Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the heirs of a deceased partner are not responsible for the firm’s liabilities after the partner’s death.
This decision came in response to a case where the complainant aimed to retrieve an investment from the partnership firm by targeting the descendants/legal heirs of a deceased member of the firm, arguing that since they inherited the estate, they should also bear the liability to repay the complainant under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. However, the Court, led by Justices Vikram Nath and Satish Chandra Sharma, dismissed this claim.
The Court clarified that there was no documentation indicating that a new partnership agreement was made that included the appellants as partners, thereby assigning them the previous partner’s firm’s liabilities. Justice Vikram Nath, in his written judgment, highlighted that it is a settled principle of law that the legal successors of a deceased partner are not held responsible for the firm’s obligations after the partner’s demise.
Case Reference: ANNAPURNA B. UPPIN & ORS. VERSUS MALSIDDAPPA & ANR.
