TITLE
IX
Partnership
CHAPTER 1
General
Provisions
ARTICLE
1767. By the contract of partnership two or more persons bind themselves
to contribute money, property, or industry to a common fund, with
the intention of dividing the profits among themselves.
Two
or more persons may also form a partnership for the exercise of
a profession. (1665a)
ARTICLE
1768. The partnership has a juridical personality separate and distinct
from that of each of the partners, even in case of failure to comply
with the requirements of article 1772, first paragraph. (n)
ARTICLE
1769. In determining whether a partnership exists, these rules shall
apply:
(1)
Except as provided by article 1825, persons who are not partners
as to each other are not partners as to third persons;
(2)
Co-ownership or co-possession does not of itself establish a partnership,
whether such-co-owners or co-possessors do or do not share any profits
made by the use of the property;
(3)
The sharing of gross returns does not of itself establish a partnership,
whether or not the persons sharing them have a joint or common right
or interest in any property from which the returns are derived;
(4)
The receipt by a person of a share of the profits of a business
is prima facie evidence that he is a partner in the business, but
no such inference shall be drawn if such profits were received in
payment:
(a)
As a debt by installments or otherwise;
(b)
As wages of an employee or rent to a landlord;
(c)
As an annuity to a widow or representative of a deceased partner;
(d)
As interest on a loan, though the amount of payment vary with the
profits of the business;
(e)
As the consideration for the sale of a goodwill of a business or
other property by installments or otherwise. (n)
ARTICLE
1770. A partnership must have a lawful object or purpose, and must
be established for the common benefit or interest of the partners.
When
an unlawful partnership is dissolved by a judicial decree, the profits
shall be confiscated in favor of the State, without prejudice to
the provisions of the Penal Code governing the confiscation of the
instruments and effects of a crime. (1666a)
ARTICLE
1771. A partnership may be constituted in any form, except where
immovable property or real rights are contributed thereto, in which
case a public instrument shall be necessary. (1667a)
ARTICLE
1772. Every contract of partnership having a capital of three thousand
pesos or more, in money or property, shall appear in a public instrument,
which must be recorded in the Office of the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
Failure
to comply with the requirements of the preceding paragraph shall
not affect the liability of the partnership and the members thereof
to third persons. (n)
ARTICLE
1773. A contract of partnership is void, whenever immovable property
is contributed thereto, if an inventory of said property is not
made, signed by the parties, and attached to the public instrument.
(1668a)
ARTICLE
1774. Any immovable property or an interest therein may be acquired
in the partnership name. Title so acquired can be conveyed only
in the partnership name. (n)
ARTICLE
1775. Associations and societies, whose articles are kept secret
among the members, and wherein any one of the members may contract
in his own name with third persons, shall have no juridical personality,
and shall be governed by the provisions relating to co-ownership.
(1669)
ARTICLE
1776. As to its object, a partnership is either universal or particular.
As regards the liability of the partners, a partnership may be general
or limited. (1671a)
ARTICLE
1777. A universal partnership may refer to all the present property
or to all the profits. (1672)
ARTICLE
1778. A partnership of all present property is that in which the
partners contribute all the property which actually belongs to them
to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the same among
themselves, as well as all the profits which they may acquire therewith.
(1673)
ARTICLE
1779. In a universal partnership of all present property, the property
which belonged to each of the partners at the time of the constitution
of the partnership, becomes the common property of all the partners,
as well as all the profits which they may acquire therewith.
A
stipulation for the common enjoyment of any other profits may also
be made; but the property which the partners may acquire subsequently
by inheritance, legacy, or donation cannot be included in such stipulation,
except the fruits thereof. (1674a)
ARTICLE
1780. A universal partnership of profits comprises all that the
partners may acquire by their industry or work during the existence
of the partnership.
Movable
or immovable property which each of the partners may possess at
the time of the celebration of the contract shall continue to pertain
exclusively to each, only the usufruct passing to the partnership.
(1675)
ARTICLE
1781. Articles of universal partnership, entered into without specification
of its nature, only constitute a universal partnership of profits.
(1676)
ARTICLE
1782. Persons who are prohibited from giving each other any donation
or advantage cannot enter into universal partnership. (1677)
ARTICLE
1783. A particular partnership has for its object determinate things,
their use or fruits, or a specific undertaking, or the exercise
of a profession or vocation. (1678)
CHAPTER
2
Obligations of the Partners
SECTION 1
Obligations of the Partners Among Themselves
ARTICLE
1784. A partnership begins from the moment of the execution of the
contract, unless it is otherwise stipulated. (1679)
ARTICLE
1785. When a partnership for a fixed term or particular undertaking
is continued after the termination of such term or particular undertaking
without any express agreement, the rights and duties of the partners
remain the same as they were at such termination, so far as is consistent
with a partnership at will.
A
continuation of the business by the partners or such of them as
habitually acted therein during the term, without any settlement
or liquidation of the partnership affairs, is prima facie evidence
of a continuation of the partnership. (n)
ARTICLE
1786. Every partner is a debtor of the partnership for whatever
he may have promised to contribute thereto.
He
shall also be bound for warranty in case of eviction with regard
to specific and determinate things which he may have contributed
to the partnership, in the same cases and in the same manner as
the vendor is bound with respect to the vendee. He shall also be
liable for the fruits thereof from the time they should have been
delivered, without the need of any demand. (1681a)
ARTICLE
1787. When the capital or a part thereof which a partner is bound
to contribute consists of goods, their appraisal must be made in
the manner prescribed in the contract of partnership, and in the
absence of stipulation, it shall be made by experts chosen by the
partners, and according to current prices, the subsequent changes
thereof being for account of the partnership. (n)
ARTICLE
1788. A partner who has undertaken to contribute a sum of money
and fails to do so becomes a debtor for the interest and damages
from the time he should have complied with his obligation.
The
same rule applies to any amount he may have taken from the partnership
coffers, and his liability shall begin from the time he converted
the amount to his own use. (1682)
ARTICLE
1789. An industrial partner cannot engage in business for himself,
unless the partnership expressly permits him to do so; and if he
should do so, the capitalist partners may either exclude him from
the firm or avail themselves of the benefits which he may have obtained
in violation of this provision, with a right to damages in either
case. (n)
ARTICLE
1790. Unless there is a stipulation to the contrary, the partners
shall contribute equal shares to the capital of the partnership.
