Partnership Agreements

Feb 9, 2009 10:43 pm

Has anyone had a partnership agreement put together?  We formed a partnership a while back and now have to formalize it with an agreement.

What issues should I be looking out for?  Will an attorney know exactly what we need?

Feb 9, 2009 11:36 pm

yes i have.  ask the attorney specifically, and make sure he has done some previously.

   
Feb 10, 2009 4:06 am

Most, if not all, practices with more than one principal have partnership agreements. If you don’t have one, you are a total fool.



Prepare one, make sure everything is in writing, and address the inevitable… it will happen.



C

Feb 10, 2009 5:07 am

[quote=Captain]Most, if not all, practices with more than one principal have partnership agreements. If you don’t have one, you are a total fool.



Prepare one, make sure everything is in writing, and address the inevitable… it will happen.



C[/quote]

Thanks for the insult… and very very helpful post btw. 

I was going to make sure everything was on 8-Track instead of writing… thank god you’re here.

Feb 19, 2009 8:10 pm

Well this is certainly the time to be putting together your agreement. You definitely want to consult with a lawyer to help you put all the pieces together. Mind you it’s going to seem awkward bewteen partners as you review and amend the agreement and it may take more then opne try before you have a final agreement but you are going to happy once its out of the way. The point is…go through the poper protocol now before things eventually get bigger and then you wish you would have done it sooner rather than later. Good Luck!

Feb 25, 2009 8:21 pm

FWIW, anytime you do a partnership agreement, you want to assume that at some point you will be barely on speaking terms with your partner(s), and make it as easy to amicably part ways as possible. 

  I've never seen statistics, but I would venture that partnerships fare worse than the "50% of marriages end in divorce" statistic.   You also want to protect yourself and your family if either you or your partner gets hit buy a bus.  Eventually that bus comes for all of us, and you both don't want your kids to get screwed and you don't want to be partners with your deceased partner's knothead kids.   Go to a lawyer, and make sure that these issues are addressed while you are still in the "til death do us part" mode.