Steps you can take to make sure a partnership dispute does not wreck your business:

At times, unforeseen disputes arise between partners.  Partnership disputes can occur because of financial difficulties, poorly written partnership agreements, or different ideas for the future of the company.  Other times, the dispute may involve wrongdoing by one of the partners, such as in cases of embezzlement or a breach of fiduciary duty.  Whatever the reason for the dispute, it is in the best interests of the business and the owners to resolve the dispute quickly.

Partnership disputes often deal with complex issues that will greatly impact the future of the business.  If you are not able to resolve a partnership dispute, you should find a competent attorney to protect your interests.  Ideally, the dispute should be resolved through negotiations.  However, sometimes resolution of the dispute will take more than negotiating – it may require litigation.  Throughout the process, your attorney can investigate the issues and recommend appropriate courses of action.

Sometimes a partnership dispute will result in the dissolution of the business.  Dissolution requires observance of certain procedures, and it is crucial to follow them.  An attorney can help you follow the proper procedures and ensure that at the dissolution of the business, the assets and liabilities are fairly and properly distributed among the parties.

Creating a well-written partnership agreement minimizes partnership disputes.  In the early days of a partnership, when everything seems to be going well, partners sometimes do not want to spend the time, effort and money to have a partnership agreement drafted.  But the money is well-spent as insurance against future partnership disputes that can be disastrous.  If you do not have a partnership agreement, or if your agreement is poorly written, you are at risk.