Palm Beach County Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

A fiduciary duty claim is rarely about a single bad decision. It is about a person who was trusted with control over someone else’s money, property, or ownership stake and used that control to serve themselves instead. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County who have discovered that a partner, co-member, manager, or other insider put their own interests ahead of the company, and we handle these disputes in the circuit court and in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration when those routes make more sense.

If you are searching for a Palm Beach County breach of fiduciary duty attorney, you are probably holding a set of facts that do not add up: distributions that stopped arriving, an account that cannot be explained, a deal that closed without your input, or a co-owner who suddenly controls everything. Fiduciary claims turn on what the person owed you, what they did with the authority they held, and what proof exists. Those are questions we work through early, because the answers shape whether the best move is a demand letter, an emergency injunction, or a full lawsuit.

What Makes Someone a Fiduciary, and What Do They Owe You?

A fiduciary is someone the law holds to a higher standard than an ordinary business counterparty. Officers and directors of a corporation owe duties to the company and its shareholders. Managers and managing members of an LLC owe duties to the company and, depending on the circumstances and the operating agreement, to the other members. General partners owe duties to the partnership and to each other. Trustees, agents acting under a power of attorney, and others who hold discretionary control over another person’s assets can fall into the same category.

The core obligations are loyalty and care. Loyalty means no self-dealing, no diverting opportunities that belong to the company, and no quietly benefiting at the entity’s expense. Care means acting with the attentiveness a reasonable person would bring to managing something that belongs to others. Operating agreements and shareholder agreements can shape how these duties apply, and sometimes they try to narrow them, which is one reason the actual documents matter so much. We read the agreement and the history of how the parties actually behaved before telling a client what the claim looks like.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Palm Beach County, including West Palm Beach and Boca Raton, along with Broward County and the rest of South Florida. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz 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 in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His practice has been built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is the setting where most fiduciary claims arise.

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. That matters in Palm Beach County because disputes between co-owners sometimes end up in the Southern District of Florida, and the team is comfortable in both settings. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court and cannot pick up right away.

On the results side, a recent five-day bench trial ended with a 32-page final judgment from the Broward County Circuit Court awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Fiduciary cases are won the same way: by preparing the documents, the money trail, and the testimony carefully enough that a judge can follow what happened. Andrew puts it simply: clients often think they want the most aggressive lawyer available, but what they usually want is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. We also pay attention to cost, because legal fees that outweigh the amount in dispute are no victory.

Common Situations That Give Rise to Fiduciary Claims

• Diverted Company Funds: A manager or partner moves money out of company accounts for personal use, pays personal expenses through the business, or routes revenue to a side entity. These cases often involve commingled accounts and call for an accounting.
• Self-Dealing Transactions: An insider causes the company to buy from, sell to, or lease from an entity they secretly own, usually at terms that favor them. The question is whether the deal was disclosed, approved, and fair.
• Usurped Business Opportunities: A partner learns of a deal, property, or client relationship through the company and takes it for themselves instead of offering it to the business.
• Freeze-Outs of Minority Owners: Majority members or controlling shareholders cut a minority owner out of information, distributions, or decisions, sometimes while paying themselves salaries or fees that drain profits.
• Unpaid Distributions and Disputed Capital Contributions: Profits that should have been shared are withheld or recharacterized, or contributions one owner made are denied or ignored when ownership percentages are calculated.
• Family Business Betrayals: Siblings, parents, children, and in-laws who share ownership may face conduct that would be hard enough from a stranger. These disputes need discretion alongside firm protection of the client’s financial interests.
• Real Estate Held Jointly: A co-owner or managing partner of a property-holding entity sells, encumbers, or retitles real estate without proper authority, or collects rents and keeps them. These claims sometimes overlap with title disputes, quiet title actions, and partition.
• Abuse of Authority by Agents and Managers: Someone acting under a power of attorney or management agreement uses that authority to benefit themselves rather than the person or entity they represent.

What to Do If You Suspect a Partner or Manager Has Breached Their Duty

Start by collecting what you already have a right to see. Operating agreements, shareholder agreements, partnership agreements, bank and brokerage statements, tax returns, K-1s, financial statements, emails, and texts between owners all matter. As an owner or member you generally have access to company records, and requesting them in writing creates a record of what you asked for and how the other side responded. A refusal is itself useful information. Keep copies somewhere the other owner cannot reach, and do not log into shared accounts or cloud folders in ways that could later be portrayed as improper access.

Timing matters more than most people expect. Florida’s limitations periods depend on how the claim is framed. A claim founded on a written instrument carries a five-year period, while claims not founded on a written instrument carry four years, and fraud has its own four-year clock that starts at discovery with an outer cap of 12 years. Negligence-based theories are now subject to a shorter two-year period for claims that arose after the 2023 change in the law, and professional malpractice theories also carry two years from discovery. Because fiduciary claims often plead several theories at once, the safest approach is to treat the earliest possible deadline as the real one and get the facts reviewed promptly.

If money or property is actively moving, say so immediately, because the remedy may need to come before the case does. Florida courts can issue temporary injunctions to stop assets from being moved, spent, or transferred while a dispute is pending, and in an LLC or corporate dissolution proceeding the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. In Palm Beach County, these cases are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, whose circuit civil division sits at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, with other courthouses serving the north, south, and western parts of the county. Claims involving amounts above the county court limit belong in circuit court, and federal court in West Palm Beach becomes an option when there is a proper basis for federal jurisdiction, which is sometimes the case with out-of-state owners.

Avoid the common mistakes. Do not confront the other owner with accusations before you understand what the records show, because that invites document destruction and asset movement. Do not sign a new agreement, release, or amendment presented to you in the middle of a dispute without having it reviewed. And do not assume that a friendly relationship or a family tie means the problem will resolve itself. Many of these matters settle, but they settle better when the other side knows you have a clear picture of what happened.

