Partnership Hell

pizzaman_3

Hi

Im not sure if this is the correct forum for this but mods move it if it isnt. I was in a partnership and the others decided to call it a day in December. In jan i received a letter saying they wanted me to sign nearly all the assets over to them and are currently holding all my personal equipment that was in the premises to ransom till I sign the papers. There was no partnership agreement in place. I dont have the money for solicitors at the moment so trying to do as much research as possible myself at the moment so any suggestions would be helpful.

shameless-about-money

You need legal advice - if nothing else ask to make an appointment to see the Solicitor via the CAB - which is free of charge.

They cannot do this to you!

wolfehouse

if you have no agreement you have what is called 'a partnership at will'.
if you search the internet you should find quite a bit about what can and can't be done in one although i think this may differ depending on where you stay.

I really don't think they can hold your equipment to ransom. You really do need legal help in that case.

Also, from personal experience you need help (CAB or other) because if it comes to court, they really can ignore all arrangements you might make that are not done in a proper legal way. please get proper advice.

I just found some notes:
*Partership act 1890 still apllies in the absence of contrary provisions
*joint and several liability
*Decisions made by simple majority
*partners deemed to have equal profit shares (section 24)
*dissolution may result in forced sale of all partnership assets and possible redundancies
*can be dissolved on notice by any partner without justification (section 28)

welshcakes

Did you buy the equipment yourself and from your personal bank account? I just wonder if you could not pop along to your local police station and enquire as to whether it could fall under theft? If they removed your own possessions (regardless of whether they are home or work related), it may fall under Law of Torte?

Sorry I can't be more helpful but if it were me and the police wouldn't touch it, I would also be thinking ahead of bringing a civil case against them (without using a solicitor except for a freebie initial consultation).

vickyj

I am in a partnership and the laws are really confusing sso you really do need to take that time to get hold of the CAB they will save you a lot of hassle.
For what reason do they want you to sign over all the assets , are they thinking of reforming the business without you ? you need to ask yourself this really.
If this is the case then it will open up a whole new can of worms.

pizzaman_3

Thanks for all the advice im gonna get down to the CAB on Monday. I have thought about going to the police but A they probably wouldnt be interested and B it would be hard for me to prove exactly what is my property.

Hopefully the CAB will give me an idea of how to approach the matter