Joseph Staszak (81-1476) and Richard Staszak (81-1462) v. Walter Romanik

690 F.2d 578, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 24986
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 7, 1982
Docket81-1462, 81-1476
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 690 F.2d 578 (Joseph Staszak (81-1476) and Richard Staszak (81-1462) v. Walter Romanik) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joseph Staszak (81-1476) and Richard Staszak (81-1462) v. Walter Romanik, 690 F.2d 578, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 24986 (6th Cir. 1982).

Opinion

LIVELY, Circuit Judge.

This diversity action deals with questions of partnership law arising from disagreements with respect to a Michigan business engaged in the growing, harvesting and selling of Christmas trees. Two questions are presented for decision: (1) Did the district court err in holding that one member of a three-person partnership should forfeit his entire partnership interest for “failure of consideration”? and (2) Did the district court err in holding that assets of a two-person partnership formed in 1959 were not controlled by the terms of a partnership agreement executed when the two 1959 partners joined with a third partner in 1969 to form a three-person partnership?

I.

The plaintiff Joseph Staszak and the defendant Walter Romanik were first cousins. Joseph Staszak lived in Baltimore, Maryland for a number of years, and Walter Romanik, who was raised near Cheboygan, Michigan, has lived in Michigan continuously since 1957 where he has been engaged in the Christmas tree business. In that year Walter Romanik planted Christmas trees on 20 acres of land which he owned near Cheboygan and, at the request of Joseph Staszak, planted Christmas trees on 80 acres of land which Joseph Staszak owned near Boyne Falls, Michigan. In 1959 the cousins entered into an oral agreement to carry on the business of planting, harvesting and selling Christmas trees as a partnership. It was agreed that Walter Romanik would furnish the labor and Joseph Staszak would supply the necessary working capital and that profits and losses would be divided evenly between them. Though this agreement was never reduced to writing, the business operated as a partnership under the name of “North Star Tree Company” (North Star). Between 1959 and 1969 various tracts of land were purchased by the partners and other tracts were leased for the purpose of growing Christmas trees. The purchased lands were paid for with partnership funds as were the rents on leased property. In June, 1969 the partnership was engaged in various stages of cultivating and growing Christmas trees on 1,573 acres, and its total roster of employees included 94 full-time and part-time workers. Walter Romanik managed the entire operation.

The first Christmas trees were harvested and sold by the partnership in 1966, resulting in a loss of $9,300. The partnership sustained a loss of $14,587 in 1967 and a loss of $12,053 in 1968. All of these losses were split evenly between Romanik and Joseph Staszak. Walter Romanik began receiving a salary for his management services in 1968.

In January 1969 Walter Romanik entered into discussions with Dr. Nicholas Lentini regarding the purchase of a Christmas tree business owned by Lentini and known as “Sno Kist Tree Corporation.” With Joseph Staszak’s approval, Walter Romanik negotiated for the purchase of Sno Kist Tree Corporation under terms which required a $100,000 down payment. After inconclusive discussion with two Cheboygan banks, Joseph Staszak returned to Baltimore and raised $134,000 in cash by mortgaging property he owned there and by obtaining loans from friends and relatives. In June 1969 a purchase agreement was executed by which Dr. and Mrs. Lentini and Sno Kist Tree Corporation sold certain property to Walter Romanik, Joseph Staszak and Richard Staszak, Joseph’s son, as partners. The purchasers made a down payment of $100,000 furnished by Joseph Staszak to the sellers, and the balance of the purchase price was to be paid from operating revenues of the new three-person partnership. The new partnership acquired the following assets from the Lentinis and the corporation: (1) A lease from January 15,1969 to January 1, 1981 on field and office equipment used in the sellers’ Christmas tree business. This equipment was listed on “Exhibit A” which was attached to the agreement. (2) The registered trademark, “Sno Kist.” (3) The right to harvest and market until January 1, 1981 all salable Christmas trees ón real *581 property owned by Lentini or the corporation as listed on “Exhibit C,” attached to the agreement. (4) An assignment of certain leases and contracts which the sellers held with other owners of real property for harvesting rights to Christmas trees located on their land. These leases and contracts were listed on “Exhibit B,” attached to the agreement. The partnership did not acquire title to any real estate by purchase from the Lentinis or the corporation.

On October 16, 1970 Walter Romanik, Joseph Staszak and Richard Staszak entered into a written partnership agreement which provided that each year the profits and losses of the partnership should be allocated equally to the three partners. The firm name of the partnership was to be Romanik, Staszak and Staszak, d/b/a Sno Kist Tree Company, a partnership (hereafter Sno Kist). In addition to providing for an annual balance sheet and profit and loss statement to be prepared by a certified public accountant, the agreement dealt with contribution of capital, services to be performed by partners and equalization of contributions as follows:

V
The capital of the partnership shall be that real estate described in Schedule A which is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference and the personal property which is described in Schedule B and attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
VI
The contribution of each partner into the business shall be his interest as owner in the property described in Schedule A and B and also any other property or money which may be from time to time conveyed to the partnership.
XII
Each partner may work for the partnership in various capacities as determined to be in the mutual best interests of the company. Each and every partner so working for the company shall be paid, in addition to his share of the profits, a salary commensurate with his work to be agreed on by all of the partners.
XIV
For purposes of this agreement, the parties hereto shall be equal partners with each sharing Vs of the profits of this business. However, the partners acknowledge that all of the parties hereto have not made equal capital contributions to the company. It shall be the intent of the parties hereto that at the end of each business year distribution of profits shall be made in such a manner as to eventually equalize each of the partner’s capital contribution. There shall be no set requirements for this distribution, but this shall be decided each year by the parties hereto.

After the year 1969 North Star and Sno Kist were operated as a single business. No separate books were kept for North Star, and the accountant employed by Sno Kist testified that he merged the records of the two partnerships “for accounting purposes.” After 1969 North Star filed no partnership income tax returns, and each of the partners showed on his individual income tax return income from only one partnership— Sno Kist. Between 1972 and 1974 all of the real estate which had been acquired by the North Star partners between 1959 and 1969 was deeded to Sno Kist. No transfer taxes were paid with the recording of these deeds, and the deeds contained a statement that each transfer was exempt from tax because it was intended to confirm title which had already vested in Sno Kist.

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Bluebook (online)
690 F.2d 578, 1982 U.S. App. LEXIS 24986, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joseph-staszak-81-1476-and-richard-staszak-81-1462-v-walter-romanik-ca6-1982.