Palm Beach Family Business Dispute Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families across Palm Beach County who are locked in disputes with relatives or close friends over a shared company or property, and the firm also serves clients throughout Broward County and South Florida. A Palm Beach family business dispute attorney is often called in when the conflict has already moved past hurt feelings and into the bank account: a sibling is drawing a salary no one approved, a parent is refusing to hand over control, or an in-law is voting shares in a way that hollows out the company.

These cases have an unusual feature. The people on the other side know your habits, your finances, and your weak spots, and they often hold their ownership through an informal arrangement that was never written down carefully. A handshake deal at a kitchen table can become the central exhibit in a courtroom fight.

The real consequences are concrete. Payroll stalls when owners cannot agree on who signs checks. Customers and lenders lose confidence. A building owned jointly by brothers and sisters sits half-leased while no one will approve repairs. Waiting rarely helps, and the legal clock keeps running while the family argues.

Where Family Business Fights Actually Come From

Most family business disputes trace back to a handful of pressure points. Knowing which one drives your situation shapes the legal strategy, because the remedy for a stalled company differs from the remedy for a looted one.

Control is the first. A founder who built the company wants to stay in charge, while the next generation wants a say, a title, or a payout. Compensation is the second. One family member works sixty hours a week and another collects distributions from the sidelines, and both believe they are being treated unfairly. Succession is the third. When the founder dies or steps back, ownership passes through an estate to heirs who may have nothing in common except a percentage.

Money is the fourth, and it is the one that most often forces a lawsuit. Unexplained withdrawals, personal expenses run through the company, loans to relatives that never get repaid, and commingled accounts all show up in these cases. The firm handles disputes over unpaid distributions, diverted funds, disputed capital contributions, and managers who cannot account for company money.

Situations We Handle for Palm Beach Families and Co-Owners

• Sibling Co-Owners After an Inheritance: Brothers and sisters who inherit a company or shares together often disagree about whether to sell, who runs day-to-day operations, and how to value the business. Disputes over control and compensation frequently surface within months of the estate settling.
• Parent and Child Conflicts Over Direction: A founder resists modernizing or stepping aside while an adult child pushes for change, or a child who has been running operations is frozen out of ownership decisions. These cases turn on what the operating or shareholder agreement actually says and what the family’s course of dealing shows.
• Spouses, Ex-Spouses, and In-Laws with Ownership Stakes: A divorce, a death, or a family rift can leave a relative holding a minority interest in a company they never helped run. Questions about voting rights, buyout rights, and access to company records follow.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty and Self-Dealing: Managers and controlling owners owe duties to the company and its other owners. Claims arise when a relative diverts opportunities, pays themselves above what was agreed, or moves assets to an entity they alone control.
• Missing Money and Demand for an Accounting: When a relative controls the books and will not produce records, a claim for an accounting can force disclosure. Recovery claims and emergency relief to stop assets from moving can follow.
• Deadlock and Judicial Dissolution: Two equal owners who cannot agree can freeze a company. Florida’s LLC statute lists deadlock with threatened irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, and impracticability of operating under the agreement as grounds for a court to dissolve the company.
• Buyouts and Valuation Fights: Often the cleanest ending is one family member buying out another. The hard part is price, and valuation disputes can consume more time and money than the underlying quarrel.
• Co-Owned Real Estate Among Relatives: Families frequently hold rental property, commercial buildings, or a home through a shared title. When co-owners cannot agree, a partition action or a title dispute may be the way out.

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

The Andrew M. 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 between partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. The firm serves clients in Palm Beach County, including West Palm Beach, as well as Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida.

Andrew is joined by Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, 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, so everyone working on your matter knows the file. Calls are answered, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court.

Family disputes call for judgment about when to push and when to hold back. Andrew’s own view is that clients often think they want a hyper-aggressive lawyer but really want one who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

The firm also tries cases. In 2024, after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the firm’s client received a 32-page final judgment awarding specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Results in other matters depend on their own facts, and no attorney can guarantee an outcome.

What to Do Now if a Relative Is Squeezing You Out of the Business

Start by collecting paper. Gather the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles of organization or incorporation, tax returns, bank statements, loan documents, minutes, and any emails or texts about ownership, pay, or promises. Informal communications matter in family cases because the written documents are often thin. If you still have access to company accounts and records, preserve copies of what you are legitimately entitled to see, and do not delete anything.

Do not move company money to protect it, and do not lock a relative out of systems without advice. Self-help can hand the other side a counterclaim. If you believe assets are being drained, tell your lawyer immediately, because courts can issue temporary injunctions to stop funds or property from being moved or spent while a case is pending.

Watch the deadlines. In Florida, a claim 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, subject to a 12-year outer limit. Specific performance of a contract has only a one-year period. Professional malpractice claims, such as against an accountant who helped conceal a problem, have a two-year period running from when the claim was or should have been discovered. Family disputes often sit unresolved for years, and delay can quietly cost you a claim.

Cases in Palm Beach County worth more than the county court limit are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. If the company or property sits in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit hears the case, and it maintains complex business divisions for matters such as business entity dissolutions and large business litigation. Disputes involving parties from different states or federal claims can end up in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Finally, think about the relationship you want afterward. Some families need to keep running the company together; others need a clean separation. Telling your attorney which outcome matters most lets the strategy match, whether that means mediation, a negotiated buyout, or court.