(n)
ARTICLE
1791. If there is no agreement to the contrary, in case of an imminent
loss of the business of the partnership, any partner who refuses
to contribute an additional share to the capital, except an industrial
partner, to save the venture, shall he obliged to sell his interest
to the other partners. (n)
ARTICLE
1792. If a partner authorized to manage collects a demandable sum
which was owed to him in his own name, from a person who owed the
partnership another sum also demandable, the sum thus collected
shall be applied to the two credits in proportion to their amounts,
even though he may have given a receipt for his own credit only;
but should he have given it for the account of the partnership credit,
the amount shall be fully applied to the latter.
The
provisions of this article are understood to be without prejudice
to the right granted to the other debtor by article 1252, but only
if the personal credit of the partner should be more onerous to
him. (1684)
ARTICLE
1793. A partner who has received, in whole or in part, his share
of a partnership credit, when the other partners have not collected
theirs, shall be obliged, if the debtor should thereafter become
insolvent, to bring to the partnership capital what he received
even though he may have given receipt for his share only. (1685a)
ARTICLE
1794. Every partner is responsible to the partnership for damages
suffered by it through his fault, and he cannot compensate them
with the profits and benefits which he may have earned for the partnership
by his industry. However, the courts may equitably lessen this responsibility
if through the partner's extraordinary efforts in other activities
of the partnership, unusual profits have been realized. (1686a)
ARTICLE
1795. The risk of specific and determinate things, which are not
fungible, contributed to the partnership so that only their use
and fruits may be for the common benefit, shall be borne by the
partner who owns them.
If
the things contribute are fungible, or cannot be kept without deteriorating,
or if they were contributed to be sold, the risk shall be borne
by the partnership. In the absence of stipulation, the risk of the
things brought and appraised in the inventory, shall also be borne
by the partnership, and in such case the claim shall be limited
to the value at which they were appraised. (1687)
ARTICLE
1796. The partnership shall be responsible to every partner for
the amounts he may have disbursed on behalf of the partnership and
for the corresponding interest, from the time the expense are made;
it shall also answer to each partner for the obligations he may
have contracted in good faith in the interest of the partnership
business, and for risks in consequence of its management. (1688a)
ARTICLE
1797. The losses and profits shall be distributed in conformity
with the agreement. If only the share of each partner in the profits
has been agreed upon, the share of each in the losses shall be in
the same proportion.
In
the absence of stipulation, the share of each partner in the profits
and losses shall be in proportion to what he may have contributed,
but the industrial partner shall not be liable for the losses. As
for the profits, the industrial partner shall receive such share
as may be just and equitable under the circumstances. If besides
his services he has contributed capital, he shall also receive a
share in the profits in proportion to his capital. (1689a)
ARTICLE
1798. If the partners have agreed to intrust to a third person the
designation of the share of each one in the profits and losses,
such designation may be impugned only when it is manifestly inequitable.
In no case may a partner who has begun to execute the decision of
the third person, or who has not impugned the same within a period
of three months from the time he had knowledge thereof, complain
of such decision.
The
designation of losses and profits cannot be intrusted to one of
the partners. (1690)
ARTICLE 1799. A stipulation which excludes one or more partners
from any share in the profits or losses is void. (1691)
ARTICLE
1800. The partner who has been appointed manager in the articles
of partnership may execute all acts of administration despite the
opposition of his partners, unless he should act in bad faith; and
his power is irrevocable without just or lawful cause. The vote
of the partners representing the controlling interest shall be necessary
for such revocation of power.
A
power granted after the partnership has been constituted may be
revoked at any time. (1692a)
ARTICLE
1801. If two or more partners have been intrusted with the management
of the partnership without specification of their respective duties,
or without a stipulation that one of them shall not act without
the consent of all the others, each one may separately execute all
acts of administration, but if any of them should oppose the acts
of the others, the decision of the majority shall prevail. In case
of a tie, the matter shall be decided by the partners owning the
controlling interest. (1693a)
ARTICLE
1802. In case it should have been stipulated that none of the managing
partners shall act without the consent of the others, the concurrence
of all shall be necessary for the validity of the acts, and the
absence or disability of any one of them cannot be alleged, unless
there is imminent danger of grave or irreparable injury to the partnership.
(1694)
ARTICLE
1803. When the manner of management has not been agreed upon, the
following rules shall be observed:
(1)
All the partners shall be considered agents and whatever any one
of them may do alone shall bind the partnership, without prejudice
to the provisions of article 1801.
(2)
None of the partners may, without the consent of the others, make
any important alteration in the immovable property of the partnership,
even if it may be useful to the partnership. But if the refusal
of consent by the other partners is manifestly prejudicial to the
interest of the partnership, the court's intervention may be sought.
(1695a)
ARTICLE
1804. Every partner may associate another person with him in his
share, but the associate shall not be admitted into the partnership
without the consent of all the other partners, even if the partner
having an associate should be a manager. (1696)
ARTICLE
1805. The partnership books shall be kept, subject to any agreement
between the partners, at the principal place of business of the
partnership, and every partner shall at any reasonable hour have
access to and may inspect and copy any of them. (n)
ARTICLE
1806. Partners shall render on demand true and full information
of all things affecting the partnership to any partner or the legal
representative of any deceased partner or of any partner under legal
disability. (n)
ARTICLE
1807. Every partner must account to the partnership for any benefit,
and hold as trustee for it any profits derived by him without the
consent of the other partners from any transaction connected with
the formation, conduct, or liquidation of the partnership or from
any use by him of its property. (n)
ARTICLE
1808. The capitalist partners cannot engage for their own account
in any operation which is of the kind of business in which the partnership
is engaged, unless there is a stipulation to the contrary.
Any
capitalist partner violating this prohibition shall bring to the
common funds any profits accruing to him from his transactions,
and shall personally bear all the losses. (n)
ARTICLE
1809. Any partner shall have the right to a formal account as to
partnership affairs:
(1)
If he is wrongfully excluded from the partnership business or possession
of its property by his co-partners;
(2)
If the right exists under the terms of any agreement;
(3)
As provided by article 1807;
(4)
Whenever other circumstances render it just and reasonable. (n)
SECTION
2
Property Rights of a Partner
ARTICLE
1810. The property rights of a partner are:
(1)
His rights in specific partnership property;
(2)
His interest in the partnership; and
(3)
His right to participate in the management (n)
ARTICLE
1811. A partner is co-owner with his partners of specific partnership
property.
