what outcomes are realistic.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s most difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties. 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 among 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, which means everyone working on your matter knows the file. That matters in family disputes, where a case can turn on years of history between the owners. The firm also keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy and schedules conference calls at times that work for everyone involved.

On the results side, the firm recently won a 32-page final judgment after a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and Andrew’s own view is that clients who first ask for a hyper-aggressive lawyer usually want someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, at a cost that makes sense.

The Kinds of Family Business Conflicts We See

• Siblings Who Inherited a Company: When a parent dies and leaves a business to several children, they often end up as co-owners with different goals. One wants to sell, one wants to keep running it, and one has been working there for years without a title. Disputes over control, salary, and buyout price are common.
• Parents and Children with Different Visions: A founder who will not step back, or a next generation that wants to modernize or cash out, can deadlock management. Unclear ownership percentages and informal handshake arrangements make these cases harder.
• Spouses and In-Laws Who Share Ownership: Ownership that began as a marriage-era arrangement can become a separate fight once the relationship changes, particularly over who holds membership or shares and what they are worth.
• Missing or Diverted Money: Unpaid distributions, personal expenses run through the company, commingled accounts, and a relative who cannot account for company funds can support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of the money.
• Minority Owners Being Squeezed Out: A relative who controls the company may cut off distributions, remove someone from management, or withhold records. Florida law gives minority owners real remedies, but they depend on the entity type and the operating or shareholder agreement.
• Breaches of Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Family companies often run on a short or outdated agreement. These cases turn on the precise wording of the document and the history of how the family actually operated.
• Jointly Owned Real Estate: Many family businesses hold the building, land, or rental properties separately. When co-owners cannot agree, a partition action or quiet title case may be part of the picture.
• Emergency Situations: Assets being moved, accounts drained, or locks changed may call for a temporary injunction before the dispute is resolved.

What to Do Right Now If You Are in a Dispute With a Family Co-Owner

Start with the documents, because everything else depends on them. Gather the articles of organization or incorporation, the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any buy-sell terms, tax returns, bank statements, financial statements, loan documents, leases, and emails or texts that show how decisions were made. If you are a member or shareholder, you generally have a right to see company records, so a written request for them is often a sensible early move. Save copies somewhere the other owner cannot access, and do not delete anything, even if it looks unflattering.

Next, pay attention to the clock. In Florida, a claim founded on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while a claim on an oral or implied agreement has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer cap of 12 years. Negligence claims were cut to two years in 2023, and professional malpractice claims also carry a two-year period. A claim for specific performance has just one year. Family disputes tend to simmer for a long time, so it is easy to wait past a deadline without realizing it.

Avoid the mistakes that make cases harder. Do not take money or property from the business to even the score; it hands the other side a counterclaim. Do not lock a relative out, change passwords, or move accounts without advice. Do not sign a buyout or “family agreement” under pressure without having it reviewed. And be careful about what you write in texts and emails, because family arguments leave a long paper trail.

On where a case goes, Lake Worth Beach is in Palm Beach County, so most of these cases are filed in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Under Florida’s current jurisdictional lines, county court handles civil disputes up to a set dollar ceiling, and larger disputes belong in circuit court. Business dissolution, injunctions, and accounting claims typically belong in circuit court. If a co-owner or the company is in Broward County, a case may instead be heard by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, whose complex business divisions handle dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale and can be involved when federal claims or out-of-state parties are present.

Finally, talk to a lawyer before you make a move you cannot undo. Many family disputes can be settled through negotiation or mediation, and an early conversation often clarifies whether your goal is to stay in the business, get bought out, or end the company.

How Florida Law Handles Deadlock, Dissolution, and Buyouts Between Relatives

When family owners cannot agree, the law has structured ways out. For an LLC, a circuit court may dissolve the company on a petition by a member or manager on several grounds, including that managers or members are deadlocked and cannot break the deadlock while irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring, that assets are being misappropriated or wasted, that controlling members have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, or that it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement. The court can also appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. If your operating agreement has a deadlock sale provision and it is started before the court finds deadlock grounds, that provision can take the place of a judicial dissolution order.

