Kinds of Partners, Partnership Deed

Active or managing partner:

A person who takes active interest in the conduct and management of the business of the firm is known as active or managing partner.

He carries on business on behalf of the other partners. If he wants to retire, he has to give a public notice of his retirement; otherwise, he will continue to be liable for the acts of the firm.

Sleeping or dormant partner:

A sleeping partner is a partner who ‘sleeps’, that is, he does not take active part in the management of the business. Such a partner only contributes to the share capital of the firm, is bound by the activities of other partners, and shares the profits and losses of the business. A sleeping partner, unlike an active partner, is not required to give a public notice of his retirement. As such, he will not be liable to third parties for the acts done after his retirement.

Nominal or ostensible partner:

A nominal partner is one who does not have any real interest in the business but lends his name to the firm, without any capital contributions, and doesn’t share the profits of the business. He also does not usually have a voice in the management of the business of the firm, but he is liable to outsiders as an actual partner.

Sleeping vs. Nominal Partners:

It may be clarified that a nominal partner is not the same as a sleeping partner. A sleeping partner contributes capital shares profits and losses, but is not known to the outsiders.

A nominal partner, on the contrary, is admitted with the purpose of taking advantage of his name or reputation. As such, he is known to the outsiders, although he does not share the profits of the firm nor does he take part in its management. Nonetheless, both are liable to third parties for the acts of the firm.

Partner by estoppel or holding out:

If a person, by his words or conduct, holds out to another that he is a partner, he will be stopped from denying that he is not a partner. The person who thus becomes liable to third parties to pay the debts of the firm is known as a holding out partner.

There are two essential conditions for the principle of holding out : (a) the person to be held out must have made the representation, by words written or spoken or by conduct, that he was a partner ; and (6) the other party must prove that he had knowledge of the representation and acted on it, for instance, gave the credit.

Partner in profits only:

When a partner agrees with the others that he would only share the profits of the firm and would not be liable for its losses, he is in own as partner in profits only.

Minor as a partner:

A partnership is created by an agreement. And if a partner is incapable of entering into a contract, he cannot become a partner. Thus, at the time of creation of a firm a minor (i.e., a person who has not attained the age of 18 years) cannot be one of the parties to the contract. But under section 30 of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, a minor ‘can be admitted to the benefits of partnership’, with the consent of all partners. A minor partner is entitled to his share of profits and to have access to the accounts of the firm for purposes of inspection and copy.

He, however, cannot file a suit against the partners of the firm for his share of profit and property as long as he remains with the firm. His liability in the firm will be limited to the extent of his share in the firm, and his private property cannot be attached by creditors.

On his attaining majority, he has to decide within six months whether he will become regular partner of withdraw from partnership. The choice in either case is to be intimated through a public notice, failing which he will be treated to have decided to continue as partner, and he becomes personally liable like other partners for all the debts and obligations of the firm from the date of his admission to its benefits (and not from the date of his attaining the age of majority). He also becomes entitled to file a suit against other partners for his share of profit and property.

Other partners:

In partnership firms, several other types of partners are also found, namely, secret partner who does not want to disclose his relationship with the firm to the general public. Outgoing partner, who retires voluntarily without causing dissolution of the firm, limited partner who is liable only up to the value of his capital contributions in the firm, and the like.

However, the moment public comes to know of it he becomes liable to them for meeting debts of the firm. Usually, an outgoing partner is liable for all debts and obligations as are incurred before his retirement. A limited partner is found in limited partnership only and not in general partnership.

Partnership Deed

Partnership Agreements are be used by Partners wishing to form a partnership for doing business together. It is strongly recommended or encouraged for partnerships to have some kind of agreement among themselves, in case future disputes prove difficult to arbitrate. It is meant to promote mutual understanding and avoid mistrust. It indicates the terms on which the business corporation is founded.

A partnership is a unique form of business in which partners work together to achieve common goals. Due to this feature of partnerships, partners are allowed to decide the terms of their relationship with each other. The documents which they do so are called partnership deeds.

Partnership Deed

As explained above, partners are free to define the terms of their relationships, even if they go contrary to the Act in certain cases. They can either decide on such terms with an oral agreement or a written one.

Partnership deeds, in very simple words, are an agreement between partners of a firm. This agreement defines details like the nature of the firm, duties, and rights of partners, their liabilities and the ratio in which they will divide profits or losses of the firm.

Although the drafting of partnership deeds is not compulsory, it is always advised to do so. This helps in ensuring that all terms agreed by partners exist in written form on paper. Doing so can reduce disputes between partners and govern their functioning better.

Unlike similar documents like articles of association of companies, partnership deeds need not be registered mandatorily. However, registration can ensure the prevention of legal challenges to its validity when disputes arise. An ideal partnership deed is comprehensive and clear about all details pertaining to the functioning of a firm. It should not contain any ambiguities.

Absence of a Partnership Deed

In case partners do not adopt a partnership deed, the following rules will apply:

• The partners will share profits and losses equally.
• Partners will not get a salary.
• Interest on capital will not be payable.
• Drawings will not be chargeable with interest.
• Partners will get 6% p.a. interest on loans to the firm if they mutually agree.

Contents of Partnership Deeds

Although there is no specific format prescribed for drafting a partnership deed, a typical deed contains the below mentioned clauses.

• The name of the firm
• Name and details of all partners
• Date of commencement of business
• Duration of the firm’s existence
• Capital contributed by each partner
• Profit/loss sharing ratio
• Interest on capital payable to partners
• The extent of borrowings each partner can draw
• Salary payable to partners, if any
• The procedure of admission or retirement of a partner
• The method used for calculating goodwill
• Preparation of accounts of the firm
• Mode of settlement of dues with a deceased partner’s executors
• The procedure followed in case disputes arise between partners