The
incidents of this co-ownership are such that:
(1)
A partner, subject to the provisions of this Title and to any agreement
between the partners, has an equal right with his partners to possess
specific partnership property for partnership purposes; but he has
no right to possess such property for any other purpose without
the consent of his partners;
(2)
A partner's right in specific partnership property is not assignable
except in connection with the assignment of rights of all the partners
in the same property;
(3)
A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject
to attachment or execution, except on a claim against the partnership.
When partnership property is attached for a partnership debt the
partners, or any of them, or the representatives of a deceased partner,
cannot claim any right under the homestead or exemption laws;
(4)
A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject
to legal support under article 291. (n)
ARTICLE
1812. A partner's interest in the partnership is his share of the
profits and surplus. (n)
ARTICLE
1813. A conveyance by a partner of his whole interest in the partnership
does not of itself dissolve the partnership, or, as against the
other partners in the absence of agreement, entitle the assignee,
during the continuance of the partnership, to interfere in the management
or administration of the partnership business or affairs, or to
require any information or account of partnership transactions,
or to inspect the partnership books; but it merely entitles the
assignee to receive in accordance with his contract the profits
to which the assigning partner would otherwise be entitled. However,
in case of fraud in the management of the partnership, the assignee
may avail himself of the usual remedies.
In
case of a dissolution of the partnership, the assignee is entitled
to receive his assignor's interest and may require an account from
the date only of the last account agreed to by all the partners.
(n)
ARTICLE
1814. Without prejudice to the preferred rights of partnership creditors
under article 1827, on due application to a competent court by any
judgment creditor of a partner, the court which entered the judgment,
or any other court, may charge the interest of the debtor partner
with payment of the unsatisfied amount of such judgment debt with
interest thereon; and may then or later appoint a receiver of his
share of the profits, and of any other money due or to fall due
to him in respect of the partnership, and make all other orders,
directions, accounts and inquiries which the debtor partner might
have made, or which the circumstances of the case may require.
The
interest charged may be redeemed at any time before foreclosure,
or in case of a sale being directed by the court, may be purchased
without thereby causing a dissolution:
(1)
With separate property, by any one or more of the partners; or
(2)
With partnership property, by any one or more of the partners with
the consent of all the partners whose interests are not so charged
or sold.
Nothing
in this Title shall be held to deprive a partner of his right, if
any, under the exemption laws, as regards his interest in the partnership.
(n)
SECTION
3
Obligations of the Partners with Regard to Third Persons
ARTICLE
1815. Every partnership shall operate under a firm name, which may
or may not include the name of one or more of the partners.
Those
who, not being members of the partnership, include their names in
the firm name, shall be subject to the liability of a partner. (n)
ARTICLE
1816. All partners, including industrial ones, shall be liable pro
rata with all their property and after all the partnership assets
have been exhausted, for the contracts which may be entered into
in the name and for the account of the partnership, under its signature
and by a person authorized to act for the partnership. However,
any partner may enter into a separate obligation to perform a partnership
contract. (n)
ARTICLE
1817. Any stipulation against the liability laid down in the preceding
article shall be void, except as among the partners. (n)
ARTICLE
1818. Every partner is an agent of the partnership for the purpose
of its business, and the act of every partner, including the execution
in the partnership name of any instrument, for apparently carrying
on in the usual way the business of the partnership of which he
is a member binds the partnership, unless the partner so acting
has in fact no authority to act for the partnership in the particular
matter, and the person with whom he is dealing has knowledge of
the fact that he has no such authority.
An
act of a partner which is not apparently for the carrying on of
business of the partnership in the usual way does not bind the partnership
unless authorized by the other partners.
Except
when authorized by the other partners or unless they have abandoned
the business, one or more but less than all the partners have no
authority to:
(1)
Assign the partnership property in trust for creditors or on the
assignee's promise to pay the debts of the partnership;
(2)
Dispose of the good-will of the business;
(3)
Do any other act which would make it impossible to carry on the
ordinary business of a partnership;
(4)
Confess a judgment;
(5)
Enter into a compromise concerning a partnership claim or liability;
(6)
Submit a partnership claim or liability to arbitration;
(7)
Renounce a claim of the partnership.
No
act of a partner in contravention of a restriction on authority
shall bind the partnership to persons having knowledge of the restriction.
(n)
ARTICLE
1819. Where title to real property is in the partnership name, any
partner may convey title to such property by a conveyance executed
in the partnership name; but the partnership may recover such property
unless the partner's act binds the partnership under the provisions
of the first paragraph of article 1818, or unless such property
has been conveyed by the grantee or a person claiming through such
grantee to a holder for value without knowledge that the partner,
in making the conveyance, has exceeded his authority.
Where
title to real property is in the name of the partnership, a conveyance
executed by a partner, in his own name, passes the equitable interest
of the partnership, provided the act is one within the authority
of the partner under the provisions of the first paragraph of article
1818.
Where
title to real property is in the name of one or more but not all
the partners, and the record does not disclose the right of the
partnership, the partners in whose name the title stands may convey
title to such property, but the partnership may recover such property
if the partners' act does not bind the partnership under the provisions
of the first paragraph of article 1818, unless the purchaser or
his assignee, is a holder for value, without knowledge.
Where
the title to real property is in the name of one or more or all
the partners, or in a third person in trust for the partnership,
a conveyance executed by a partner in the partnership name, or in
his own name, passes the equitable interest of the partnership,
provided the act is one within the authority of the partner under
the provisions of the first paragraph of article 1818.
Where
the title to real property is in the name of all the partners a
conveyance executed by all the partners passes all their rights
in such property. (n)
ARTICLE
1820. An admission or representation made by any partner concerning
partnership affairs within the scope of his authority in accordance
with this Title is evidence against the partnership. (n)
ARTICLE
1821. Notice to any partner of any matter relating to partnership
affairs, and the knowledge of the partner acting in the particular
matter, acquired while a partner or then present to his mind, and
the knowledge of any other partner who reasonably could and should
have communicated it to the acting partner, operate as notice to
or knowledge of the partnership, except in the case of fraud on
the partnership, committed by or with the consent of that partner.
