Sunrise Family Business Dispute Attorney

Sunrise business owners and relatives who share a company are often weighing a hard decision: stay in the arrangement and keep arguing, buy the other side out, sell, or ask a court to step in. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Sunrise and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County, and a Sunrise family business dispute attorney from our firm can help you sort out which of those paths fits your situation.

Family companies fail differently from companies owned by strangers. Siblings who inherited a business together may disagree about who deserves a salary and who is just collecting a distribution. A parent may want to hand over control while one child expects an equal share and another child has done most of the work. Spouses and in-laws sometimes hold ownership interests that nobody wrote down properly. The legal questions underneath are usually the same ones that arise in any ownership fight: what the operating agreement or shareholder agreement says, who owes duties to whom, where the money went, and whether the company can keep running at all.

Those questions get answered in Broward County’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a complex business division that handles dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. Knowing how that court works, and whether your dispute belongs there or somewhere else, is part of choosing a strategy before anything is filed.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s most contested business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties, including Sunrise. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989.

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. The firm works as a true legal team, meaning everyone on a matter knows the file, so a client who calls with a question reaches someone who can answer it. A strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable.

For family business clients, two things matter most. First, discretion: these cases involve people who will still be related when the lawsuit ends, and we handle them while protecting each client’s financial interests at every step. Second, proportion. Andrew’s view, drawn from decades of practice, is that clients may think they want the most aggressive lawyer available but usually want one who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. We are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that serves your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

The firm also has trial results to point to. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of detailed, document-driven work carries over to family business cases, which often turn on the wording of an agreement and the history of how the owners actually dealt with each other.

Common Disputes Inside Family-Owned Companies

• Deadlock Between Co-Owners: Two siblings each hold half of an LLC, neither can outvote the other, and decisions about hiring, spending, or selling stall. Florida law lets a court dissolve an LLC when managers or members are deadlocked, cannot break the deadlock, and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring. Some operating agreements contain a deadlock sale provision, which can take the place of a court-ordered dissolution if it is started before the court rules.
• Buyouts and Valuation Fights: One relative wants out, or the others want that relative out, and the real argument is what the ownership interest is worth. In a corporation, once a shareholder petitions for dissolution, the corporation or the other shareholders may 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 being filed, the court enters an order on those terms.
• Money That Cannot Be Accounted For: A family member running the books cannot explain missing deposits, personal expenses paid by the company, or distributions that went to one branch of the family. These cases support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds, and misappropriation or waste of assets is itself a ground for judicial dissolution of an LLC.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: Compensation terms, transfer restrictions, voting rights, and buy-sell provisions are written for the good days and tested on the bad ones. These disputes depend on precise contract language and the course of dealing between the owners.
• Inherited Ownership: When a parent dies or retires, children may suddenly share ownership of a business or of the real estate the business operates from, without any agreement on how decisions get made. Co-owned property can also lead to a partition action in circuit court, where the court may divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split.
• Minority Owner Squeeze-Outs: A relative holding a smaller stake finds that distributions stop, access to records is denied, or compensation is redirected to the controlling side. Remedies depend on the entity type and the agreements, and may include dissolution, a court-supervised buyout, or damages.
• Family Real Estate Held Through the Business: Commercial buildings, rental property, and land are often titled in the company or in the names of several relatives. Title disputes and quiet title actions let a court resolve competing ownership claims and clear clouds on title.
• Emergency Asset Protection: When someone is moving funds, locking others out, or selling property while the dispute is pending, temporary or permanent injunctive relief may be needed quickly. Courts handling dissolution proceedings can also appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing.

What to Do Now If Your Family Business Is Coming Apart

Start by collecting documents before tensions harden and access gets restricted. You want the articles of organization or incorporation, the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any buy-sell agreement, tax returns, bank and credit card statements, financial statements, loan documents, leases, and meeting minutes or emails that show how decisions were actually made. If you hold an ownership interest, you generally have rights to company information, and having copies in hand early saves a great deal of friction later.

Read your governing agreement for three things: how disputes are supposed to be resolved (many require mediation or arbitration first), whether there is a buyout or deadlock provision, and who has authority to act. Do not assume a family understanding overrides what is signed. Do not move money, change locks, or cut off a relative’s access on your own; those moves can create claims against you and weaken your position.

Deadlines matter. A claim founded on a written instrument carries a five-year limitations period in Florida, while contract claims not based on a writing carry four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years, and an action for specific performance has only one year. Professional malpractice claims, such as those against an accountant, run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. If conduct happened some time ago, waiting costs you leverage and possibly the claim itself.

Where the case is heard depends on the dispute. Sunrise sits in Broward County, so many suits are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, with Broward’s courthouses in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Deerfield Beach, and Hollywood. A direct filing into the circuit’s complex business division follows the process set out in its administrative order, and the clerk assigns the case at random to one of the division’s judges. Cases above $50,000 belong in circuit court, while county court hears claims between $8,000.01 and $50,000. When an owner lives out of state and the dispute has diversity or federal elements, the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, may come into play. If the dispute involves a company or property in Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit sits in West Palm Beach.

