(a)  Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, all partners are liable jointly and severally for all debts, obligations, and other liabilities of the partnership unless otherwise agreed by the claimant or provided by law.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-306

  • Business: includes every trade, occupation, and profession. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
  • Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Partner: means a person that:

    (i)  Has become a partner in a partnership under § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102

  • 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.
  • Partnership agreement: means the agreement, whether or not referred to as a partnership agreement and whether oral, implied, in a record, or in any combination thereof, of all the partners of a partnership concerning the matters described in § 7-12. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102
  • Person: means an individual, business corporation, nonprofit corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, general cooperative association, limited cooperative association, unincorporated nonprofit association, statutory trust, business trust, common-law business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 7-12.1-102

(b)  A person that becomes a partner is not personally liable for a debt, obligation, or other liability of the partnership incurred before the person became a partner.

(c)  A debt, obligation, or other liability of a partnership incurred while the partnership is a limited liability partnership is solely the debt, obligation, or other liability of the limited liability partnership. A partner is not personally liable, directly or indirectly, by way of contribution or otherwise, for a debt, obligation, or other liability of the limited liability partnership solely by reason of being or acting as a partner. This subsection applies:

(1)  Despite anything inconsistent in the partnership agreement that existed immediately before the vote or consent required to become a limited liability partnership under § 7-12.1-901(b); and

(2)  Regardless of the dissolution of the limited liability partnership.

(d)  The failure of a limited liability partnership to observe formalities relating to the exercise of its powers or management of its business is not a ground for imposing liability on a partner for a debt, obligation, or other liability of the partnership.

(e)  The cancellation or administrative revocation of a limited liability partnership’s statement of qualification does not affect the limitation in this section on the liability of a partner for a debt, obligation, or other liability of the partnership incurred while the statement was in effect.

History of Section.
P.L. 2022, ch. 123, § 2, effective January 1, 2023; P.L. 2022, ch. 124, § 2, effective January 1, 2023.