(n)
ARTICLE
1822. Where, by any wrongful act or omission of any partner acting
in the ordinary course of the business of the partnership or with
the authority of his co-partners, loss or injury is caused to any
person, not being a partner in the partnership, or any penalty is
incurred, the partnership is liable therefor to the same extent
as the partner so acting or omitting to act. (n)
ARTICLE
1823. The partnership is bound to make good the loss:
(1)
Where one partner acting within the scope of his apparent authority
receives money or property of a third person and misapplies it;
and
(2)
Where the partnership in the course of its business receives money
or property of a third person and the money or property so received
is misapplied by any partner while it is in the custody of the partnership.
(n)
ARTICLE
1824. All partners are liable solidarily with the partnership for
everything chargeable to the partnership under articles 1822 and
1823. (n)
ARTICLE
1825. When a person, by words spoken or written or by conduct, represents
himself, or consents to another representing him to anyone, as a
partner in an existing partnership or with one or more persons not
actual partners, he is liable to any such persons to whom such representation
has been made, who has, on the faith of such representation, given
credit to the actual or apparent partnership, and if he has made
such representation or consented to its being made in a public manner
he is liable to such person, whether the representation has or has
not been made or communicated to such person so giving credit by
or with the knowledge of the apparent partner making the representation
or consenting to its being made:
(1)
When a partnership liability results, he is liable as though he
were an actual member of the partnership;
(2) When no partnership liability results, he is liable pro rata
with the other persons, if any, so consenting to the contract or
representation as to incur liability, otherwise separately.
When
a person has been thus represented to be a partner in an existing
partnership, or with one or more persons not actual partners, he
is an agent of the persons consenting to such representation to
bind them to the same extent and in the same manner as though he
were a partner in fact, with respect to persons who rely upon the
representation. When all the members of the existing partnership
consent to the representation, a partnership act or obligation results;
but in all other cases it is the joint act or obligation of the
person acting and the persons consenting to the representation.
(n)
ARTICLE
1826. A person admitted as a partner into an existing partnership
is liable for all the obligations of the partnership arising before
his admission as though he had been a partner when such obligations
were incurred, except that this liability shall be satisfied only
out of partnership property, unless there is a stipulation to the
contrary. (n)
ARTICLE
1827. The creditors of the partnership shall be preferred to those
of each partner as regards the partnership property. Without prejudice
to this right, the private creditors of each partner may ask the
attachment and public sale of the share of the latter in the partnership
assets. (n)
CHAPTER
3
Dissolution and Winding Up
ARTICLE
1828. The dissolution of a partnership is the change in the relation
of the partners caused by any partner ceasing to be associated in
the carrying on as distinguished from the winding up of the business.
(n)
ARTICLE
1829. On dissolution the partnership is not terminated, but continues
until the winding up of partnership affairs is completed. (n)
ARTICLE
1830. Dissolution is caused:
(1)
Without violation of the agreement between the partners:
(a)
By the termination of the definite term or particular undertaking
specified in the agreement;
(b)
By the express will of any partner, who must act in good faith,
when no definite term or particular is specified;
(c)
By the express will of all the partners who have not assigned their
interests or suffered them to be charged for their separate debts,
either before or after the termination of any specified term or
particular undertaking;
(d)
By the expulsion of any partner from the business bona fide in accordance
with such a power conferred by the agreement between the partners;
(2)
In contravention of the agreement between the partners, where the
circumstances do not permit a dissolution under any other provision
of this article, by the express will of any partner at any time;
(3) By any event which makes it unlawful for the business of the
partnership to be carried on or for the members to carry it on in
partnership;
(4)
When a specific thing which a partner had promised to contribute
to the partnership, perishes before the delivery; in any case by
the loss of the thing, when the partner who contributed it having
reserved the ownership thereof, has only transferred to the partnership
the use or enjoyment of the same; but the partnership shall not
be dissolved by the loss of the thing when it occurs after the partnership
has acquired the ownership thereof;
(5)
By the death of any partner;
(6)
By the insolvency of any partner or of the partnership;
(7)
By the civil interdiction of any partner;
(8)
By decree of court under the following article. (1700a and 1701a)
ARTICLE
1831. On application by or for a partner the court shall decree
a dissolution whenever:
(1)
A partner has been declared insane in any judicial proceeding or
is shown to be of unsound mind;
(2)
A partner becomes in any other way incapable of performing his part
of the partnership contract;
(3)
A partner has been guilty of such conduct as tends to affect prejudicially
the carrying on of the business;
(4)
A partner wilfully or persistently commits a breach of the partnership
agreement, or otherwise so conducts himself in matters relating
to the partnership business that it is not reasonably practicable
to carry on the business in partnership with him;
(5)
The business of the partnership can only be carried on at a loss;
(6)
Other circumstances render a dissolution equitable.
On
the application of the purchaser of a partner's interest under article
1813 or 1814:
(1)
After the termination of the specified term or particular undertaking;
(2)
At any time if the partnership was a partnership at will when the
interest was assigned or when the charging order was issued. (n)
ARTICLE
1832. Except so far as may be necessary to wind up partnership affairs
or to complete transactions begun but not then finished, dissolution
terminates all authority of any partner to act for the partnership:
(1)
With respect to the partners,
(a)
When the dissolution is not by the act, insolvency or death of a
partner; or
(b)
When the dissolution is by such act, insolvency or death of a partner,
in cases where article 1833 so requires;
(2)
With respect to persons not partners, as declared in article 1834.
(n)
ARTICLE
1833. Where the dissolution is caused by the act, death or insolvency
of a partner, each partner is liable to his co-partners for his
share of any liability created by any partner acting for the partnership
as if the partnership had not been dissolved unless:
(1)
The dissolution being by act of any partner, the partner acting
for the partnership had knowledge of the dissolution; or
(2)
The dissolution being by the death or insolvency of a partner, the
partner acting for the partnership had knowledge or notice of the
death or insolvency.
