partnership deed

A partnership deed records the firm name, the partners, the business, capital contributions, profit-sharing ratio, duties, interest and salaries, admission and retirement of partners, and how the firm is to be dissolved and accounts settled. Section 11 of the Partnership Act allows the partners to fix their mutual rights and duties by contract, express or implied; the deed is the usual written form.

A partnership can exist without a deed, but a deed avoids disputes, is needed for bank accounts and tax registration, and supports registration of the firm with the Registrar of Firms. It must be stamped under the applicable State stamp law. Where the deed is silent, the default rules in the Act apply, such as equal sharing of profits.

Example

Because the partnership deed was silent on the profit-sharing ratio, the partners shared profits equally under section 13(b).

In Indian law

• s.11, Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (rights and duties may be fixed by contract)
• s.58, Indian Partnership Act, 1932 (application for registration)

See also

partnership · deed · legal drafting

Read more in the study notes

• Trust, partition, rectification and partnership deeds (Drafting, Pleading and Conveyance)
• Arbitration agreement and its drafting (Alternative Dispute Resolution Systems)
• Relations of partners: rights and duties (Contract II)
• General principles of drafting (Drafting, Pleading and Conveyance)
• Commencement of a new audit, audit programme, audit note book and working papers (Principles and Practice of Auditing)
• Vouching of the cash book: receipts, payments, credit sales and deferred revenue expenditure (Principles and Practice of Auditing)