Riviera Beach Business Divorce Attorney

A business divorce case that starts with a Riviera Beach company is filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, and the first fight is usually not about who is right. It is about who controls the bank account, the books, and the doors while the case is pending. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles partnership disputes, LLC member disputes, shareholder conflicts, and judicial dissolution for owners in Riviera Beach and across Palm Beach County and Broward County. If you are looking for a Riviera Beach business divorce attorney, the questions that matter most tend to arrive in a specific order.

First comes the question of whether the company can keep operating at all. Riviera Beach has a working economy built around marine businesses, port-related logistics, light industrial and warehouse operations, contractors, restaurants, and a good deal of commercial and residential real estate. In companies like these, a deadlock between two 50 percent owners can stop payroll, vendor payments, and licensing renewals within weeks. Second comes the question of what the written agreements say. Operating agreements and shareholder agreements often contain buyout formulas, deadlock sale mechanisms, and dispute procedures that shape the entire case.

The third question is whether you want to stay in the business at all. Some owners want out at a fair price. Others want the partner out. Still others want the company wound down and the assets divided. Each goal leads to a different strategy, and the earlier you decide which one is realistic, the more leverage you keep.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s most difficult business and real estate disputes, serving Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and communities throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose business partners or co-owners are here, and it handles the local court appearances so those clients do not have to travel for every hearing. The firm’s work centers on business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, disputes over missing funds, partition actions, quiet title actions, and injunctions.

Andrew M. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. His career has been built around contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. 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.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file, so a client who calls with a question in the middle of a dispute reaches someone who can answer it. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court. The attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and they look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

On the trial side, in a recent matter the firm’s client received a 32-page final judgment granting specific performance of a commercial real estate contract in Broward County Circuit Court after a 5-day bench trial. That is the kind of detailed, document-driven litigation that business divorces often require.

Disputes That Lead Riviera Beach Owners to Seek a Business Divorce

• Deadlocked Management: Two equal owners who cannot agree on a major decision can paralyze a company. For an LLC, Florida law recognizes deadlock as a ground for judicial dissolution when the owners cannot break it and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring. Some operating agreements contain a deadlock sale provision that, if started in time, takes the place of a court-ordered dissolution.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, personal expenses run through the company, commingled accounts, and managers who cannot account for money all point toward claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds. Misappropriation or waste of company assets that causes injury is itself a listed ground for LLC dissolution.
• Minority Owner Freeze-Outs: A majority owner who cuts a minority member out of information, distributions, or decisions creates exposure under the operating agreement, the fiduciary duties owed to the company, and the statutory remedies available to members and shareholders.
• Buyout and Valuation Fights: Even when everyone agrees someone should leave, the price is often contested. For corporations, Florida’s statute lets the company or the other shareholders elect to buy out a petitioning shareholder at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: Non-compete clauses, transfer restrictions, capital call obligations, and compensation provisions are frequent flashpoints. These cases turn on the exact wording of the document and how the parties actually behaved.
• Family Business Splits: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different visions, and spouses or in-laws sharing ownership face the same control and compensation questions, with the added strain of personal relationships.
• Jointly Owned Real Estate: Many business divorces involve property held by the owners together. Florida’s partition statutes allow a court to divide the land or order it sold and the proceeds divided, and title disputes may call for a quiet title action to clear competing claims.
• Emergency Asset Protection: When a partner is moving money, locking people out, or disposing of property, temporary and permanent injunctions can freeze the situation while the dispute is decided.

What to Do Now if Your Business Partnership Is Breaking Down

Start by getting the documents in one place. That means the articles of organization or incorporation, the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any amendments, tax returns, bank and credit card statements, financial statements, capital contribution records, and the emails and texts where the disagreement took shape. Do this quietly and keep copies of everything you are legitimately entitled to see as an owner. Do not take or delete anything that belongs to the company, and do not lock a partner out of systems on your own. Either move can hand the other side a claim.

Next, read your agreement for exit mechanics before you say anything to your partner. Look for buyout formulas, valuation methods, notice requirements, dispute resolution clauses requiring mediation or arbitration, and any deadlock sale provision. The way you start the process can matter. For example, an LLC deadlock sale provision that is initiated before a court finds grounds for dissolution can displace the court’s own remedies. A letter sent in anger can foreclose options you would have wanted.

Pay attention to the clock. In Florida, a claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while a claim on an oral or implied contract has four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. A negligence claim, such as some professional malpractice theories against an accountant or advisor, runs two years, and a professional malpractice claim of that kind runs from when it was or should have been discovered. Specific performance of a contract carries a one-year period. Waiting to see if things cool off can quietly cost you a claim.

If you believe money or property is being moved, say so early. Florida courts can appoint a receiver or custodian in an LLC dissolution proceeding after notice and a hearing, and in corporate dissolution proceedings can issue injunctions and take other steps to preserve assets while the case is pending. Business cases in Palm Beach County are filed in circuit court, which hears the larger disputes, and federal court in West Palm Beach may come into play where there is a basis for federal jurisdiction. If a related dispute is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit has a complex business division that handles, among other matters, dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation.

Finally, talk to a business divorce attorney before you confront your partner, resign a position, stop contributing capital, or sign anything. A first conversation usually clarifies whether your goal is a negotiated buyout, a sale, a wind-down, or a court case, and what each path costs in time and money.

