Your Partner Took Money From the Business. What Do You Do Next?

If you’re asking what to do when your partner steals from you in a business, start with three steps. Collect the records, read your signed agreement, and hold off on confronting your partner until you know the facts. Florida law gives LLC members and partners rights to company information, and the right path depends on your documents and the type of claim. This is general information for co-owners and investors in Miami-Dade, Broward, and nearby areas, not advice on your specific case.

What Counts as a Business Partner Stealing From the Company

Business partner theft means company money or property moves to a partner without a valid business reason. Common examples include:

• Transfers from company accounts to a partner’s personal account
• Company revenue sent to another business the partner owns
• Personal expenses, such as travel or a car, paid by the company
• Fake or inflated vendor invoices that send money to the partner
• Side payments the other owners never approved

Whether conduct counts depends on the partner’s role, the governing documents, and whether the other owners approved it. Under Fla. Stat. § 605.04091, each member of a member-managed LLC owes duties of loyalty and care. The duty of loyalty requires a member to account for any benefit from using company property. A general partner has a similar duty under Fla. Stat. § 620.8404.

Not every fight is theft. A dispute over pricing, hiring, or strategy is a business disagreement. Under § 605.04091, a member doesn’t violate a duty solely because the conduct also helps that member. Keep these two situations separate when you describe the facts.

Preserve Evidence Before You Confront Anyone

Preserve the company’s records before you raise the issue with your partner. Records turn a suspicion into something you can prove. Start by collecting:

• Bank and credit card statements for the company
• The general ledger and accounting software logs, including who made changes
• Payroll and vendor files
• Emails and texts about payments
• Contracts behind any invoices in question

Many LLC owners find it useful to know where the company keeps its operating agreement and financial records, and how a member can ask to see them. That gives you a starting point.

Then build a factual timeline. For each payment, note the date, amount, account, payee, and who approved it. Keep the notes factual, not emotional.

Two common mistakes make these cases harder. Confronting the partner first gives them time to move or delete records. Angry texts also become written statements you may later have to explain. Keep accusations out of writing until the facts are clear.

Avoid self-help steps too. Changing locks, moving company money, or cutting off a partner’s access without legal review can create liability of your own.

Review Your Operating Agreement or Partnership Agreement

Your signed agreement often sets your options, so read it before you assume the default rules apply. Find the governing document, usually an LLC operating agreement or a general partnership agreement. Then check it for:

• Dispute resolution clauses, including mediation or arbitration
• Buy-sell terms that set a price or process for a partner’s exit
• Removal or expulsion procedures
• Indemnification terms that say who pays legal costs
• Notice requirements for demands

Under § 605.0105, the operating agreement governs relations among members and between members and the LLC. Where it’s silent, the statute fills the gap. An operating agreement also cannot relieve a person of liability for bad faith, willful or intentional misconduct, or a knowing violation of law.

Confirm you have the current version, including any amendments. An old copy may not reflect the deal that applies today.

Your Right to Inspect Company Records in Florida

Florida gives LLC members and partners a right to company information, and a written request creates a dated record of what you asked for. For LLCs, § 605.0410 requires the company to share material information without a demand, unless it shows you already know it.

After your written demand, the company has 10 days to send you a record of what it will provide, when and where, and its reasons if it declines. The company may set reasonable limits on how you use the information. If challenged, it must prove those limits are reasonable.

If the company refuses inspection, § 605.0411 lets the circuit court in the county of the principal office order inspection and copying. The court must also order the company to pay the member’s reasonable attorney fees, unless the company refused in good faith on a reasonable basis to doubt your right.

Partnerships work differently. Under § 620.8403, a partnership must give partners and their attorneys access to its books during ordinary business hours. It may charge a reasonable fee for copies. Florida’s partnership law sits in Chapter 620.

Put your request in writing. Name the records, the time period, and the rights behind the request. Keep a copy and proof of delivery. Confirm the current statute text and your agreement, since your agreement may add to or limit these rights.

Options for Addressing the Theft: Demand, Repayment, Removal, or Litigation

The main paths are a written demand, a negotiated repayment, a buyout or removal under your agreements, or a lawsuit. Each carries its own cost, timing, and risk.

Many owners start informally. A written demand lists the amounts, the records, and a response date. Any repayment should be a signed written agreement with clear payment terms.

For partnerships, § 620.8701 covers a partner who leaves without ending the business. The partnership must buy that interest at a statutory price. If no agreement is reached within 120 days after a written demand for payment, the partnership pays its estimated price. Amounts the partner owes the partnership are offset against that price.

Lawsuits take different forms. Under § 605.0801, a member may sue another member, a manager, or the company directly. The member must plead and prove either an injury not solely suffered by the company, or an injury from breach of a separate duty owed to the member. Under § 605.0802, a member suing for the company must first demand action. The company then has a reasonable time, not to exceed 90 days, unless demand would be futile.

A court or arbitrator may consider claims such as breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, or an accounting. Which ones fit depends on your facts. No one can promise how any path will turn out.

Deadlines and Why Waiting Can Hurt Your Position

Florida sets time limits for lawsuits, and the limit depends on the type of claim. Don’t assume you have unlimited time. § 95.11 sorts lawsuits into categories with different limits. One category covers actions on a contract founded on a written instrument. Match your claim to the right category before you count any days.

Delay can also cost you. Under § 95.11, laches bars a claim not brought within the time the law allows for the same subject matter. That applies even when the other side didn’t know you would sue.

Some events pause the clock, a process called tolling. Under § 95.051, the time limit is tolled while an arbitration on the same dispute is pending. A disability or other reason does not toll the time limit, except the events that section lists.

This page gives no single universal deadline. Confirm the deadline for your facts as soon as you can, since waiting can narrow your options.

Bringing in Outside Counsel: Next Steps for Your Situation

Before you speak with counsel, organize your governing documents, your dated timeline, the amounts involved, and the business’s current status. Some owners need help with one focused dispute. Others need ongoing governance support, such as reviewing agreements and handling employee or vendor issues. Those are different kinds of work.

KEW Legal is a Florida business law firm with offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach. It acts as outside general counsel for business owners and investors across Miami-Dade and South Florida, including partnership disputes.

Quick answers

What to do when your partner steals from you first? Preserve the company’s records and read your signed agreement before you confront your partner.

Can I see my LLC’s books? Florida LLC members have information rights, and the company must respond in writing to a demand within 10 days. The exact limits depend on the statute and your agreement.

How long do I have to sue? It depends on the type of claim, and laches and tolling can affect timing.

If you’re still asking what to do when your partner steals from you, you don’t have to sort it out on your own. If the transfers or invoices have you worried, call 305-990-2300 or send us a message to talk through your facts.