When you started your business, you thought your business partner was the perfect person for the job. Now you’re a few years in and it has gone far less smoothly than you’d hoped. You still think the business can be successful, but you want to remove your partner. Can you do that?
Do you have a partnership agreement?
The first question to ask is whether or not you have a partnership agreement. If you do, it should tell you how to dissolve the partnership. It may also provide solutions for dispute resolution. Therefore, if this is a dispute that you can work through, you can keep running the company together.
If you do not have a partnership agreement, things get tricky. One thing to consider is how many partners there are. If it is just you and one other person, you clearly cannot vote them out. Every vote would be a tie. They have to choose to leave the company.
You may also be able to use litigation to remove them, especially if you think that they have done something illegal or violated your rights in some way. You may be able to argue that their continued involvement puts your financial interests at risk. Still, this can be a far longer and more complicated process than just following the rules that were given to you in a partnership agreement. That’s why it’s always wise to draft one when you start a new company.
If you need to protect yourself and your company, it is critical to look carefully in to all of your legal options. An experienced attorney can help you.
