Palm Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

Fiduciary claims in Palm Beach County tend to surface the same way: a distribution that never arrived, a bank statement that does not match the books, a co-owner who suddenly controls every account. These cases are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and they turn on documents, money trails, and what a manager or partner was obligated to do with other people’s interests. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and a Palm Beach breach of fiduciary duty attorney is often the first call an owner makes once trust inside a company breaks down.

A fiduciary is someone who has accepted control over another person’s financial stake. In a business, that can be an LLC manager, a managing member, a corporate officer or director, a general partner, or a majority owner whose decisions bind the minority. When that person diverts company money, hides records, favors a side deal, or runs the company for personal gain, the injured owner may have a claim for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, and recovery of what was taken.

The hard part is rarely proving that something feels wrong. It is proving what was taken, by whom, under what authority, and getting a court to act before the money is gone. That is where careful preparation and quick decisions about emergency relief matter.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Fiduciary Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s most contentious business and real estate disputes, serving clients in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s 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 at Emory University and his law degree at the University of Miami. His work has centered on contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is the ground where most fiduciary claims arise.

Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, adds years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters here because a fiduciary dispute can end up in either place. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a file knows it, and calls are returned within 24 hours when an attorney is in court.

The firm has also seen what careful trial preparation can produce. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Fiduciary cases are built the same way: from the exact language of the agreements and the full history of how the parties dealt with each other.

Clients often assume they need the loudest lawyer in the room. Mr. Schwartz’s view is that what clients really need is a lawyer who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, at a cost that makes sense against what is at stake. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as the courtroom, and it pursues the route most likely to achieve the client’s goal.

Situations That Give Rise to Fiduciary Claims Between Owners

• Diverted or Missing Company Funds: A manager or partner moves money into personal accounts, pays personal expenses through the business, or cannot account for cash that should be in company accounts. Remedies can include an accounting, recovery of the funds, and emergency relief to freeze further movement.
• Unpaid Distributions and Profit Disputes: A controlling owner stops distributing profits to minority members while paying himself or herself through salary, bonuses, or related-party contracts. The question becomes whether the compensation was authorized and fair.
• Self-Dealing and Related-Party Transactions: A manager steers company contracts, leases, or property to an entity he or she secretly owns. These claims depend on the operating agreement, disclosure, and who benefited.
• Commingled Accounts: Company and personal money are mixed together, making it impossible to trace what belongs to whom. That alone can support demands for records and a forensic accounting.
• Freeze-Outs of Minority Owners: Minority members or shareholders are cut out of decisions, denied books and records, or squeezed out through dilution or removal. Florida’s LLC and corporate statutes provide remedies, including dissolution or a court-supervised buyout in the right circumstances.
• Family Business Betrayals: A sibling, parent, or in-law running a family company treats it as personal property. These cases carry personal weight, and they call for discretion alongside firm protection of the client’s financial interest.
• Misuse of Real Estate Holdings: A partner who controls a jointly owned property entity sells, encumbers, or leases it without proper authority. Fiduciary claims often travel alongside partition, title, or quiet title actions.
• Partner Departures with Company Assets: A co-owner quietly builds a competing venture using company clients, funds, or confidential information before leaving.

What to Do If You Suspect a Partner or Manager Is Betraying Your Trust

Start by getting your hands on documents, and do it lawfully. Pull your operating agreement, shareholder agreement, or partnership agreement, along with tax returns, K-1s, bank statements you are entitled to see, financial statements, and any emails or texts that discuss money, distributions, or authority. If you are a member or shareholder, you generally have statutory rights to inspect company books and records, and a written demand is often the right opening move. Do not break into accounts, take company files you have no right to, or confront the other owner before you understand what the records show. Self-help can hand the other side a counterclaim.

Timing matters in two ways. First, claims have limitation periods. Florida gives five years for an action founded on a written instrument, and four years for contract claims not founded on a written instrument, as well as for fraud claims measured from discovery, subject to an outer cap of twelve years. Which period governs a fiduciary claim depends on how it is pleaded and what the underlying facts are, so do not guess; have the dates reviewed early. Second, money moves. If assets are being transferred or spent, waiting weeks can mean there is little left to recover. Florida courts can issue temporary injunctions and, in dissolution cases, appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, but those remedies depend on prompt, well-supported requests.

In Palm Beach County, these cases are heard in the circuit civil division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach, since disputes above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court. If your company or the defendants are in Broward County, the case may belong in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a complex business division for large business disputes and certain dissolutions. Federal court in West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale becomes an option when the parties are from different states and the amount in controversy qualifies, which comes up often with owners who live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.

The most common mistakes are waiting too long, signing a “clean-up” release or buyout term sheet without seeing the books, and letting the other owner keep control of the accounting while you negotiate. Bring your attorney in before you sign anything and before you accuse anyone.

