Miramar Family Business Dispute Attorney

Miramar families who run companies together eventually face a choice no spreadsheet can settle: keep fighting inside the business, negotiate a separation, or ask a court to step in. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate disputes for owners in Miramar and across Broward County and Palm Beach County, and we guide people through that choice with discretion and an eye on what the company and the family can actually afford.

A Miramar family business dispute attorney works in territory where the legal documents and the household are tangled together. Siblings who inherited a company, parents and grown children with different plans for it, spouses or in-laws holding shares: the agreement on paper often says one thing while years of handshake dealings say another. Sorting out which one controls is usually the first real question in the case.

The decisions come fast. Do you demand an accounting? Seek a buyout? Ask a court to dissolve the company? Or try mediation first? Each path has consequences for the business, for your relatives, and for your finances, and some of them cannot be undone once started.

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 difficult business and real estate disputes, serving Miramar, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and the rest of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Our work centers on business divorce, partnership and LLC member disputes, complex contract litigation, missing-funds cases, partition actions, title disputes, and injunctions.

Andrew M. Schwartz, our founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. His career has been built around 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 your file. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy. And we are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, which matters in family disputes where a negotiated outcome often preserves more than a verdict.

We also have trial results to point to. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Cases that turn on the exact wording of an agreement and the history between the parties are the ones we prepare most carefully. Andrew’s own view is that clients often start out wanting the most aggressive lawyer available, when what they need is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do.

Types of Family Business Disputes We Handle

• Sibling Disputes Over an Inherited Company: Brothers and sisters who received ownership together often disagree on pay, reinvestment, and whether to sell. Claims can include breach of the operating or shareholder agreement and breach of fiduciary duty.
• Parent and Child Control Conflicts: A founder who will not step back, or a next generation pushing for changes, can leave management deadlocked. Buyouts and restructured ownership are common resolutions.
• Spouse and In-Law Ownership Disputes: When a marriage, a family rift, or a death changes who holds shares or membership interests, questions of control, compensation, and valuation follow.
• Missing or Diverted Company Money: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and relatives who cannot account for funds can support claims for an accounting and recovery, along with emergency relief to stop assets from being moved.
• Minority Owner Squeeze-Outs: A relative holding a smaller stake may be shut out of decisions, information, or profits. Florida’s statutes give minority owners specific remedies, including court-supervised purchase of their interest.
• Judicial Dissolution: When owners are deadlocked, assets are being wasted, or the company cannot reasonably operate under its agreement, a court can be asked to dissolve it or order another remedy.
• Family-Owned Real Estate: Jointly held rental or commercial property can become a partition or title dispute when relatives disagree about keeping, selling, or dividing it.
• Injunctions to Freeze the Status Quo: Temporary and permanent injunctions can stop a relative from draining accounts, locking others out, or transferring property while the case proceeds.

What to Do Now If a Family Member Is Your Business Problem

Start by gathering paper, quietly. Operating agreements, shareholder agreements, buy-sell provisions, tax returns, bank statements, capital contribution records, and any emails or texts that show what each owner was promised. Do not take originals from company premises or access accounts you are not authorized to see. Copies of what you are entitled to review are enough, and overreaching can hand the other side a counterclaim.

Next, read your agreement for exit mechanics. Some contain buyout formulas, deadlock sale provisions, or mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses. Florida’s LLC and corporation statutes treat such provisions seriously; a deadlock sale clause that is properly started can displace a court-ordered dissolution. Starting a lawsuit before checking these terms can waste time or hurt your position.

Watch the clock. A claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while claims on oral or implied agreements have four. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. A suit seeking specific performance has just one year. Which deadline applies depends on how the claim is framed, so do not wait to find out.

If money is leaving the company, say so early. A court can issue injunctive relief and, in a dissolution case, appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. Delay lets assets disappear.