Remedies Available When a Fiduciary Breaches Their Duty

The remedy depends on what was lost and who is entitled to it. The most common is money damages: the amount diverted, the profits that should have been shared, or the loss the company or owner suffered because of the conduct. Courts can also order an accounting when the books cannot explain where money went, which forces the fiduciary to document how funds were handled. Where a fiduciary profited personally, the law can require them to give up those gains, whether or not the company can prove it would otherwise have earned the same money.

Equitable relief is often as important as damages. Beyond injunctions, a court may be asked to remove a manager, appoint a receiver or custodian, or order dissolution of the business. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury, controlling members acting or reasonably expected to act illegally or fraudulently, deadlock that threatens irreparable harm, or the practical impossibility of carrying on according to the operating agreement. In a dissolution case, the court may order the purchase of a petitioning member’s interest instead of shutting the business down. For corporations, the shareholder dissolution statute is similar in spirit, and the corporation or the other shareholders can elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, with the court entering a purchase order if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election.

Each of these paths affects the others. A buyout is often the cleanest ending to a business divorce, but only if the valuation reflects what the fiduciary took. An aggressive dissolution petition can bring a stubborn partner to the table, but it can also freeze operations and cost a business its customers. We talk through those trade-offs openly, because the right remedy is the one that serves the client’s actual goals and budget.

Palm Beach County Fiduciary Duty Questions, Answered

What is a breach of fiduciary duty in a business setting?

It happens when someone who owes a duty of loyalty or care to a company or its owners acts in a way that puts their own interests first or fails to exercise reasonable care, and the company or owners are harmed as a result. Typical examples include self-dealing, diverting funds, taking company opportunities, and hiding information from co-owners.

Who counts as a fiduciary in an LLC or corporation?

Managers and managing members of an LLC, and officers and directors of a corporation, are the usual starting points. Controlling shareholders and members can also owe duties in some situations. The operating agreement or shareholder agreement and the way the business has actually been run both affect the analysis.

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

It depends on how the claim is pleaded. A claim founded on a written agreement has a five-year period, while claims not founded on a written instrument have four years. Fraud-based claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. Negligence-style theories now have a two-year period for causes of action that arose after the March 2023 change. Because different theories can apply to the same facts, it is best to have the timeline reviewed as soon as you suspect a problem.

Can I sue my business partner if I think they are taking money?

Yes, if you have a reasonable basis. Claims commonly include breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. If assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can be asked for injunctive relief while the case is pending.

Do I need to prove my partner stole money, or is mismanagement enough?

Theft is not required. A fiduciary can breach their duty through self-dealing, undisclosed conflicts, waste, or a failure to act with reasonable care. The strength of a mismanagement claim often depends on the operating agreement, since some agreements limit liability for ordinary business errors while still prohibiting disloyalty and bad faith.

What if my operating agreement says the manager has broad discretion?

Broad discretion helps a manager defend decisions made in good faith, but it does not give license to loot the company or to act dishonestly. Courts look at the specific language and whether the conduct was a legitimate business judgment or a disguised benefit to the manager. That is why we read the agreement closely before advising on the claim.

Can a court remove a manager or break up the company?

Possibly. In an LLC dissolution proceeding, a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, and it may order dissolution on statutory grounds such as asset misappropriation or deadlock causing irreparable harm. A court can also order the purchase of a petitioning member’s interest instead of dissolving the business. Which outcome is realistic depends on the facts and the agreement.

What if my partner’s conduct involves real estate we own together?

Fiduciary claims often overlap with property disputes. Depending on how title is held, the right tools might include claims against the fiduciary, a quiet title action to clear competing ownership claims, or a partition action asking the court to divide the property or order its sale. We handle both the fiduciary and the real estate sides of these disputes.

Can an out-of-state owner bring a fiduciary claim in Palm Beach County?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own businesses or property here and have a partner or co-owner in South Florida. We handle the Florida court proceedings and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Does every fiduciary dispute have to go to trial?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, sometimes after an early injunction or accounting demand changes the other side’s incentives. We are experienced in alternative dispute resolution as well as courtroom litigation, and we pursue the route most likely to reach your goals efficiently.

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

It varies with the complexity of the finances, how much discovery is needed, and whether the other side cooperates. Cases involving emergency injunctions move quickly at the start, while full accountings and trials take longer. We give clients a realistic picture early and revisit it as the case develops.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the amount involved is modest?

Often it is worth at least a consultation. Smaller disputes may be resolved with a well-drafted demand and a records request, without a full lawsuit. We will tell you candidly if the cost of litigating would outweigh what you could recover.

Serving Fiduciary Duty Clients Across Palm Beach County

We represent business owners, investors, and families throughout Palm Beach County, from West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens to Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach. Our clients also come from Lake Worth, Jupiter, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Greenacres, as well as Riviera Beach, North Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Lantana, and Belle Glade in the western part of the county. Whether the dispute involves a company based along the Dixie Highway corridor, a family business in Wellington, or an investment property shared among relatives, we handle the court appearances and keep clients informed.

Our reach continues south into neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, and across South Florida generally. We also serve clients who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and have business or real estate interests in Palm Beach County and Broward County.

Speak With a Palm Beach County Fiduciary Duty Lawyer

If a partner, manager, or co-owner has put their own interests ahead of yours, the sooner the facts are reviewed, the more options you tend to have. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can look at the agreements, the financial records, and the timeline, and tell you plainly what claims and remedies are realistic. As a Palm Beach County breach of fiduciary duty attorney team, we will explain the path forward in terms that match your goals and budget. Call us to schedule a consultation.