Hansen v. Hansen

297 P.2d 879, 130 Mont. 175, 1956 Mont. LEXIS 24
CourtMontana Supreme Court
DecidedMay 25, 1956
Docket9281
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 297 P.2d 879 (Hansen v. Hansen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Montana Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hansen v. Hansen, 297 P.2d 879, 130 Mont. 175, 1956 Mont. LEXIS 24 (Mo. 1956).

Opinions

MR. JUSTICE BOTTOMLY:

This is an action brought by plaintiff, Dave Hansen, to dissolve a partnership and to terminate the partnership affairs and to sell the partnership property. Defendant Ben Hansen sought similar relief and also requested the appointment of a receiver. A receiver was appointed and the property sold. From the judgment defendant appeals.

The plaintiff, Dave Hansen, and his brother Ben Hansen, the defendant, entered into an oral agreement of partnership in 1947 to operate a hotel, lunch counter and bar at Rexford, Lincoln County, Montana. The agreement was that each would receive fifty per cent of the net proceeds or profits of the partnership operation.

The record discloses that while the partnership was so operating they agreed to build a new large building in which to conduct their partnership operations; that they purchased Lots 5 and 6 and the north 20 feet of Lot 7 of Block 2 of the Townsite of New Rexford, Lincoln County, Montana; that in 1947 the defendant, Ben started to build the new building, which was constructed of logs, 60 feet long and 30 feet wide, on the above described premises, as well as to operate the business in the old premises; that Ben continued to work on the new building until it was ready for occupancy; that during most of the time while the defendant Ben was working on the new building and operating the business in the old building, the plaintiff Dave was engaged in ranching, which Dave was conducting individually and which was for Dave’s personal advantage as was the sawmill business which Dave was also operating with another person as a partner.

[177]*177Dave and his wife left Rexford and went over the mountains to work at Chester, Montana, during the summer of 1948, returning to Rexford, Montana, late in December 1948. Ben operated the business in the old building and worked on the new building during this period of time. None of the proceeds of Dave’s wages from his outside work, nor any profits or proceeds from his ranching operation and his sawmill business were turned into or credited to the business of Ben and Dave’s partnership.

The assets of the partnership consisted of beer and liquor licenses, fixtures and supplies for conducting a bar and lunch business, and the real estate and fixtures thereon.

The new building was under construction when Dave returned, and on or about December 28, 1948, a fire completely destroyed the building and hotel in which they had been operating. During the fire Dave’s hands were badly burned and he was taken to a hospital in Whitefish, Montana, where he was hospitalized for some time. After release from the hospital Dave spent some time in Kalispell recuperating.

The record shows that after the fire defendant Ben, by intensive work, working until 2:00 or 3 :00 o ’clock in the mornings, was able to get the new building closed in by the spring of 1949 which building was occupied by the partnership doing business under the name of the “Frontier Club.”

There is no dispute that after June 1949 and until the receiver took charge in March of 1952 Dave continued to have full charge and management of all the partnership affairs and was in control of all the partnership property and is therefore properly to be held to the responsibility as managing partner. It is of no legal import whether from June 1949 to March 21, 1951, Dave did or did not forcibly or otherwise exclude Ben from participation in the partnership business. In any case he was solely in control of the partnership business, the bank account and the entire and sole managing partner, carrying on the partnership business in which he conceded that Ben had an equal interest with him. Under such facts and circumstances it was Dave’s duty to keep full, true and exact accounts and records covering [178]*178the business of the partnership under his management. By his failure to discharge his duty therein he cannot defeat the rights of his copartner, nor can he profit himself upon such an accounting as had here because he himself did not keep the books and accounts required by the law that he keep but in which duty he has defaulted.

Mrs. Clara Pritchard, called as a witness for plaintiff, testified inter alia that she was a sister of the parties to this lawsuit; that she and her husband conducted and managed the business for six months, from July 3, 1951, until January 1, 1952; that no inventory was taken when she left. Mrs. Pritchard testified:

“Q. Now, Mrs. Pritchard, will you tell us what this business made a month, on an average, while you were in it, what did it make? A. Well, I would say approximately a thousand dollars a month.

“Q. What happened to the thousand dollars a month that you made there? A. Well, we split with Dave.

“ Q. Did Ben get any part of that thousand dollars ? A. No. ”

Mrs. Pritchard testified that she and her husband also received their living quarters free in the rear of the building, and that during all this time they were the ones who were running the business and not Dave. The plaintiff Dave, when asked about the profit of the business under the Pritchards’ management, testified:

“Q. Well, anyway, you make no denial of the fact the place did make a profit of over a thousand dollars a month during the time your sister ran it? A. I don’t believe it made that. I didn’t total it up. Never went through their books, or total the bills or went through their books. I never disputed their word in any way.

“Q. It might have made a thousand dollars, half of which was yours? A. It might have made ten thousand dollars. I don’t know.”

The general rule is, where, as here, a partner assumes the responsibility of management and operation of a partnership business, and takes over the accounts, books and bank ac[179]*179counts thereof, he acts as trustee for the partnership, and that his books and accounts of the partnership must be full, true and exact, and that he cannot defeat the rights of his co-partner to a true settlement and a proper distribution of the assets by failing to keep full and complete accounts. Compare Hatten v. Interocean Oil Co., 182 Okl. 465, 78 Pac. (2d) 392, 116 A.L.R. 727; Wilson v. Moline, 229 Minn. 164, 38 N.W. (2d) 201.

In regard to the books of the business the court found that such books of the business as were kept were kept by Dave, but that these books are utterly unreliable and furnish no basis whatever for a determination of the respective rights of the partners, and that Dave did make considerable more money out of the business than he accounted for. These findings are not only fully supported by the evidence, but they as well are in accord with the whole preponderance of the evidence.

As to the books of the partnership', Clara Pritchard, called as a witness for plaintiff, on cross-examination testified:

‘ ‘ Q. You are a sister of both the plaintiff and the defendant ? A. Yes, sir.

“Q. During the period of time you previously testified to when you were operating the place, I am going to ask you if you had any conversation with the plaintiff, Dave Hansen, concerning the doctoring of the books and records of the beer parlor at Kexford? A. I have.

“Q. Will you tell us what that was, when it was and what was said? A. That was during the time we were there. We were talking about the books. He said, ‘We won’t show all this profit on this business. We are going to doctor them.’

“Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
297 P.2d 879, 130 Mont. 175, 1956 Mont. LEXIS 24, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hansen-v-hansen-mont-1956.