ARTICLE
1834. After dissolution, a partner can bind the partnership, except
as provided in the third paragraph of this article:
(1)
By any act appropriate for winding up partnership affairs or completing
transactions unfinished at dissolution;
(2)
By any transaction which would bind the partnership if dissolution
had not taken place, provided the other party to the transaction:
(a)
Had extended credit to the partnership prior to dissolution and
had no knowledge or notice of the dissolution; or
(b)
Though he had not so extended credit, had nevertheless known of
the partnership prior to dissolution, and, having no knowledge or
notice of dissolution, the fact of dissolution had not been advertised
in a newspaper of general circulation in the place (or in each place
if more than one) at which the partnership business was regularly
carried on.
The
liability of a partner under the first paragraph, No. 2, shall be
satisfied out of partnership assets alone when such partner had
been prior to dissolution:
(1)
Unknown as a partner to the person with whom the contract is made;
and
(2)
So far unknown and inactive in partnership affairs that the business
reputation of the partnership could not be said to have been in
any degree due to his connection with it.
The
partnership is in no case bound by any act of a partner after dissolution:
(1)
Where the partnership is dissolved because it is unlawful to carry
on the business, unless the act is appropriate for winding up partnership
affairs; or
(2)
Where the partner has become insolvent; or
(3)
Where the partner has no authority to wind up partnership affairs;
except by a transaction with one who —
(a)
Had extended credit to the partnership prior to dissolution and
had no knowledge or notice of his want of authority; or
(b)
Had not extended credit to the partnership prior to dissolution,
and, having no knowledge or notice of his want of authority, the
fact of his want of authority has not been advertised in the manner
provided for advertising the fact of dissolution in the first paragraph,
No. 2 (b).
Nothing
in this article shall affect the liability under article 1825 of
any person who after dissolution represents himself or consents
to another representing him as a partner in a partnership engaged
in carrying on business. (n)
ARTICLE
1835. The dissolution of the partnership does not of itself discharge
the existing liability of any partner.
A
partner is discharged from any existing liability upon dissolution
of the partnership by an agreement to that effect between himself,
the partnership creditor and the person or partnership continuing
the business; and such agreement may be inferred from the course
of dealing between the creditor having knowledge of the dissolution
and the person or partnership continuing the business.
The
individual property of a deceased partner shall be liable for all
obligations of the partnership incurred while he was a partner,
but subject to the prior payment of his separate debts. (n)
ARTICLE
1836. Unless otherwise agreed, the partners who have not wrongfully
dissolved the partnership or the legal representative of the last
surviving partner, not insolvent, has the right to wind up the partnership
affairs, provided, however, that any partner, his legal representative
or his assignee, upon cause shown, may obtain winding up by the
court. (n)
ARTICLE
1837. When dissolution is caused in any way, except in contravention
of the partnership agreement, each partner, as against his co-partners
and all persons claiming through them in respect of their interests
in the partnership, unless otherwise agreed, may have the partnership
property applied to discharge its liabilities, and the surplus applied
to pay in cash the net amount owing to the respective partners.
But if dissolution is caused by expulsion of a partner, bona fide
under the partnership agreement and if the expelled partner is discharged
from all partnership liabilities, either by payment or agreement
under the second paragraph of article 1835, he shall receive in
cash only the net amount due him from the partnership.
When
dissolution is caused in contravention of the partnership agreement
the rights of the partners shall be as follows:
(1)
Each partner who has not caused dissolution wrongfully shall have:
(a)
All the rights specified in the first paragraph of this article,
and
(b)
The right, as against each partner who has caused the dissolution
wrongfully, to damages breach of the agreement.
(2)
The partners who have not caused the dissolution wrongfully, if
they all desire to continue the business in the same name either
by themselves or jointly with others, may do so, during the agreed
term for the partnership and for that purpose may possess the partnership
property, provided they secure the payment by bond approved by the
court, or pay any partner who has caused the dissolution wrongfully,
the value of his interest in the partnership at the dissolution,
less any damages recoverable under the second paragraph, No. 1 (b)
of this article, and in like manner indemnify him against all present
or future partnership liabilities.
(3)
A partner who has caused the dissolution wrongfully shall have:
(a)
If the business is not continued under the provisions of the second
paragraph, No. 2, all the rights of a partner under the first paragraph,
subject to liability for damages in the second paragraph, No. 1
(b), of this article.
(b)
If the business is continued under the second paragraph, No. 2,
of this article, the right as against his co-partners and all claiming
through them in respect of their interests in the partnership, to
have the value of his interest in the partnership, less any damage
caused to his co-partners by the dissolution, ascertained and paid
to him in cash, or the payment secured by a bond approved by the
court, and to be released from all existing liabilities of the partnership;
but in ascertaining the value of the partner's interest the value
of the good-will of the business shall not be considered. (n)
ARTICLE
1838. Where a partnership contract is rescinded on the ground of
the fraud or misrepresentation of one of the parties thereto, the
party entitled to rescind is, without prejudice to any other right,
entitled:
(1)
To a lien on, or right of retention of, the surplus of the partnership
property after satisfying the partnership liabilities to third persons
for any sum of money paid by him for the purchase of an interest
in the partnership and for any capital or advances contributed by
him;
(2)
To stand, after all liabilities to third persons have been satisfied,
in the place of the creditors of the partnership for any payments
made by him in respect of the partnership liabilities; and
(3)
To be indemnified by the person guilty of the fraud or making the
representation against all debts and liabilities of the partnership.
(n)
ARTICLE
1839. In settling accounts between the partners after dissolution,
the following rules shall be observed, subject to any agreement
to the contrary:
(1)
The assets of the partnership are:
(a)
The partnership property,
(b)
The contributions of the partners necessary for the payment of all
the liabilities specified in No. 2.
(2)
The liabilities of the partnership shall rank in order of payment,
as follows:
(a)
Those owing to creditors other than partners,
(b)
Those owing to partners other than for capital and profits,
(c)
Those owing to partners in respect of capital,
(d)
Those owing to partners in respect of profits.
(3)
The assets shall be applied in the order of their declaration in
No. 1 of this article to the satisfaction of the liabilities.
(4)
The partners shall contribute, as provided by article 1797, the
amount necessary to satisfy the liabilities.