Also think early about what outcome you want: to stay and fix the governance, to be bought out, to buy out someone else, or to wind the company down. Each leads to a different first move. Emergency steps, such as asking a court to freeze assets, are time-sensitive and should be discussed with counsel right away. Many family disputes still settle through negotiation or mediation, and a lawyer who is comfortable in the courtroom often negotiates from a stronger position.

How Florida Courts Untangle Co-Owned Family Companies

For an LLC, Florida’s statute gives a member or manager several grounds for asking a court to dissolve the company. Beyond deadlock, they include that the company’s affairs are conducted unlawfully, that it is not reasonably practicable to carry on activities in line with the articles and operating agreement, that controlling members have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, and that assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury. Once a case is on file and has sufficient merit, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest, rather than simply shutting the business down. That flexibility is what makes the choice of claim so important.

Corporations are handled differently. A shareholder may petition for dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation has 30 days after a petition under the main shareholder grounds to notify the other shareholders that they can avoid dissolution by electing to purchase the petitioner’s shares. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside or modify it. During the case, the court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve assets while the business continues operating. Filing for judicial dissolution does not eliminate a shareholder’s right to use a compliant deadlock sale provision in a shareholder agreement.

Family real estate adds another layer. If relatives hold land as tenants in common, any one of them can seek partition, and the court may divide the land or order it sold at auction with the proceeds shared in proportion to ownership. A separate set of rules, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, applies when the property was acquired from a relative and other statutory conditions are met, such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives. In those cases the court must follow a more protective process before ordering a sale, including considering whether dividing the property in kind would prejudice the owners as a group. For title questions, a quiet title action can cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title that clouds ownership, and the plaintiff must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.

Questions Sunrise Families Ask About Business Disputes

What counts as a family business dispute?

It is any disagreement among relatives who share ownership or control of a company or its property. Typical examples include disputes about control, compensation, distributions, missing money, buyouts, inherited interests, and whether the business should continue. The legal claims are the same as in other ownership disputes, but the family relationship affects strategy and tone.

Can I force a relative out of our LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides remedies when a member engages in serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. A lawyer can review your agreement and tell you which options are realistic.

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

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of the funds. Where assets are being moved or spent, a court can be asked for injunctive relief to stop it while the case is pending. Misappropriation of assets can also support judicial dissolution of an LLC.

Does every family business dispute end up in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and your governing agreement may require one of those first. Our attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursue the path most likely to achieve your goals efficiently.

How long do I have to file a claim?

A claim based on a written agreement generally has five years. Oral or implied contract claims have four years, fraud has four years from discovery up to 12 years, and a specific performance action has one year. Because the clock depends on the claim, it is worth getting advice sooner rather than later.

What does it mean when a court orders a buyout instead of dissolution?

In both LLC and corporate proceedings, Florida law lets the court or the parties use a purchase of the petitioner’s interest in place of ending the company. In a corporation, one side elects to buy 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. This often lets the business survive while the unhappy owner exits.

What if the deadlock sale provision in our agreement conflicts with a court filing?

For an LLC, a deadlock sale provision that is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds applies in place of a dissolution order, as long as it is carried through. For corporations, filing for judicial dissolution does not take away a shareholder’s right to start a compliant deadlock sale. How those provisions interact with a lawsuit is something to work out before you file.

Can a court appoint someone to run the company while we fight?

Yes, in a dissolution proceeding the court can appoint a receiver or custodian once the case shows sufficient merit. For an LLC, the court holds a hearing first, after notifying the parties and any interested person it designates. This is an option when the business or its assets are at risk.

We co-own a building through the family business. Can one of us force a sale?

A co-owner can bring a partition action, and a court may divide the property or order it sold at public auction with proceeds shared by ownership percentage. If the property qualifies as heirs property, a more protective process applies. Agreements among the owners may also change how this works.

I live in New York or New Jersey and the family business is in South Florida. Can you still help?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose co-owners or property are in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed throughout, so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the dispute is only with one relative and the company is small?

Often yes, because the real risk is rarely the size of the company; it is losing leverage, missing a deadline, or letting assets drain while the argument continues. A short consultation can clarify your rights, your options, and what the case would reasonably cost compared with what is at stake.

Serving Family Business Owners Across Sunrise and South Florida

We represent family business clients in Sunrise and the surrounding Broward County communities, including Plantation, Lauderhill, Tamarac, Davie, Weston, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, and Parkland. From there our work extends north into Palm Beach County, serving owners in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Wellington, Jupiter, and Palm Beach Gardens.

We also act for clients who live outside Florida but own a share of a business or real estate here, including many from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Whether your company sits in a Sunrise commercial corridor, a Broward office park, or a Palm Beach County property held by several relatives, the same issues of ownership, control, and money tend to drive the case, and we handle matters in both counties’ courts.

Talk With a Sunrise Family Business Dispute Lawyer

If a relative or co-owner is shutting you out, draining the company, or holding the business hostage to a disagreement, a conversation with a Sunrise family business dispute lawyer can show you where you stand before the situation hardens. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team reviews your agreements, explains the claims and remedies available under Florida law, and helps you choose between negotiating, mediating, and litigating.

Call our team today to schedule a consultation about your family business dispute. We answer the phone, and if we are in court, you will hear back within 24 hours.