Parkland Business Divorce Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Parkland and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County who are caught in disputes with their co-owners. A Parkland business divorce attorney is often called when two partners who once agreed on everything cannot agree on anything: who controls the checkbook, whether one owner is still pulling his weight, or whether the company should be sold at all.

Parkland is a community of closely held companies. Professional practices, contracting and development businesses, family-run distributors, and real estate holding entities are owned by two, three, or four people, and the entire arrangement often rests on an operating agreement written years ago by someone who assumed nobody would ever fall out. When they do, the questions come fast. Can I be bought out? Can I force a sale? Is my partner allowed to keep drawing money while I am shut out of the books?

Those decisions have deadlines and consequences attached to them, and the order in which you make them matters. The sections below walk through the choices that actually drive the outcome of a business divorce in South Florida.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for clients in Parkland, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and across Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with his career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among 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.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in a business divorce, where a case can start as a state court dissolution action and pick up a federal dimension if the parties or claims warrant it.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court. 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 stretching a case out for its own sake. Many business divorces are resolved by a negotiated buyout, and having a team that has also tried cases gives you leverage at the bargaining table.

Recent trial work reflects that range. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s 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 daily work of this practice. The firm also accepts referrals from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida business interests, and it handles local court appearances for clients who live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut.

The Disputes That Lead to a Business Divorce in Parkland

• Deadlocked Management: Two 50/50 owners who cannot agree on a major decision can stall hiring, spending, and banking. Florida’s LLC statute treats an unbreakable deadlock that threatens irreparable injury as a ground for judicial dissolution, and some operating agreements contain their own deadlock sale provisions that take priority if started first.
• Buyouts and Valuation Fights: Even when everyone agrees someone should leave, the price is rarely agreed. Disputes center on whether goodwill counts, how to treat owner compensation, and whether a minority discount applies under the governing agreement.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: Unauthorized capital calls, self-dealing contracts, ignored voting requirements, and violated transfer restrictions are common triggers. These cases turn on the language of the agreement.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A managing owner who steers business to a side company, pays himself outside the agreed structure, or hides information from co-owners may owe damages and an accounting.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and partners who cannot explain where money went support claims for an accounting and recovery of funds, often paired with a request for emergency relief to freeze assets.
• Minority Owner Freeze-Outs: A majority owner who cuts a minority member out of decisions, information, and distributions may have crossed into conduct that supports judicial dissolution or a court-ordered purchase of the minority interest.
• Family Business Splits: Siblings who inherited a company together, parents and children with different visions, and spouses or in-laws with shared ownership face the same legal questions as strangers, with far more at stake personally.
• Co-Owned Real Estate: When the business owns property, or the partners own it individually, a business divorce often runs alongside a partition action or a title dispute.

Decisions to Make Early When Your Partnership Is Breaking Down

The first decision is whether you want out, want your partner out, or want the business to survive intact. Everything else follows from that answer, so settle it before you send a single angry email. A client who wants to stay in the business needs a different strategy than one who wants a clean exit at a fair price.

Second, read your governing documents before anyone else characterizes them for you. Look for buyout formulas, expulsion or dissociation provisions, deadlock sale mechanisms, notice requirements, and any clause that sends disputes to mediation or arbitration. A deadlock sale provision that is started before a court finds grounds for dissolution can displace the court’s own remedies, so the timing of who pulls which lever first can change the entire case.

Third, secure your access to information. Pull copies of the operating or shareholder agreement, amendments, tax returns, bank statements, loan documents, and any records you can lawfully reach as an owner. Do not take records you have no right to, and do not delete anything. Preserving the evidence protects you, and destroying it can be used against you.

Fourth, decide whether the situation is urgent. If funds are leaving the company or assets are being transferred, waiting for a negotiation to run its course can mean the money is gone before a court ever acts. Emergency injunctive relief exists for exactly that situation, and in a dissolution proceeding a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing.

What to Do Right Now and Where These Cases Are Heard

If you are in a business divorce today, stop making unilateral moves. Do not lock your partner out of accounts, move money to “protect” it, or change the company’s registered information without advice. Actions taken in anger are frequently recast later as breaches of fiduciary duty against the person who took them.

Mind the clock on every claim. Florida gives five years to sue on a written contract, so claims founded on an operating or shareholder agreement generally have that window, while an oral or implied agreement gets four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve. A suit for specific performance has a one-year period, which can arrive quickly. Because deadlines depend on when a claim accrued and what it is founded on, have them analyzed early rather than assuming you have plenty of time.