(5)
An assignee for the benefit of creditors or any person appointed
by the court shall have the right to enforce the contributions specified
in the preceding number.
(6)
Any partner or his legal representative shall have the right to
enforce the contributions specified in No. 4, to the extent of the
amount which he has paid in excess of his share of the liability.
(7)
The individual property of a deceased partner shall be liable for
the contributions specified in No. 4.
(8)
When partnership property and the individual properties of the partners
are in possession of a court for distribution, partnership creditors
shall have priority on partnership property and separate creditors
on individual property, saving the rights of lien or secured creditors.
(9)
Where a partner has become insolvent or his estate is insolvent,
the claims against his separate property shall rank in the following
order:
(a)
Those owing to separate creditors;
(b)
Those owing to partnership creditors;
(c)
Those owing to partners by way of contribution. (n)
ARTICLE
1840. In the following cases creditors of the dissolved partnership
are also creditors of the person or partnership continuing the business:
(1)
When any new partner is admitted into an existing partnership, or
when any partner retires and assigns (or the representative of the
deceased partner assigns) his rights in partnership property to
two or more of the partners, or to one or more of the partners and
one or more third persons, if the business is continued without
liquidation of the partnership affairs;
(2)
When all but one partner retire and assign (or the representative
of a deceased partner assigns) their rights in partnership property
to the remaining partner, who continues the business without liquidation
of partnership affairs, either alone or with others;
(3)
When any partner retires or dies and the business of the dissolved
partnership is continued as set forth in Nos. 1 and 2 of this article,
with the consent of the retired partners or the representative of
the deceased partner, but without any assignment of his right in
partnership property;
(4)
When all the partners or their representatives assign their rights
in partnership property to one or more third persons who promise
to pay the debts and who continue the business of the dissolved
partnership;
(5) When any partner wrongfully causes a dissolution and the remaining
partners continue the business under the provisions of article 1837,
second paragraph, No. 2, either alone or with others, and without
liquidation of the partnership affairs;
(6)
When a partner is expelled and the remaining partners continue the
business either alone or with others without liquidation of the
partnership affairs.
The liability of a third person becoming a partner in the partnership
continuing the business, under this article, to the creditors of
the dissolved partnership shall be satisfied out of the partnership
property only, unless there is a stipulation to the contrary.
When
the business of a partnership after dissolution is continued under
any conditions set forth in this article the creditors of the dissolved
partnership, as against the separate creditors of the retiring or
deceased partner or the representative of the deceased partner,
have a prior right to any claim of the retired partner or the representative
of the deceased partner against the person or partnership continuing
the business, on account of the retired or deceased partner's interest
in the dissolved partnership or on account of any consideration
promised for such interest or for his right in partnership property.
Nothing
in this article shall be held to modify any right of creditors to
set aside any assignment on the ground of fraud.
The
use by the person or partnership continuing the business of the
partnership name, or the name of a deceased partner as part thereof,
shall not of itself make the individual property of the deceased
partner liable for any debts contracted by such person or partnership.
(n)
ARTICLE
1841. When any partner retires or dies, and the business is continued
under any of the conditions set forth in the preceding article,
or in article 1837, second paragraph, No. 2, without any settlement
of accounts as between him or his estate and the person or partnership
continuing the business, unless otherwise agreed, he or his legal
representative as against such person or partnership may have the
value of his interest at the date of dissolution ascertained, and
shall receive as an ordinary creditor an amount equal to the value
of his interest in the dissolved partnership with interest, or,
at his option or at the option of his legal representative, in lieu
of interest, the profits attributable to the use of his right in
the property of the dissolved partnership; provided that the creditors
of the dissolved partnership as against the separate creditors,
or the representative of the retired or deceased partner, shall
have priority on any claim arising under this article, as provided
article 1840, third paragraph. (n)
ARTICLE
1842. The right to an account of his interest shall accrue to any
partner, or his legal representative as against the winding up partners
or the surviving partners or the person or partnership continuing
the business, at the date of dissolution, in the absence of any
agreement to the contrary. (n)
CHAPTER
4
Limited
Partnership (n)
ARTICLE
1843. A limited partnership is one formed by two or more persons
under the provisions of the following article, having as members
one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. The
limited partners as such shall not be bound by the obligations of
the partnership.
ARTICLE 1844. Two or more persons desiring to form a limited partnership
shall:
(1)
Sign and swear to a certificate, which shall state —
(a)
The name of the partnership, adding thereto the word "Limited";
(b)
The character of the business;
(c)
The location of the principal place of business;
(d)
The name and place of residence of each member, general and limited
partners being respectively designated;
(e)
The term for which the partnership is to exist;
(
f ) The amount of cash and a description of and the agreed value
of the other property contributed by each limited partner;
(g)
The additional contributions, if any, to be made by each limited
partner and the times at which or events on the happening of which
they shall be made;
(h)
The time, if agreed upon, when the contribution of each limited
partner is to be returned;
(i)
The share of the profits or the other compensation by way of income
which each limited partner shall receive by reason of his contribution;
(
j) The right, if given, of a limited partner to substitute an assignee
as contributor in his place, and the terms and conditions of the
substitution;
(k)
The right, if given, of the partners to admit additional limited
partners;
(l)
The right, if given, of one or more of the limited partners to priority
over other limited partners, as to contributions or as to compensation
by way of income, and the nature of such priority;
(m)
The right, if given, of the remaining general partner or partners
to continue the business on the death, retirement, civil interdiction,
insanity or insolvency of a general partner; and
(n)
The right, if given, of a limited partner to demand and receive
property other than cash in return for his contribution.
(2)
File for record the certificate in the Office of the Securities
and Exchange Commission.
A
limited partnership is formed if there has been substantial compliance
in good faith with the foregoing requirements.
ARTICLE
1845. The contributions of a limited partner may be cash or property,
but not services.
ARTICLE
1846. The surname of a limited partner shall not appear in the partnership
name unless:
(1)
It is also the surname of a general partner, or
(2)
Prior to the time when the limited partner became such, the business
has been carried on under a name in which his surname appeared.
A
limited partner whose surname appears in a partnership name contrary
to the provisions of the first paragraph is liable as a general
partner to partnership creditors who extend credit to the partnership
without actual knowledge that he is not a general partner.
