Weston Family Business Dispute Attorney

A family business dispute is rarely about the company alone. The same people arguing over a buyout figure are often sitting across from each other at holidays, and the ownership structure was usually built on handshakes and trust rather than careful drafting. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm that serves Weston, Broward County, and Palm Beach County, and if you need a Weston family business dispute attorney, our team handles conflicts between siblings, parents and children, spouses, in-laws, and close friends who own companies or property together.

These cases tend to follow a pattern. One relative runs daily operations while another holds equity and collects distributions. A parent keeps control long after the children expected a transition. An inherited company splits between heirs who want different things. When money goes missing, when someone is shut out of management, or when nobody can agree on the price of a buyout, the family conflict turns into a legal one with real financial consequences.

The legal tools exist, but which ones apply depends on how the business is organized, what the governing documents say, and how the owners have actually behaved toward one another over the years. Getting that analysis right early often decides whether a dispute ends in a negotiated separation or a long, expensive trial.

Why Weston Families Turn to the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s most difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Weston, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County. 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 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.

Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, joins Andrew on matters with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, which means everyone working on your matter knows the file. When you call, someone can answer your question, and if the attorneys are in court, the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy.

Results matter more than adjectives. After a 5-day bench trial, the Broward County Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment in May 2024 awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects the kind of work family business disputes often require: close reading of the documents, a thorough record of how the parties dealt with each other, and the willingness to try the case when negotiation fails.

Andrew’s own view is that clients often think they want the most aggressive lawyer available, when what they really want is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. In a family dispute, that judgment is the whole game. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Common Disputes Inside Weston Family Companies

• Siblings Who Inherited a Company: When a parent dies and leaves a business to several children, they often disagree about whether to sell, who should run it, and how the person doing the work should be paid compared with those who are not involved.
• Parent and Child Control Conflicts: A founder who will not step back, or a child who has taken over operations without receiving equity, can produce claims over ownership, compensation, and management authority.
• Minority Owner Freeze-Outs: A relative holding a smaller stake may be cut out of decisions, denied financial records, or stopped from receiving distributions. Florida law gives minority owners claims for breach of fiduciary duty and, in the right circumstances, an accounting.
• Missing Money and Unexplained Accounts: Family companies frequently blur personal and business finances. Commingled accounts, unpaid distributions, disputed capital contributions, and relatives who cannot account for company funds all lead to claims for an accounting and recovery of the money.
• Buyout and Valuation Fights: Even when everyone agrees someone should leave, the price is a separate battle. Valuation disputes turn on what the business is worth, what discounts apply, and what the governing documents say about how to calculate it.
• Deadlocked Management: Two equal owners who cannot agree can freeze a company. For an LLC, deadlock combined with threatened irreparable injury is one of the grounds Florida law recognizes for judicial dissolution.
• Co-Owned Real Estate: Family members often hold investment property or a business location together as co-owners. When they cannot agree, a partition action lets the court divide the property or order it sold, and title disputes may call for a quiet title action.
• Spouses and In-Laws as Owners: Business interests tangled up with a divorce, a falling out among in-laws, or a relative’s departure raise questions about who holds what stake and what the company agreements actually say.

What to Do When a Family Business Relationship Breaks Down

Start by getting the documents in hand. That means the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles of organization or incorporation, any buy-sell terms, loan documents, tax returns, and bank statements. In a family company these papers are sometimes incomplete or were never signed, which is itself important information. Do not take or delete company records to gain leverage; that tends to backfire badly and can hand the other side a claim against you.

Next, pay attention to the clock. Florida sets different limitations periods depending on the claim. An action 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 cap of 12 years. A claim for specific performance has only one year. Waiting for the family to cool down can quietly cost you a claim, so get advice before assuming there is time.

If money is being moved or spent, or property is at risk, the situation may not be able to wait for a final judgment. Courts can issue temporary and emergency injunctions to preserve company assets while a case is pending, and in a dissolution proceeding the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. Documenting what is happening now, such as transfers, locked-out access, or changed account signatories, gives a lawyer something concrete to bring to a judge.

Where the case is filed depends on the amount and the nature of the claim. Disputes over $50,000 belong in circuit court. Weston sits in Broward County, so most local cases are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, whose civil work is centered in Fort Lauderdale with regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. The Seventeenth Circuit also has complex business divisions that handle matters such as dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. If the other owner’s interests or property are in Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in West Palm Beach may be the proper venue, and some disputes belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Finally, avoid the common mistakes. Do not sign a buyout or release drafted by the other side before someone reviews it. Do not stop performing your own obligations in anger without checking what the agreement requires. Do not discuss strategy by group text with relatives who are also owners. Many families do better with a negotiated or mediated separation, and a lawyer who is comfortable in both settings can pursue that path while preserving the option to litigate.

