Having worked with your business partner — possibly for several years, the fact that the partnership no longer seems to benefit the company can be difficult to accept. Perhaps your business partner has become lax in his or her duties, or maybe you and your partner simply do not see eye-to-eye on important business matters any longer. As a result, you may be considering ending the partnership.
Hopefully, you have taken steps to try to work out the issues with your partner. However, maybe the gaps in your views are too big, or your partner may not want to compromise. Whatever the case, you think that dissolving the partnership is the best option for moving forward.
Approaching a civil dissolution
Though the decision may be difficult for everyone involved, you still want to take a civil approach to the situation. You likely do not want any unnecessary conflict or issues that may make ending the partnership any more difficult than it has to be. In efforts to have a smooth transition, you may want to carefully plan your approach to the dissolution. Some ways you can start planning include:
- Reviewing your partnership agreement: Your partnership agreement may contain terms that you and your partner must follow when ending the partnership. You may even have agreed early on about how to divide business assets, control and more in such a scenario.
- Understanding the steps involved: Ending a partnership is a legal process, just as starting the partnership was. As a result, you may want to ensure that you understand the steps you will need to take to legally dissolve the partnership.
- Creating a timeline: Perhaps you want the legal proceedings over with as quickly as possible so that you can move on with new business ventures. Having a timeline of when each step will take place could help.
It is also important to remember that you will need to complete final tax returns for the business and handle other financial and legal matters relating to the closing of the partnership. Gaining reliable information from local Florida legal resources may allow you to better understand how you can dissolve your business partnership as smoothly as possible and how you can ensure that you take the proper steps to legally end the relationship and move on to other endeavors.