ARTICLE
1847. If the certificate contains a false statement, one who suffers
loss by reliance on such statement may hold liable any party to
the certificate who knew the statement to be false:
(1)
At the time he signed the certificate, or
(2)
Subsequently, but within a sufficient time before the statement
was relied upon to enable him to cancel or amend the certificate,
or to file a petition for its cancellation or amendment as provided
in article 1865.
ARTICLE
1848. A limited partner shall not become liable as a general partner
unless, in addition to the exercise of his rights and powers as
a limited partner, he takes part in the control of the business.
ARTICLE 1849. After the formation of a lifted partnership, additional
limited partners may be admitted upon filing an amendment to the
original certificate in accordance with the requirements of article
1865.
ARTICLE
1850. A general partner shall have all the rights and powers and
be subject to all the restrictions and liabilities of a partner
in a partnership without limited partners. However, without the
written consent or ratification of the specific act by all the limited
partners, a general partner or all of the general partners have
no authority to:
(1)
Do any act in contravention of the certificate;
(2)
Do any act which would make it impossible to carry on the ordinary
business of the partnership;
(3)
Confess a judgment against the partnership;
(4)
Possess partnership property, or assign their rights in specific
partnership property, for other than a partnership purpose;
(5)
Admit a person as a general partner;
(6)
Admit a person as a limited partner, unless the right so to do is
given in the certificate;
(7)
Continue the business with partnership property on the death, retirement,
insanity, civil interdiction or insolvency of a general partner,
unless the right so to do is given in the certificate.
ARTICLE
1851. A limited partner shall have the same rights as a general
partner to:
(1)
Have the partnership books kept at the principal place of business
of the partnership, and at a reasonable hour to inspect and copy
any of them;
(2)
Have on demand true and full information of all things affecting
the partnership, and a formal account of partnership affairs whenever
circumstances render it just and reasonable; and
(3)
Have dissolution and winding up by decree of court.
A limited partner shall have the right to receive a share of the
profits or other compensation by way of income, and to the return
of his contribution as provided in articles 1856 and 1857.
ARTICLE
1852. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 1848, a person
who has contributed to the capital of a business conducted by a
person or partnership erroneously believing that he has become a
limited partner in a limited partnership, is not, by reason of his
exercise of the rights of a limited partner, a general partner with
the person or in the partnership carrying on the business, or bound
by the obligations of such person or partnership, provided that
on ascertaining the mistake he promptly renounces his interest in
the profits of the business, or other compensation by way of income.
ARTICLE
1853. A person may be a general partner and a limited partner in
the same partnership at the same time, provided that this fact shall
be stated in the certificate provided for in article 1844.
A
person who is a general, and also at the same time a limited partner,
shall have all the rights and powers and be subject to all the restrictions
of a general partner; except that, in respect to his contribution,
he shall have the rights against the other members which he would
have had if he were not also a general partner.
ARTICLE
1854. A limited partner also may loan money to and transact other
business with the partnership, and, unless he is also a general
partner, receive on account of resulting claims against the partnership,
with general creditors, a pro rata share of the assets. No limited
partner shall in respect to any such claim:
(1)
Receive or hold as collateral security any partnership property,
or
(2)
Receive from a general partner or the partnership any payment, conveyance,
or release from liability if at the time the assets of the partnership
are not sufficient to discharge partnership liabilities to persons
not claiming as general or limited partners.
The receiving of collateral security, or payment, conveyance, or
release in violation of the foregoing provisions is a fraud on the
creditors of the partnership.
ARTICLE
1855. Where there are several limited partners the members may agree
that one or more of the limited partners shall have a priority over
other limited partners as to the return of their contributions,
as to their compensation by way of income, or as to any other matter.
If such an agreement is made it shall be stated in the certificate,
and in the absence of such a statement all the limited partners
shall stand upon equal footing.
ARTICLE
1856. A limited partner may receive from the partnership the share
of the profits or the compensation by way of income stipulated for
in the certificate; provided, that after such payment is made, whether
from property of the partnership or that of a general partner, the
partnership assets are in excess of all liabilities of the partnership
except liabilities to limited partners on account of their contributions
and to general partners.
ARTICLE
1857. A limited partner shall not receive from a general partner
or out of partnership property any part of his contributions until:
(1)
All liabilities of the partnership, except liabilities to general
partners and to limited partners on account of their contributions,
have been paid or there remains property of the partnership sufficient
to pay them;
(2)
The consent of all members is had, unless the return of the contribution
may be rightfully demanded under the provisions of the second paragraph;
and
(3)
The certificate is cancelled or so amended as to set forth the withdrawal
or reduction.
Subject to the provisions of the first paragraph, a limited partner
may rightfully demand the return of his contribution:
(1)
On the dissolution of a partnership; or
(2)
When the date specified in the certificate for its return has arrived,
or
(3)
After he has six months' notice in writing to all other members,
if no time is specified in the certificate, either for the return
of the contribution or for the dissolution of the partnership.
In
the absence of any statement in the certificate to the contrary
or the consent of all members, a limited partner, irrespective of
the nature of his contribution, has only the right to demand and
receive cash in return for his contribution.
A limited partner may have the partnership dissolved and its affairs
wound up when:
(1)
He rightfully but unsuccessfully demands the return of his contribution,
or
(2)
The other liabilities of the partnership have not been paid, or
the partnership property is insufficient for their payment as required
by the first paragraph, No. 1, and the limited partner would otherwise
be entitled to the return of his contribution.
ARTICLE
1858. A limited partner is liable to the partnership:
(1)
For the difference between his contribution as actually made and
that stated in the certificate as having been made, and
(2)
For any unpaid contribution which he agreed in the certificate to
make in the future at the time and on the conditions stated in the
certificate.
A
limited partner holds as trustee for the partnership:
(1)
Specific property stated in the certificate as contributed by him,
but which was not contributed or which has been wrongfully returned,
and
(2)
Money or other property wrongfully paid or conveyed to him on account
of his contribution.
The
liabilities of a limited partner as set forth in this article can
be waived or compromised only by the consent of all members; but
a waiver or compromise shall not affect the right of a creditor
of a partnership who extended credit or whose claim arose after
the filing and before a cancellation or amendment of the certificate,
to enforce such liabilities.
