In determining whether a partnership exists, these rules apply:

(1)  Except as provided by § 7-12-27, persons who are not partners as to each other are not partners as to third persons.

(2)  Joint tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entireties, joint property, common property, or part ownership does not of itself establish a partnership, whether the co-owners do or do not share any profits made by the use of the property.

(3)  The sharing of gross returns does not of itself establish a partnership, whether or not the persons sharing them have a joint or common right or interest in any property from which the returns are derived.

(4)  The receipt by a person of a share of the profits of a business is prima facie evidence that he or she is a partner in the business, but no such inference is drawn if profits were received in payment:

(i)  As a debt by installments or otherwise;

(ii)  As wages of an employee or rent to a landlord;

(iii)  As an annuity to a widow or representative of a deceased partner;

(iv)  As interest on a loan, though the amount of payment vary with the profits of the business;

(v)  As the consideration for the sale of a good will of a business or other property by installments or otherwise.

History of Section.
R.P.L. 1957, ch. 74, § 7.

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 7-12-18

  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • 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.
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent

§ 7-12-18. [Repealed effective January 1, 2023.]

History of Section.
R.P.L. 1957, ch. 74, § 7; repealed by P.L. 2022, ch. 123, § 1, effective January 1, 2023; repealed by P.L. 2022, ch. 124, § 1, effective January 1, 2023.