Dissolution, Buyouts, and Breaking a Deadlock Under Florida Law

When a family company cannot function, Florida gives owners several routes. Under the LLC statute, a circuit court can dissolve a company at the request of a manager or member on specific grounds, including conduct of affairs unlawfully, impracticability of operating under the agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury, and deadlock that threatens irreparable harm. In such a proceeding, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to the parties, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest.

Check your agreement first. If the operating agreement contains a deadlock sale mechanism and one owner starts it before the court finds that deadlock grounds exist, that contractual process generally controls instead of a judicial dissolution order. Many family companies have never read this clause, and it can decide the whole case.

Corporations follow a parallel track. A shareholder can petition a circuit court for dissolution or other relief, and once a shareholder files on certain grounds, the corporation or the remaining shareholders 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 directing the purchase. The corporation must notify the other shareholders of their right to buy within 30 days of the petition being filed, and an election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. During the case, the court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve company assets.

When the Family Asset Is Real Estate: Partition and Title

Family businesses often own real estate, and relatives often co-own property outside any company. Florida’s partition statute lets a co-owner ask the court to divide land or, when division would harm the owners, order it sold. These actions proceed in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and their residences, and state each owner’s share. The court appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether the property can be fairly divided. If not, the property may be sold at public auction with proceeds split in proportion to ownership.

Inherited property gets special treatment. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, where co-owners hold as tenants in common without a binding agreement on partition, at least one acquired title from a relative, and another statutory condition applies, such as relatives holding 20 percent or more of the interests. In those cases the court must follow the Act’s procedures, which favor partition in kind unless dividing the land would prejudice the owners as a group.

Title disputes are the other half. A quiet title action asks the court to determine who owns land and remove a cloud created by a competing claim or conveyance. The plaintiff generally must trace title for at least seven years before filing, and the suit may be filed in any county where part of the land lies. Adverse possession claims, which can arise when a relative occupied family land for years, require seven years of continuous possession and additional statutory steps.

Palm Beach Family Business Dispute Questions Answered

Can I sue a family member who is a co-owner of my business?

Yes. Co-owners owe each other obligations under the governing agreement and, in many cases, fiduciary duties under Florida law. Being related does not shield anyone from claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, or an accounting.

What if we never signed an operating or shareholder agreement?

Florida’s default statutes then fill the gaps, and the parties’ history of dealing becomes important evidence. Claims on oral or implied agreements have a four-year limitations period, so do not wait on that account.

Can a court force the sale or dissolution of a family company?

In certain circumstances, yes. A circuit court can dissolve an LLC or corporation on statutory grounds such as deadlock, misappropriation of assets, or conduct that makes operation impracticable. The court can also order a buyout of the petitioner’s interest as an alternative.

My brother is taking money out of the company. What can I do?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, an accounting, and recovery of the funds. If assets are being moved, a court can issue emergency injunctive relief to freeze the situation while the case proceeds.

How are the shares valued in a family business buyout?

Value depends on what the agreement specifies and what the statute requires. For corporations, the buyout statute uses fair value. Valuation experts are commonly involved, and the price is often the most contested issue in the case.

Does every family business dispute have to go to court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when the family wants to preserve some relationship. The firm is experienced in all three and in litigation, and recommends the path most likely to meet your goals.

How long do I have to file suit?

It depends on the claim. Written contract claims generally have five years, oral contract claims four years, fraud four years from discovery with a 12-year cap, and specific performance one year. Because different claims in one dispute can carry different deadlines, have them reviewed early.

Can a relative who is a minority owner really demand to see the books?

Owners generally have rights to company information, and a refusal to provide records is a common trigger for litigation. A claim for an accounting can compel disclosure, and the documents often reveal whether further claims exist.

What happens to the business while the lawsuit is pending?

Usually it keeps operating. In more serious cases, a court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, issue injunctions to preserve assets, or restrict particular transactions. The goal is to protect the company’s value until the dispute is resolved.

I live in New York and my family’s company is in Palm Beach County. Do I have to come to Florida for every hearing?

No. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handles the local court appearances, and keeps you informed throughout. Scheduled conference calls can be arranged around your availability.

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

Often, yes, particularly if the dispute also affects control, future income, or valuable property. Smaller claims can sometimes fit in county court, which hears disputes up to a limit that is periodically adjusted, but the cost of litigating should be weighed against what is at stake. An early consultation helps you judge that.

Can my attorney referral come from my family’s existing lawyer?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, including those who do not handle business litigation. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout and respects that relationship.

Serving Family Business Clients Across Palm Beach County and South Florida

The firm’s work begins in Palm Beach County and extends well beyond it. From West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens through Jupiter, Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, and Delray Beach, we represent owners whose family companies and properties are rooted in the county. Clients also come to us from Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Riviera Beach, Juno Beach, Tequesta, Belle Glade, and Palm Beach itself.

To the south, we serve families in Boca Raton and throughout Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines. We also work with clients across South Florida and with people in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose relatives, partners, or co-owners are here. Whether the company runs out of a shopping center in Delray Beach or an office park near Fort Lauderdale, the same attention applies.

Talk to a Palm Beach Family Business Litigation Attorney

When a company or property is caught between relatives, waiting usually makes the position worse. A Palm Beach family business litigation attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, explain your rights as an owner, and tell you whether negotiation, mediation, or court is the better route. Call our office to schedule a consultation and talk through where your situation stands.