business partnership debt

[gidwick]

about 3 years ago, after being made redundant i was persuaded to go into business with a friend, we started from scratch, and registered the business as a partnership around 6 months down the line, my partner took ill and decided to withdraw from the company, the only notification i got was a hand written letter to myself informing me of his actions, which i just filed and did nothing about, this was the last contact i had from him.,

I tried over the next two years i tried to keep the business running but it struggled, and i decided to stop trading, in this time my ex partner had moved house and i couldnt trace him, but carried on paying the bill as best i could but fell behind on the rent for the property we were renting, this agreement was in my business partners name, not in the businesses and i wasnt on the agreement either

About 4 months ago the business received a letter saying as i was occuping the unit, and it was under someone elses name i was thus classed as a trespasser on the premises, so after making a few phonecalls i was told i was not liable for the debt and i would get evicted and they would change the locks. so i returned all my rented my machinery locked the doors and walked away, the business had no other debtors other than the rent.

Could i be chased for payment on the outstanding amount of rent?

[Skyline D]

This needs legal advice really but I'd think you could be chased for it yes.

I would imagine that your ex-partner could also be held liable potentially. However, it's clear the property owner knew he wasn't involved anymore if they threw you out for trespass and you concede that even after he ended his involvement you continued to pay the rent so there's an implicit contract there.

Did you notify the Inland revenue about the change in partnership when your partner "resigned" (I'm presuming that despite the use of the word "company" at one point in the question, it wasn't actually an incorporated company)? I'd have thought the Revenue would have chased him for tax returns, although perhaps he informed them himself.

[buildersmate]

You can't wind back the clock. When partnerships are set up, it is best to set out some sort of agreement stating who does what. It doesn't seem that you and your partner did this. The link below gives you some flavour of the sorts of issues that may crop up without any formal agreement. Yes, in theory you could be chased for the outstanding rent, but without an agreement between you and your partner, you might get away with just denying it, claiming he was letting you use it.
http://www.startups.co.uk/6678842910871230347/ creating-a-partnership-agreement.html

[themas]

This could be a bit of a can of worms. It seems to me that the prime responsibility for the rent is your ex-partner's because the lease is in his name.

I assume the rent you paid was not paid from a personal account but from the business account. If so, those payments do not link you personally directly to the payments.

Also, I assume it is evident that it was the business which occupied the premises rather than you personally.

There is also the point that your ex-partner should have done something about getting the lease changed when he withdrew.

To me, all the above could favour an argument that you personally are not liable but I do not know how partnership law works and what the implications are of the fact that you carried on trading (under the same business name?) after you got the letter from your ex-partner. It may be that that does make you liable.

You could try ringing Business Debtline (www.bdl.org.uk I think), who may be able to give you some help.

[gidwick]

admittedly i was probably a little naive about the whole partnership when we set it up, so with me having no previous business knowledge my partner took care of those matters, i registered myself as self employed as an individual and did my tax returns as an individual!

i didnt inform the IR on my partners leaving because i felt it wasnt fair for him to just up and leave like that, i struggled with the business as long as i could and did a pretty good job making sure everyone got paid. The bills were paid from a business account and the dept used to contact me about payment, until i had the 'trespasser, letter sent to me, then they no longer contacted me!

i phoned the dept who i made payment to to query the letter and they did say that as the rent agreement was not in my name they couldnt really chase me for the debt, and as my partner had moved house a couple of times they didnt know where to contact him either, she they told me what would prob happen that as a 'occupier' i would just get evicted from the premises and they would change the locks.

i just dont like this hanging over my head.

Thanks for your help