Business Partnership

[gidwick]

two years ago I formed a business with a friend, although registered as a partnersship with the bank, inland revenue etc,

no formal partnership agreement was drawn up between ourselves, a year down the line my partner decides that he wants out and send me a letter of resignation leaving me with the the business debts etc, he wanted his name taken off bank and rent documents which I refused to do as halk the company is his and i dont want to be solely liable.

I have since found out he did this twice with two other business......Am I right refusing his resignation, did i mention he has only put in a couple of days work in the last two years and very little capital.

[Ghostrider]

Gidwick,

I am sorry to say that unless an existing agreement is in place then it will be a case of going through legal options. I suggest you contact a solicitor asap. try the business link web site for your area they should have a list of local business solicitors.

[Miss Zippy]

In the absence of a partnership agreement (which should always be drawn up in order to help avoid the very problems you�re encountering), your partnership is governed by the Partnership Act 1890. This isn�t a particularly useful piece of legislation and doesn�t offer much in the way of remedy to many common business problems (not surprising as the Act is so old). Suffice it to say though that under the Act, neither of you can just walk away from your partnership obligations until such time as the partnership is dissolved. Even then, you will both be jointly and severally liable for any debts that remain on dissolution of the partnership. Do not do anything that could prejudice your position, such as removing your partner�s name from rent and bank documents etc and seek legal advice.