How Judicial Dissolution and Buyouts Work Under Florida Law

When owners cannot separate on their own, Florida’s statutes provide structured remedies, and they differ by entity type. For a limited liability company, a member or manager can ask the circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds. These include activities being conducted unlawfully, it no longer being reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement, controlling members or managers acting or being expected to act illegally or fraudulently, assets being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, and an unbreakable deadlock that threatens or causes irreparable injury. If the case has enough merit, the court can appoint a receiver or custodian or order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased.

For a corporation, shareholders can petition for dissolution on listed grounds, including that the corporation has abandoned its business and has failed within a reasonable time to liquidate, distribute assets, and dissolve. Once a petition under the main shareholder grounds is filed, the corporation must notify the other shareholders within 30 days that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy the petitioner’s shares. The election is generally irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside or modify it. A shareholder who files for judicial dissolution on certain grounds does not lose the right to start a deadlock sale provision in a compliant shareholder agreement.

Most business divorces never reach a final judicial dissolution. The statutory remedies create the leverage that makes a negotiated buyout, a structured wind-down, or a mediated settlement possible. Knowing exactly which remedy fits your entity, and how the other side is likely to use the same statutes, shapes everything from the first demand letter to the choice of forum.

When the Business and the Real Estate Are Tied Together

Many Riviera Beach owners hold a commercial building, a warehouse, rental property, or a parcel of land through the same group of people who run the company. When the relationship ends, the real estate needs its own plan. Florida partition actions are brought in the court’s equity jurisdiction. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, and if dividing the property would prejudice the owners, the court can order a public sale with the proceeds split in proportion to ownership. A court-ordered sale on credit generally requires at least one-third of the purchase money down unless the parties all consent otherwise.

Where the co-owners are heirs, a separate set of rules applies. Florida’s heirs property provisions apply to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and they require a court to follow special procedures, including a finding that partition in kind would prejudice the cotenants as a group before the court orders a division of the land. Quiet title actions, which can be filed in any county where part of the land lies, help clear competing claims and require the plaintiff to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.

Questions Riviera Beach Owners Ask About Business Divorce

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether they are 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 if the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a partner out of my LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and what the partner has done. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law gives members remedies where there is serious misconduct or the company cannot function. A lawyer needs to read your specific agreement before you act.

What can I do if my partner is taking money from the company?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. When the situation is urgent, a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

Does a business divorce have to go to court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require one of those steps first. The firm’s attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution as well as litigation and pursue whichever path is most likely to reach your goal efficiently.

How long do I have to file a claim against a business partner?

A claim founded on a written agreement generally has a five-year limit in Florida, and a claim on an oral or implied agreement has four years. Fraud is four years from discovery, subject to a 12-year outer limit. Because different claims in one dispute can have different deadlines, it is safest to have them assessed early.

What does a Florida court need to see before dissolving an LLC?

The petitioner must show one of the statutory grounds, such as an unbreakable deadlock with threatened irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, or that it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. The court can order a buyout or appoint a receiver or custodian instead of dissolving outright if the case has merit.

If my operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause, do I still go to court?

Often not. If the clause is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds and is then carried out, it governs in place of a judicial dissolution order or a court-ordered purchase. How and when you trigger the clause is therefore important, and mistakes can be costly.

Can I be bought out at fair value if I am a minority shareholder?

In a corporate dissolution proceeding on the main shareholder grounds, the corporation or other shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms. Otherwise, valuation can become a contested part of the case.

My partner and I co-own the building. Can that be split up separately from the company?

Yes. A partition action can divide the property or, when division is not practical, order a sale and divide the proceeds. If the owners are relatives who inherited it, the heirs property rules add protections that can slow or change a forced sale.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle this from afar?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida. The attorneys handle the Florida court proceedings and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for each hearing.

Which court would hear a business dispute centered in Riviera Beach?

Riviera Beach sits in Palm Beach County, so larger disputes are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. County court is limited to smaller claims, and cases above that amount belong in circuit court. Federal court in West Palm Beach can apply where federal jurisdiction exists.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if my company is small?

Often yes, because a small company usually has fewer assets to absorb a bad separation. A lawyer can review your agreement and your options, and even a short consultation can show whether a negotiated exit is realistic before costs mount.

Serving Business Divorce Clients Across Riviera Beach and South Florida

The firm’s business divorce work starts in Riviera Beach, where owners of marine, industrial, retail, restaurant, and real estate companies come to the firm when a partnership breaks down. From there the firm serves clients in neighboring Palm Beach County communities including West Palm Beach, Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, Singer Island, Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Royal Palm Beach. It also represents owners in Wellington, Greenacres, and Belle Glade.

Across the county line in Broward County, the firm works with business owners and investors in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Hollywood, and surrounding communities. Many of those clients also have Palm Beach County property or partners, and the firm handles both counties’ courts. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida business or real estate interests are served in the same way.

Talk With a Riviera Beach Business Divorce Lawyer

When a partnership reaches the point where decisions stop, money is unaccounted for, or one owner wants out, delay usually favors whoever controls the company’s accounts. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, tell you what the Florida statutes and your documents realistically allow, and recommend a path that serves your goals and budget. Call to schedule a consultation with a Riviera Beach business divorce lawyer from our team and get a clear picture of where you stand before your next move.