Partnership is a legal form of business which requires few legal formalities to form and operate. Merely the intention to jointly operate a business by two or more persons is enough to form a partnership. State laws govern the formation, operation and dissolution of partnerships. All states have adopted the Uniform Partnership Law but with a few variances in each state. If a question arises as to the legal existence of a partnership, the law looks for certain aspects of the business such a:
1) the intention to jointly operate
2) sharing of profits or losses
3) joint control and ownership of property.
In a partnership, unless expressly stated otherwise all partners have equal rights and responsibilities. All partners have equal right to a share in profits and are personally and jointly responsible for all the activities of the partnership at its agents. However, the rights and responsibilities of each partner can be specified through a partnership agreement. The partners can state the capital contribution of each partner, the resultant share in profits, operational responsibility of each partner, any special consideration payable to a partner for a business expertise that partner contributes to the business and such other terms and conditions of the partnership business. An important point to note here is that regardless of any stipulations in a written partnership agreement, all partners are still personally liable to the business debts and obligations without any limit. If a claim arises out of the business and one of the partners is personally not able to pay, the other partner or partners have to settle the claim with their personal assets and then sue the defaulting partner to compensate.
There some forms of partnership that limits the personal liability of partners such as a limited partnership or limited liability partnership. Despite the similarity in name, both forms are distinct in its nature. A limited partnership has a general partner and one or more limited partners. Only the general partner is active in business operations and has complete decision making power and is personally responsible for the partnership’s activities. The limited partners have a share of business but have no active involvement in the operations. Generally this form is used in a family limited partnership to protect joint family property. The dominant member of the family acts as the general partner and other members as limited partners. In a Limited Liability Partnership, all partners have limited personal liability to the partnership activities. This form is used in professions where misconduct or negligence of one partner may affect the whole partnership and to protect other partner or partners for being personal responsible for such misconduct or negligence.