Parkland sits in Broward County, so disputes here are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Circuit civil courts take claims above the county court ceiling, and a business divorce involving dissolution, a buyout, or significant money will almost always belong there. The Seventeenth Circuit also operates a complex business division that handles dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation; a case can be directed there through the filing process the circuit’s administrative order sets out, and the Clerk then randomly assigns it to a division. If the company or property is in Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit would hear the case instead. Matters with a federal basis go to the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, among other places.

The process usually starts with a demand and an attempt to negotiate, moves to a filed complaint if talks fail, and often proceeds through mediation before trial. Be realistic about timing: an emergency injunction can be heard quickly, while a contested valuation can take much longer.

How Florida Law Handles Dissolution and Court-Ordered Buyouts

For LLCs, a member or manager can ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds: it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement; controlling members or managers are acting illegally or fraudulently; assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury; or the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or occurring. Within such a proceeding, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian once there is a showing of sufficient merit, or order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased.

For corporations, a shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, including a corporation that has abandoned its business and failed to liquidate within a reasonable time. Corporations also have a built-in escape valve. After a shareholder files for dissolution under the relevant grounds, the corporation, or if it does not act, one or more other shareholders, can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. The corporation must notify the other shareholders within 30 days of the filing that they may avoid dissolution this way. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms, and the election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify or set it aside.

This is why the same facts can lead to very different outcomes depending on the entity type and the documents. A shareholder dissolution petition can trigger a forced buyout, while an LLC member may rely on the operating agreement’s own buyout mechanics. During the proceeding, a court can also issue injunctions and take other action to preserve company assets while the case is pending.

Parkland Business Divorce Questions Answered

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can end in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the business, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a business partner out of my Florida LLC?

It depends on the operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions. Florida law also gives courts remedies when a member has engaged in serious misconduct or the company can no longer function. A lawyer needs to read the agreement before telling you which route is realistic.

What if my partner is taking money from the business?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. When assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can issue injunctive relief while the dispute is pending.

How long do I have to file a claim over a broken partnership agreement?

A claim founded on a written agreement generally has five years, and oral or implied contract claims have four. Fraud runs four years from discovery, capped at twelve, and specific performance carries a one-year period. The right deadline depends on how the claim is framed, so get it analyzed early.

Does a business divorce always end up in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. Court is the backstop when talks fail, when an emergency requires an injunction, or when the owners are deadlocked and nobody will move.

Which court would hear my case if my business is in Parkland?

Parkland is in Broward County, so the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit would typically hear a business divorce. It has a complex business division for matters such as entity dissolution and large business disputes.

Can I stop my partner from selling company assets while we fight?

Often, yes. Courts can issue temporary injunctions, and in dissolution proceedings can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to the parties. These requests are time sensitive and rely on evidence, so gather what you have quickly.

What happens if our operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If that clause is started and carried out before a court finds grounds for deadlock-based dissolution, it can apply in place of a judicial dissolution order or court-ordered purchase. Who triggers it, and when, can shape the whole case.

We are family members who co-own the business. Is that handled differently?

The legal claims are the same, but the approach is not. Family disputes often call for discretion, careful communication, and a willingness to look for a structured separation, while still protecting your financial position at every step.

I live in New York or New Jersey but own a Parkland business. Do I have to travel for every hearing?

Not typically. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida interests, handles the local court appearances, and keeps you informed at each stage through scheduled calls.

Do co-owned properties get handled in the same case?

Sometimes they run in parallel. If the business and its owners also share real estate, a partition action, which asks a court to divide property or order its sale and split the proceeds, or a title action may be needed alongside the dissolution or buyout.

Serving Business Owners From Parkland Across South Florida

The firm’s work for Parkland owners extends through the rest of Broward County, including Coral Springs, Coconut Creek, Margate, Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation, Weston, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines. Just across the county line, the team also represents clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and throughout Palm Beach County.

Business divorces rarely respect county lines. A company may be run from Parkland, hold property in Palm Beach County, and have owners living in Fort Lauderdale or in the tri-state area, so the firm handles disputes wherever the business, the property, or the parties are located across South Florida.

Talk With a Parkland Business Divorce Lawyer Before the Dispute Hardens

When co-owners stop working together, the choices you make in the first weeks usually shape the final result. If you need a Parkland business divorce lawyer to review your agreements, assess your leverage, and lay out a realistic path to a buyout, a sale, or a court-ordered separation, call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation.