Palm Beach County Family Business Dispute Attorney

The goal in most family business fights is not winning for its own sake. It is getting the company, the property, or the money back on a footing where the owners can either keep working together or separate without wrecking what the family built. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles Palm Beach County family business dispute attorney matters for siblings, parents and children, spouses, in-laws, and longtime friends who co-own companies and real estate, serving clients in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and throughout South Florida.

These cases have a different texture than a dispute between strangers. A brother who stopped taking calls also holds half the voting power. A parent who never wrote anything down is now arguing about what was promised twenty years ago. The first decision is usually whether the goal is repair, a buyout, or a clean break, and everything that follows depends on it.

Florida gives co-owners real tools, including judicial dissolution, court-supervised buyouts, receivers, accountings, partition, and injunctions. Which one fits depends on how the business is organized, what the governing documents say, and how fast assets are moving.

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 business and real estate disputes. Founder Andrew M. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). His practice has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is exactly the ground family business fights cover.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. That matters when a dispute may land in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County or move to the Southern District of Florida.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file. Calls are answered, and the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court. Mr. Schwartz’s own view, drawn from decades of practice, is that clients often arrive wanting a hyper-aggressive lawyer but really want someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. In a family dispute, that judgment is often the difference between a deal and a scorched-earth case.

Recent results include a final judgment after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, a 32-page order awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and a significant part of its work comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes.

Common Family Business Disputes We Handle

• Deadlocked Siblings Who Inherited a Company: Equal owners with opposite visions can freeze hiring, banking, and sales. Florida’s LLC statute recognizes deadlock with threatened irreparable injury as a ground for judicial dissolution, and corporations have parallel remedies.
• Parent and Child Control Disputes: A founder who will not hand over authority, or a child who has taken it without agreement, raises questions of fiduciary duty, compensation, and who actually owns what.
• Oral Promises and Undocumented Arrangements: Many family businesses run on handshakes. Claims on a written agreement carry a five-year limitations period, while oral or implied contract claims carry four, so the form of the deal affects how long you have.
• Missing or Diverted Company Funds: Unpaid distributions, personal expenses run through the business, commingled accounts, and a relative who cannot explain where money went support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds.
• Minority Owner Freeze-Outs: A family member holding a smaller stake may be cut out of information, distributions, or decisions. Remedies range from a negotiated buyout to a court-ordered purchase of the petitioner’s interest.
• Shared Real Estate Among Relatives: Family-owned buildings and investment property often sit in tenancy in common. When co-owners cannot agree, partition may follow, and Florida’s heirs property rules can apply when title passed down through relatives.
• Spouses and In-Laws as Co-Owners: Ownership that began as a marriage-era arrangement can become a business dispute when relationships end, with control, valuation, and exit terms all contested.
• Title and Ownership Clouds: When competing claims or an improper conveyance cloud who holds a property, a quiet title action asks the court to decide ownership and clear the record.

What to Do in the First Weeks of a Family Business Conflict

Start by securing information. Gather the articles of organization or incorporation, the operating or shareholder agreement, tax returns, bank and credit card statements, loan documents, leases, and any emails or texts that show what was agreed. If you are an owner, you generally have a right to see company records, and asking for them in writing creates a useful paper trail.

Next, read the governing documents before you do anything else. Many contain buyout formulas, deadlock sale provisions, mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses, and rules on removing a manager. Florida’s LLC statute makes a deadlock sale provision that is properly started before the court finds grounds for dissolution take the place of a dissolution order, so the order of your moves can matter. A single clause can decide whether you file in court or go to arbitration first.

Watch the calendar. Written contract claims have a five-year limitations period, oral contract claims four, fraud four years from discovery with an outer cap of twelve, and an action for specific performance only one. Do not assume a family dispute gets slack because everyone is related.

If money or property is moving, say so early. A court can order injunctive relief to stop assets from being transferred or spent, and in a dissolution case can appoint a receiver or custodian, though only after notice and a hearing. Delay can make the difference between freezing an account and chasing funds that are gone.

Avoid the common mistakes. Do not lock the other owner out of the premises, drain accounts in retaliation, or send angry messages you would not want read aloud in court. Do not sign a buyout or release drafted by the other side without review. And do not wait for a family meeting to fix it when documents and deadlines are already working against you.

In Palm Beach County, business cases above the county court limit are heard in the Circuit Civil Division of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. Disputes involving Broward County property or owners are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a complex business division for matters including dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. Federal court, with sessions in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, may come into play where jurisdiction exists.

Ways a Family Business Dispute Actually Ends

Most do not end with a dramatic trial. The realistic outcomes are a negotiated buyout, a sale of the whole business, a structured wind-down, or a court order. Each has different tax, valuation, and relationship consequences.

For corporations, Florida law offers a particular path. When a shareholder petitions for dissolution on certain grounds, the corporation, or other shareholders if it does not act, may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares 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 notify the other shareholders of this option within 30 days after the proceeding begins, and an election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it.

For LLCs, a court that finds sufficient merit can appoint a receiver or custodian, or order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased. Grounds for judicial dissolution include conduct that makes it not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement, controlling members acting illegally or fraudulently, misappropriation or waste of assets, and unbreakable deadlock causing irreparable harm.

Real estate adds another route. A partition action asks the court to divide property or, when division is impractical, order a sale with proceeds shared by ownership interest. Commissioners are appointed to evaluate whether a physical division would prejudice the owners. When property qualifies as heirs property, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act adds protections, including a requirement that partition in kind be considered by reference to specific statutory factors before a sale is ordered.

The point of sorting this out early is simple. Choosing the right path at the start saves more money and goodwill than any tactic used later.

Questions About Family Business Disputes in Palm Beach County

Can I sue a family member who co-owns my business?

Yes. Being related does not shield an owner from claims for breach of the operating or shareholder agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, or recovery of diverted funds. Whether suing is wise is a separate question, and many disputes resolve through negotiation or mediation first.

What if we never signed an operating agreement?

Florida’s default statutory rules then fill the gaps, which may not match what the family assumed. Ownership percentages, management authority, and exit rights can all become contested, so it helps to gather every document, bank record, and message showing how the business actually ran.

Can a court order a family member to buy me out?

In some situations. In an LLC dissolution proceeding, a court with sufficient reason can order purchase of a petitioning member’s interest. For corporations, the statute allows the company or other shareholders to elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value to avoid dissolution.

How long do I have to file suit?

It depends on the claim. Written contract claims have five years, oral or implied contract claims four, rescission four, fraud four years from discovery with a twelve-year outer limit, and specific performance one year. Calculating the correct deadline requires knowing when the claim accrued.

What does judicial dissolution mean, and is it the same as closing the company?

Judicial dissolution is a court order winding up an entity when grounds exist, such as deadlock, misappropriation, or impracticability. It can lead to a sale or liquidation, but courts may also order lesser remedies, including a buyout or a receiver or custodian.

Can I stop a relative from moving money out of the company?

Possibly. A court can issue temporary injunctive relief to preserve assets while a case is pending, and in dissolution proceedings can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. These requests are time-sensitive, so documentation of what is happening matters.

Do deadlock sale provisions change how a dispute proceeds?

They can. If your agreement contains a deadlock sale clause that is started before a court finds deadlock grounds, Florida’s LLC statute applies that clause in place of a judicial dissolution order. Filing for dissolution on some corporate grounds does not cancel a shareholder’s right to start a compliant deadlock sale.

My sibling and I co-own the building the business uses. Can it be sold over my objection?

If the property is held as co-owners and no agreement bars it, either owner can ask the court for partition. Courts consider whether division is practical and can order a sale with proceeds divided by ownership share. Heirs property rules may add protections when title came through relatives.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the amount is small?

Often it is worth at least an early consultation. County civil court hears claims up to a statutory ceiling and circuit court hears larger ones, but the right choice also turns on the remedy you need. A buyout, injunction, or ownership question may justify action regardless of the dollar figure.

Will my family business case end up in a courtroom?

Not necessarily. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when the agreement requires it. Litigation remains available when a partner will not cooperate or assets are at risk.

I live out of state. Can I handle this without traveling to Florida?

Often yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida business or real estate interests, handling local court appearances and keeping clients informed by phone and scheduled conference calls.

Serving Family Business Clients Across Palm Beach County and South Florida

The firm represents owners across Palm Beach County, from West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Juno Beach in the north, through Lake Worth Beach, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Greenacres, to Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton in the south. We also serve clients in Belle Glade and the Glades communities, Lantana, Riviera Beach, North Palm Beach, and Palm Beach itself.

Many family businesses and shared properties cross county lines, so our work extends into Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Plantation, and Hollywood. Family-held restaurants, medical practices, contracting companies, rental portfolios, and commercial buildings throughout these communities often involve relatives living in different states, and the firm represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with interests here.

Talk With a Palm Beach County Family Business Dispute Lawyer

If a relative who co-owns your company or property has locked you out, taken money, or stalled every decision, the right next move depends on your documents, your deadlines, and what outcome you actually want. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review where you stand and lay out the realistic paths, from negotiated resolution to court. Call to speak with a Palm Beach County family business dispute lawyer about your situation and what to do first.