Legal Question in Business Law in Massachusetts

Re: partnership dissolution document

Certainly no notary is required.

One thing to consider, however, is that creditors--particularly banks--will not release you from any joint liability you might have had as partners absent their own agreement. Agreements such as this cannot be written on the back of an envelope--the ownership of assets and the nature of the partnership's debt must be taken into account in documenting the split-up.

Re: partnership dissolution document

As the previous answer stated, this would not appear to require notarization. I would suggest having it witnessed, however, just in case either of the partners later tries to claim that the signature was forged or if it was being signed under duress.

The difference, incidentally, between a document being witnessed or notarized has to do with the process of proving the signatures and lack of duress later on. A document that is witnessed would require for the person who witnessed the signing to come to court and testify. A document whose signatures are notarized is automatically taken as validated unless there are allegations of fraud surrounding the notarization. Therefore, notarizing signatures is generally never a wrong answer, but it can be overkill for a situation that doesn't require it.

Re: partnership dissolution document

No Notary is required. You do understand however if you the divide the debt, it still does not relieve the others as partners if the debt is not paid unless the creditor agrees to waive any claims against the partners not undertaking the debt.

If you do not have it in your agreement, you should have a hold harmless provision with respect to debt's assumed by one to the others.

Good Luck.

Re: partnership dissolution document

Following up on the prior two answers, as to the specific question, while notarization is possibly better, witnesses are fine, and the agreement would be valid even without witnesses (but note prior comments.)

However, you should strongly consider consulting with at least an accountant, if not an attorney, for the many issues associated with the breakup, including tax issues, liability issues, future claims, etcetera.