How Fiduciary Duty Claims Fit Into Business Divorce and Dissolution

A breach of fiduciary duty claim is often one piece of a larger separation. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include misappropriation or waste of company assets that causes injury, controlling owners acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, and deadlock that threatens irreparable harm. A court that finds sufficient merit can appoint a receiver or custodian, or order a purchase of the petitioner’s interest. If the operating agreement already contains a deadlock sale provision that has been properly started, that provision can take priority over a judicial dissolution order.

For corporations, a shareholder can petition for dissolution or another statutory remedy, and the corporation or the other shareholders can respond by electing to buy out the petitioner 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 corporation must also notify other shareholders within 30 days that they can avoid dissolution by electing to purchase. During the case, a court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve corporate assets.

Choosing between a damages claim, a buyout, and dissolution is a strategic decision. A fiduciary claim can recover what was taken; dissolution or a buyout addresses whether the relationship continues at all. Often both are pursued together, with the strength of the fiduciary evidence driving the buyout price.

Questions About Breach of Fiduciary Duty in Palm Beach County

What exactly is a breach of fiduciary duty?

It is a failure by someone who holds a position of trust over your financial interests to act with loyalty and care. In a business, that usually means putting personal gain ahead of the company, hiding information, or misusing company money or property.

Who owes fiduciary duties in a Florida business?

Managers and managing members of LLCs, corporate officers and directors, and partners owe duties to the entity and, in many situations, to the other owners. The exact scope depends on the entity type, the statute, and what the operating or shareholder agreement says.

Can an operating agreement eliminate fiduciary duties?

Operating agreements can shape and, within limits, modify duties, but they cannot be used to authorize bad faith or intentional misconduct. Reading the agreement closely is one of the first things we do in any fiduciary case.

What can I recover if I win?

Depending on the facts, remedies can include repayment of diverted funds, an accounting, damages for lost profits or value, removal of a manager, a court-supervised buyout, or dissolution. A court can also issue injunctions to stop further harm while the case proceeds.

Do I have a right to see the company’s financial records?

Members and shareholders generally have statutory inspection rights, and many agreements add more. A written demand is typically the first step, and a refusal can become part of the claim.

How long do I have to file a fiduciary duty claim in Florida?

It depends on how the claim is framed. Claims founded on a written instrument carry five years, contract claims not founded on a writing carry four, and fraud claims run four years from discovery with a twelve-year outer limit. Because these periods differ, get the timeline reviewed promptly rather than assuming the longest one applies.

Can I stop my partner from moving money while the case is pending?

Often, yes. The firm is experienced in obtaining temporary and permanent injunctions, including early and emergency relief, to preserve company assets. Courts require a factual showing, so the quality of your documentation matters.

What if my partner is also a family member?

The legal analysis is the same, but the handling is different. We approach family business disputes with discretion and look for resolutions that protect the client’s finances without needlessly burning relationships, while being ready to litigate when there is no alternative.

How long does a fiduciary duty case take in the Fifteenth Circuit?

Timelines vary with the complexity of the accounting, the number of parties, and whether emergency relief is needed. Palm Beach County assigns civil cases to case management tracks, and many disputes resolve through mediation or a negotiated buyout well before trial. A case that goes to a bench trial takes longer but can produce a detailed final judgment.

Can I bring a claim if I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut?

Yes. The firm regularly represents out-of-state owners whose partners or assets are in South Florida. We handle the court appearances and keep you updated so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth pursuing if the amount is modest?

That depends on the evidence and cost. Smaller disputes may belong in county court, and many can be resolved with a demand letter or mediation. A candid early assessment of what is realistically recoverable helps you decide whether litigation makes financial sense.

Do you work with other lawyers on these cases?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out-of-state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. We keep referring counsel informed and respect their relationship with the client.

Palm Beach Fiduciary Duty Representation Across South Florida

The firm represents clients from West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens through Jupiter, Juno Beach, Riviera Beach, and Lake Worth Beach. Farther south in Palm Beach County, we serve Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton, along with Belle Glade and communities in western Palm Beach County. Business owners in these areas bring us disputes over closely held companies, real estate partnerships, medical and professional practices, and family-owned enterprises.

We also serve Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Hollywood, and the surrounding communities. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida are a regular part of our practice, and we handle the local proceedings on their behalf. Whether your co-owner is across town or across the country, the case is built the same way: from the records, the agreements, and the facts.

Speak With a Palm Beach Fiduciary Duty Lawyer Before Assets Disappear

If you believe a partner, manager, or controlling owner has misused company money or abused your trust, the sooner the records are reviewed, the more options you keep. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can assess whether you have a claim, whether emergency relief is warranted, and whether the better path is a negotiated exit or litigation. Contact our team to discuss your situation with a Palm Beach fiduciary duty lawyer who will give you a straight evaluation and a practical plan.