When
a contributor has rightfully received the return in whole or in
part of the capital of his contribution, he is nevertheless liable
to the partnership for any sum, not in excess of such return with
interest, necessary to discharge its liabilities to all creditors
who extended credit or whose claims arose before such return.
ARTICLE
1859. A limited partner's interest is assignable.
A
substituted limited partner is a person admitted to all the rights
of a limited partner who has died or has assigned his interest in
a partnership.
An
assignee, who does not become a substituted limited partner, has
no right to require any information or account of the partnership
transactions or to inspect the partnership books; he is only entitled
to receive the share of the profits or other compensation by way
of income, or the return of his contribution, to which his assignor
would otherwise be entitled.
An
assignee shall have the right to become a substituted limited partner
if all the members consent thereto or if the assignor, being thereunto
empowered by the certificate, gives the assignee that right.
An
assignee becomes a substituted limited partner when the certificate
is appropriately amended in accordance with article 1865.
The
substituted limited partner has all the rights and powers, and is
subject to all the restrictions and liabilities of his assignor,
except those liabilities of which he was ignorant at the time he
became a limited partner and which could not be ascertained from
the certificate.
The
substitution of the assignee as a limited partner does not release
the assignor from liability to the partnership under articles 1847
and 1858.
ARTICLE
1860. The retirement, death, insolvency, insanity or civil interdiction
of a general partner dissolves the partnership, unless the business
is continued by the remaining general partners:
(1)
Under a right so to do stated in the certificate, or
(2) With the consent of all members.
ARTICLE
1861. On the death of a limited partner his executor or administrator
shall have all the rights of a limited partner for the purpose of
setting his estate, and such power as the deceased had to constitute
his assignee a substituted limited partner.
The
estate of a deceased limited partner shall be liable for all his
liabilities as a limited partner.
ARTICLE 1862. On due application to a court of competent jurisdiction
by any creditor of a limited partner, the court may charge the interest
of the indebted limited partner with payment of the unsatisfied
amount of such claim, and may appoint a receiver, and make all other
orders, directions and inquiries which the circumstances of the
case may require.
The
interest may be redeemed with the separate property of any general
partner, but may not be redeemed with partnership property.
The
remedies conferred by the first paragraph shall not be deemed exclusive
of others which may exist.
Nothing
in this Chapter shall be held to deprive a limited partner of his
statutory exemption.
ARTICLE
1863. In settling accounts after dissolution the liabilities of
the partnership shall be entitled to payment in the following order:
(1)
Those to creditors, in the order of priority as provided by law,
except those to limited partners on account of their contributions,
and to general partners;
(2) Those to limited partners in respect to their share of the profits
and other compensation by way of income on their contributions;
(3)
Those to limited partners in respect to the capital of their contributions;
(4)
Those to general partners other than for capital and profits;
(5)
Those to general partners in respect to profits;
(6)
Those to general partners in respect to capital.
Subject
to any statement in the certificate or to subsequent agreement,
limited partners share in the partnership assets in respect to their
claims for capital, and in respect to their claims for profits or
for compensation by way of income on their contribution respectively,
in proportion to the respective amounts of such claims.
ARTICLE
1864. The certificate shall be cancelled when the partnership is
dissolved or all limited partners cease to be such.
A
certificate shall be amended when:
(1)
There is a change in the name of the partnership or in the amount
or character of the contribution of any limited partner;
(2)
A person is substituted as a limited partner;
(3)
An additional limited partner is admitted;
(4)
A person is admitted as a general partner;
(5) A general partner retires, dies, becomes insolvent or insane,
or is sentenced to civil interdiction and the business is continued
under article 1860;
(6)
There is a change in the character of the business of the partnership;
(7)
There is a false or erroneous statement in the certificate;
(8)
There is a change in the time as stated in the certificate for the
dissolution of the partnership or for the return of a contribution;
(9)
A time is fixed for the dissolution of the partnership, or the return
of a contribution, no time having been specified in the certificate,
or
(10)
The members desire to make a change in any other statement in the
certificate in order that it shall accurately represent the agreement
among them.
ARTICLE
1865. The writing to amend a certificate shall:
(1) Conform to the requirements of article 1844 as far as necessary
to set forth clearly the change in the certificate which it is desired
to make; and
(2)
Be signed and sworn to by all members, and an amendment substituting
a limited partner or adding a limited or general partner shall be
signed also by the member to be substituted or added, and when a
limited partner is to be substituted, the amendment shall also be
signed by the assigning limited partner.
The
writing to cancel a certificate shall be signed by all members.
A
person desiring the cancellation or amendment of a certificate,
if any person designated in the first and second paragraphs as a
person who must execute the writing refuses to do so, may petition
the court to order a cancellation or amendment thereof.
If
the court finds that the petitioner has a right to have the writing
executed by a person who refuses to do so, it shall order the Office
of the Securities and Exchange Commission where the certificate
is recorded, to record the cancellation or amendment of the certificate;
and when the certificate is to be amended, the court shall also
cause to be filed for record in said office a certified copy of
its decree setting forth the amendment.
A
certificate is amended or cancelled when there is filed for record
in the Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, where the
certificate is recorded:
(1)
A writing in accordance with the provisions of the first or second
paragraph, or
(2)
A certified copy of the order of the court in accordance with the
provisions of the fourth paragraph;
(3)
After the certificate is duly amended in accordance with this article,
the amended certified shall thereafter be for all purposes the certificate
provided for in this Chapter.
ARTICLE
1866. A contributor, unless he is a general partner, is not a proper
party to proceedings by or against a partnership, except where the
object is to enforce a limited partner's right against or liability
to the partnership.
ARTICLE
1867. A limited partnership formed under the law prior to the effectivity
of this Code, may become a limited partnership under this Chapter
by complying with the provisions of article 1844, provided the certificate
sets forth:
(1)
The amount of the original contribution of each limited partner,
and the time when the contribution was made; and
(2)
That the property of the partnership exceeds the amount sufficient
to discharge its liabilities to persons not claiming as general
or limited partners by an amount greater than the sum of the contributions
of its limited partners.
A
limited partnership formed under the law prior to the effectivity
of this Code, until or unless it becomes a limited partnership under
this Chapter, shall continue to be governed by the provisions of
the old law.
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