Business Divorce Tools Under Florida Law

When family owners can no longer work together, Florida law offers several ways out, and the best one depends on the entity type. For a limited liability company, a court may order dissolution when owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or occurring, when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, or when controlling owners are acting or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently. In those proceedings the court may appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. If the operating agreement contains a deadlock sale provision that is properly initiated before the court finds deadlock, that provision can take the place of a judicial dissolution order.

For a corporation, a court can dissolve the company or order another remedy, and the statute includes a buyout mechanism that frequently resolves shareholder disputes. When a shareholder petitions on certain grounds, the corporation, or failing that one or more other shareholders, may elect to purchase 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 on those terms. The corporation must also notify the other shareholders within 30 days of the start of the proceeding that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy. During the case the court can issue injunctions and appoint a receiver or custodian to preserve assets.

Real estate adds its own track. Under Chapter 64, a partition action asks the court to divide jointly owned land, or if division would prejudice the owners, to order it sold at public auction and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. Property inherited among relatives may qualify as heirs property under Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and changes how the court approaches the case. Where ownership itself is contested, a quiet title action allows a court to determine title and remove a cloud on it, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.

Handling a Dispute With People You Still Have to Face

Family cases carry a different weight than ordinary commercial litigation. The firm handles them with the discretion they call for while keeping its attention on the financial interests of the client. That often means separating the emotional questions from the legal ones early: what do the documents say, what does the money show, and what outcome would actually let you move forward?

Sometimes the goal is to keep the business running and repair the working relationship. Other times the healthiest result is a clean separation through a negotiated buyout, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered resolution. The firm also serves clients who live outside Florida, including those in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, who own a share of a South Florida business or property with relatives here. The team handles local court appearances so out of state clients do not need to travel for every hearing, and other attorneys regularly refer matters to the firm.

Questions About Weston Family Business Disputes

What counts as a family business dispute?

It is any ownership, management, or financial conflict among relatives or close friends who share a company or property. Typical examples include disagreements over control, pay, distributions, a buyout price, missing funds, or what to do with an inherited business.

Can I force a relative out of our LLC?

It depends on the operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation terms, and Florida law offers remedies when a member has engaged in serious misconduct or the company can no longer function. A lawyer should review the agreement before you take any step.

What if a family member is taking money from the business?

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

Do we have to go to court to separate?

No. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. The firm’s attorneys are experienced in all of those, as well as courtroom litigation, and pursue the route most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

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

For a claim founded on a written instrument, Florida allows five years. An oral or implied contract claim has four years. Specific performance carries a one-year period, and fraud runs four years from discovery, capped at 12 years. Since limitations periods vary by claim, check the deadline early.

What if there is no written operating agreement?

Many family companies run on informal understandings. Without a written agreement, Florida’s default statutory rules fill the gaps, and the parties’ actual conduct, emails, bank records, and tax filings become important evidence of what everyone agreed to. Missing paperwork complicates a case but does not end it.

Can a minority owner force a sale of the company?

Not automatically. A minority owner can seek judicial dissolution if statutory grounds exist, such as deadlock, misappropriation of assets, or illegal or fraudulent conduct by controlling owners. In corporate dissolution cases, the company or other shareholders may elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value, which often ends the case without a liquidation.

Which court would hear my case in Weston?

Weston is in Broward County, so claims over $50,000 are generally filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has complex business divisions for certain dissolution and large business matters. If the opposing owner or the property is in Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit may be involved. Certain disputes can also land in federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

We co-own a property with relatives. Can one of us force a sale?

A co-owner can ask a court for partition. The court may divide the property or, if division would prejudice the owners, order a sale and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. If the property qualifies as heirs property, a separate statutory process applies that gives other cotenants rights, including a buyout opportunity, before a forced sale.

I live out of state. Can I still bring or defend a Florida family business case?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida, handles the Florida court proceedings, and keeps clients informed at each stage.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller family dispute?

Often, yes, especially early. Getting the agreements reviewed and the facts organized before positions harden can save far more than it costs, and it may lead to a negotiated resolution that avoids a lawsuit entirely.

Serving Family Business Clients Throughout Weston and South Florida

Our work for Weston families extends across Broward County, from Weston itself through Davie, Southwest Ranches, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Cooper City, and Sunrise, and east through Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Parkland, Deerfield Beach, and Pompano Beach. We also serve owners and families in Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, and West Palm Beach, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose relatives and business interests are here.

Talk With a Weston Family Business Dispute Lawyer

When a relative controls the books, a partner stops answering, or an inheritance has turned into an ownership fight, waiting rarely helps. A Weston family business dispute lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, explain which remedies fit your situation, and tell you what a realistic outcome looks like. Call to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of where you stand before the next decision gets made.