Massachusetts General Laws ch. 108A sec. 40 – Rules for settling accounts between partners
Section 40. In settling accounts between the partners after dissolution, the following rules shall be observed, subject to any agreement to the contrary:
Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 108A sec. 40
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
(a) The assets of the partnership are—
I. The partnership property.
II. The contributions of the partners specified in clause (d) of this section.
(b) The liabilities of the partnership shall rank in order of payment, as follows:
I. Those owing to creditors other than partners.
II. Those owing to partners other than for capital and profits.
III. Those owing to partners in respect of capital.
IV. Those owing to partners in respect of profits.
(c) The assets shall be applied in the order of their declaration in clause (a) of this section to the satisfaction of the liabilities.
(d) The partners shall contribute, as provided by section eighteen (a), except as provided in section fifteen: (i) the amount necessary to satisfy the liabilities and (ii) if any, but not all, of the partners are insolvent, or, not being subject to process, refuse to contribute, the other partners shall contribute their share of the liabilities, and, in the relative proportions in which they share the profits, the additional amount necessary to pay the liabilities.
(e) An assignee for the benefit of creditors or any person appointed by the court shall have the right to enforce the contributions specified in clause (d) of this section.
(f) Any partner or his legal representative shall have the right to enforce the contributions specified in clause (d) of this section, to the extent of the amount which he has paid in excess of his share of the liability.
(g) The individual property of a deceased partner shall be liable for the contributions specified in clause (d) of this section.
(h) When partnership property and the individual properties of the partners are in the possession of a court for distribution, partnership creditors shall have priority on partnership property and separate creditors on individual property, saving the rights of lien or secured creditors as heretofore.
(i) Where a partner has become bankrupt or his estate is insolvent, the claims against his separate property shall rank in the following order:
I. Those owing to separate creditors.
II. Those owing to partnership creditors.
III. Those owing to partners by way of contribution.