California Partition Law Blog
General partnerships, and their “joint venture” cousins, are composed of partners seeking to make a profit in a business venture. But things don’t always work out. Often, a once promising endeavor breaks down due to mismanagement and miscommunication. In these situations, partners may feel the urge to get out with whatever equity they can. Usually, it isn’t that easy.
The Revised Uniform Partnership Act allows partners to dissociate from their partnerships whenever they want. Yet this withdrawal can sometimes cause serious damage, especially when the partner trying to leave was a major source of capital. For that reason, the California Corporations Code provides for penalties when the dissociation is “wrongful.” In the end, getting out of a partnership isn’t so much about doing it the “right” way as it is about avoiding the “wrong” way to dissociate.