Corporations have their own track. A shareholder can petition for judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, including that the corporation has abandoned its business and failed to liquidate within a reasonable time. Once a shareholder files on certain grounds, the corporation or the other shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value, which often steers a case toward a buyout rather than a shutdown. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. The corporation must also notify other shareholders within 30 days of the filing that they may avoid dissolution by buying out the petitioner. During the case, a court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take steps to preserve company assets.

Real estate adds another layer. Florida courts can partition jointly owned property, either dividing it or ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds. If the property is heirs property, meaning co-owned land where title came from a relative and certain conditions are met, a separate set of protections applies, including a requirement that commissioners weigh specific factors before the court orders a division in kind. Where title itself is clouded, a quiet title action asks the court to cancel competing claims and settle ownership.

Common Questions About Family Business Disputes in Lake Worth Beach

What is a family business dispute, legally?

There is no separate legal category. It is a business dispute between owners who happen to be related. The claims are the usual ones: breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, accounting, dissolution, and sometimes injunctive relief. The family relationship changes the dynamics, not the underlying law.

Can I force a relative out of the business?

It depends on your operating or shareholder agreement and on what the other owner has done. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation terms, and Florida law offers remedies for serious misconduct or when a company can no longer function. Without those tools, the realistic options are usually a negotiated buyout or court-ordered dissolution.

What if my sibling is taking money from the company?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of the funds. If assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can issue emergency injunctive relief while the case is pending.

We never had a written operating agreement. Does that matter?

It matters, but it does not leave you without rights. Florida’s statutes supply default rules when an agreement is silent, and the way the family actually ran the business can be important evidence. Without a written agreement, though, proof gets harder, which is why early document gathering is so important.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit?

For a written contract, generally five years. For an oral or implied agreement, four years. Fraud is four years from discovery, subject to a 12-year outer limit. Specific performance has a one-year period. Because different claims in the same dispute can carry different deadlines, it is worth having them mapped out early.

Do all of these cases end up in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when the relatives want to preserve some relationship or the business itself. Our attorneys have experience in all of those settings as well as in trial.

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

Yes, in appropriate circumstances. In dissolution proceedings, a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, and it can issue injunctions to preserve assets. These are significant steps and usually require a showing of real risk to the company.

My family owns the building as well as the business. Does that change anything?

It can. Real estate owned by co-owners can be the subject of a partition action, and title disputes may call for a quiet title case. Those claims are often coordinated with the business claims so the family is not fighting on two disconnected fronts.

I live out of state. Can I still handle this?

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

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a small family company?

Often, yes, because the amount at stake is not just the company’s value but control, income, and property. A short consultation can clarify your rights and whether a negotiated resolution is realistic before costs climb.

What happens to my ownership if the business is dissolved?

Dissolution leads to winding up: the company stops regular operations, pays debts, and distributes what remains to the owners according to their interests. In many cases a buyout is better than a shutdown, which is why valuation is often the central issue.

Serving Family Business Owners From Lake Worth Beach Across South Florida

We represent family business owners in Lake Worth Beach and the neighboring communities of Lantana, Palm Springs, Greenacres, Atlantis, Haverhill, and Lake Clarke Shores. Our work extends north through West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Boynton Beach, and Wellington, and into Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, and Palm Beach Gardens. Farther south in Palm Beach County, we serve clients in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Highland Beach.

Our reach continues into Broward County, including Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Hollywood, and the surrounding area. We also work with clients across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own businesses or real estate in Palm Beach and Broward Counties, and with other attorneys who refer matters that need a South Florida litigator.

Talk to a Lake Worth Beach Family Business Attorney About Your Dispute

When the people you are fighting are the people you share holidays with, the right approach is rarely the loudest one. A Lake Worth Beach family business attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, explain your options under Florida law, and help you decide whether to negotiate a buyout, pursue dissolution, or ask a court for emergency relief. Call us to schedule a consultation and talk through where your company and your family stand.