Sole Trader / Partnership Advice

purplelavender

My "significant other" and myself have been running a business as a partnership for the past 4 years. Recently we felt we needed to update our wills now that we have the business. The solicitor said we should have a partnership agreement. We have not got one! So what advice can anyone give about how we go about this? Should we download one of the ones we have found on the internet or go and see a solicitor to get one drawn up. This is not a big business - we trade under VAT. How much is this going to cost us?
Any advice gratefully received.

chrismac1

I think this depends on the exact nature of your relationship. If you were married (legally that is i.e. including common law) then you'd be jointly and severally liable anyway. If you were going into partnership with a friend or business colleague, I'd consider myself almost negligent as your accountant if I failed to advise you to draw one up.

Mojisola

chrismac1 wrote: »

I think this depends on the exact nature of your relationship. If you were married (legally that is i.e. including common law) then you'd be jointly and severally liable anyway. If you were going into partnership with a friend or business colleague, I'd consider myself almost negligent as your accountant if I failed to advise you to draw one up.

Could you explain this? There is no such thing as a legal common law wife/husband.

zygurat789

The bottom line is that in the event of the partnership being dissolved the assets would be divided according to the partnership act 189?. Basically equally between all the partners.

purplelavender

Thanks for response. We are not married! Our accountant did not advise us to have a partnership agreement. We always understood that it was jointly owned but wanted it recorded in our wills that each leaves the other half to each other esp as we are not married. So still not sure where to go from here.

chrismac1

sorry I was careless - I meant to say civil partnership.

purplelavender

No we do not have a civil partnership! Just a couple living together and working together. My partner is currently getting bogged down looking at on line partnership agreements.