Where your case will be heard depends on the dispute. Miramar sits in Broward County, whose circuit court is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Claims above the county court limit belong in circuit court, and Broward has complex business divisions for matters such as dissolutions of certain entities and large business litigation. Cases involving property held across county lines may land in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County. Federal cases go to the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Finally, avoid the common mistakes: confronting a relative in writing with accusations, firing a family member without checking the agreement, or signing a “family settlement” drafted by the other side. Call us before you act.

How Florida Law Lets Owners Separate

For an LLC, a member or manager can ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds: unlawful conduct of the business, it not being reasonably practicable to operate under the articles and operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury, or a deadlock among managers or members that threatens irreparable injury. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian, or order the company to buy out the petitioning member’s interest.

For a corporation, a shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, including abandonment of the business. Once such a case is filed, the corporation must notify the other shareholders within 30 days that they can avoid dissolution by electing to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. An election to buy is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. During the case, the court can issue injunctions and preserve assets.

Many family disputes never reach a verdict. A negotiated buyout, a structured wind-down, or a mediated agreement can end the conflict faster and at lower cost, and we pursue whichever route fits your goals and budget.

When the Dispute Is Over a Family-Owned Property

Florida partition actions are brought in chancery and ask the court either to divide jointly owned land or to order a sale and split the proceeds. If the court finds that a division would prejudice the owners, it may order a public sale. Where relatives inherited the property, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act can apply, which changes how the court handles the case and adds protections before a forced sale. Quiet title actions, available in any county where part of the land lies, clear competing ownership claims. Because these cases turn on how title is held, we review the deed history first.

Family Business Dispute Questions Miramar Owners Ask

Can a family member be forced out of a Florida LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements contain expulsion or buyout provisions, and Florida law provides remedies for serious misconduct or when the company cannot function. We review the document before recommending a course.

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether through a negotiated buyout, a sale, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

What if my sibling is taking money from the business?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of funds. In urgent cases, a court can order injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent.

How long do I have to sue over a broken family business agreement?

Five years for a written contract, four years for oral or implied agreements, and four years from discovery for fraud, capped at 12 years. A specific performance action must be filed within one year.

Does a handshake deal among family members count?

Oral agreements can be enforced, but proving their terms is harder, and the filing period is four years rather than five. Emails, texts, and the parties’ conduct over time often decide these cases.

Can a court order a relative to buy my share?

In an LLC dissolution case, a court may order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. For corporations, shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value to avoid dissolution.

What if our operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If properly initiated before a court finds deadlock grounds, that clause generally applies in place of a judicial dissolution order. Timing and compliance with the agreement matter, so get advice before triggering or responding to one.

Can I stop a relative from selling company assets while the case is pending?

Often, yes. Temporary injunctions, including emergency relief, can preserve assets and the status quo, and courts in dissolution proceedings can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing.

Which Miramar-area court will hear my case?

Miramar is in Broward County, so most cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Larger business disputes may be assigned to a complex business division, and some cases belong in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

Do I have to litigate, or can this be settled privately?

Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when family relationships matter. Check whether your agreement requires one of those steps first.

I live in New York or New Jersey but co-own a Florida company with relatives. Can you help?

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

Will fighting in court destroy the business?

It can if handled carelessly. We look for resolutions that keep operations running where possible, and we use early, targeted relief rather than drawn-out litigation when that serves you better.

Serving Family Business Owners From Miramar Across South Florida

We represent family business owners in Miramar and throughout Broward County, including Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Pembroke Park, West Park, Hallandale Beach, Davie, Cooper City, Southwest Ranches, Weston, Plantation, Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach. Our work also reaches into Palm Beach County, where we serve clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, and West Palm Beach.

Whether the disagreement involves a company storefront, a shared investment property, or an inherited business with relatives scattered between Florida and the Northeast, our team handles the dispute from filing through resolution.

Talk With a Miramar Family Business Dispute Lawyer Today

The sooner you understand your agreement, your deadlines, and your options, the more choices you keep. If a relative is shutting you out, mishandling company money, or pushing you toward a sale you did not agree to, speak with a Miramar family business dispute lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before the situation hardens.

Call our firm to schedule a consultation. We answer the phone, and if we are in court, we return calls within 24 hours.