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presumptions that apply when the partners have failed to express | | their intent. |
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| | | First, under subsection (c), property purchased with | | partnership funds is presumed to be partnership property, | | notwithstanding the name in which title is held. The presumption | | is intended to apply if partnership credit is used to obtain | | financing, as well as the use of partnership cash or property for | | payment. Unlike the rule in subsection (b), under which property | | is deemed to be partnership property if the partnership's name or | | the partner's capacity as a partner is disclosed in the | | instrument of conveyance, subsection (c) raises only a | | presumption that the property is partnership property if it is | | purchased with partnership assets. |
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| | | That presumption is also subject to an important caveat. | | Under Section 302(b), partnership property held in the name of | | individual partners, without an indication of their capacity as | | partners or of the existence of a partnership, that is | | transferred by the partners in whose name title is held to a | | purchaser without knowledge that it is partnership property is | | free of any claims of the partnership. |
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| | | Second, under subsection (d), property acquired in the name of | | one or more of the partners, without an indication of their | | capacity as partners and without use of partnership funds or | | credit, is presumed to be the partners' separate property, even | | if used for partnership purposes. In effect, it is presumed in | | that case that only the use of the property is contributed to the | | partnership. |
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| | | 4. Generally, under RUPA, partners and third parties dealing | | with partnerships will be able to rely on the record to determine | | whether property is owned by the partnership. The exception is | | property purchased with partnership funds without any reference | | to the partnership in the title documents. The inference | | concerning the partners' intent from the use of partnership funds | | outweighs any inference from the State of the title, subject to | | the overriding reliance interest in the case of a purchaser | | without notice of the partnership's interest. This allocation of | | risk should encourage the partnership to eliminate doubt about | | ownership by putting title in the partnership. |
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| | | 5. UPA Section 8(4) provides, "A transfer to a partnership in | | the partnership name, even without words of inheritance, passes | | the entire estate or interest of the grantor unless a contrary | | intent appears." It has been omitted from RUPA as unnecessary | | because modern conveyancing law deems all transfers to pass the | | entire estate or interest of the grantor unless a contrary intent | | appears. |
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