Martinez v. Posner, Martinez and Padgett

385 So. 2d 525
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 21, 1980
Docket7529
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 385 So. 2d 525 (Martinez v. Posner, Martinez and Padgett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martinez v. Posner, Martinez and Padgett, 385 So. 2d 525 (La. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

385 So.2d 525 (1980)

Freida Bordelon MARTINEZ, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
POSNER, MARTINEZ, AND PADGETT et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 7529.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

May 21, 1980.
Rehearing Denied July 16, 1980.

*526 J. Minos Simon, Lafayette, for plaintiff-appellant.

Sandoz, Sandoz & Schiff, Leslie J. Schiff, Opelousas, Daniel J. McGee, Mamou, for defendants-appellees.

Before FORET, SWIFT and STOKER, JJ.

STOKER, Judge.

This is a contest by a former wife as plaintiff against her husband who was a member of a medical partnership and against the partnership.[1] After the dissolution *527 of the marriage between defendant Joseph P. Martinez, III, M.D., and plaintiff Freida Bordelon, the latter was offered a sum represented to equal one-half of Dr. Martinez's interest in the medical partnership as of the date of dissolution of the marriage. The interest was allegedly comprised of accounts receivable and physical assets of the medical partnership in which Dr. Martinez had a one-third interest. Mrs. Martinez declined the sum offered and maintains that, upon dissolution of the marriage, she became owner of an undivided one-sixth interest in a continuing partnership consisting of Dr. Martinez and the two other physicians who made up the partnership.

This action is not a part of the separation-divorce proceedings between Dr. and Mrs. Martinez. The present action is an independent suit by Mrs. Martinez to compel the defendant doctors, as a partnership, to require the partnership to pay her one-sixth of the amount of the partnership funds disbursed to, and expended on behalf of, the members of the partnership since dissolution of marriage.[2] This suit was filed on October 30, 1978. Plaintiff-appellant also complains that she was not allowed to make discovery relevant to her claim. Plaintiff's action was dismissed on a motion for summary judgment.

I.

The essential issue under consideration here is whether, upon dissolution of a marriage, one spouse will become a partner in a partnership to the extent of one-half of other spouse's interest in the partnership.

The former wife urges that her former husband's partnership interest is a community asset, acquired during the existence of the community, and is no different from any other community asset. She likens the interest to ownership in a corporation in which the interest is represented by shares of stock in the corporation which, upon dissolution of the marriage, vests in the former spouses in indivision. The two situations are not analogous.

A partnership is made up of persons themselves, who associate through contract with one another. The pertinent articles of the Louisiana Civil Code on this subject are LSA-C.C. arts. 2801, 2802, 2803, 2805, 2809, and 2810. These articles provide as follows:

Art. 2801. Partnership is a synallagmatic and commutative contract made between two or more persons for the mutual participation in the profits which may accrue from property, credit, skill or industry, furnished in determined proportions by the parties.
Art. 2802. It may be made by all persons capable of contracting.
Art. 2803. It is regulated by the rules laid down in the title: Of Conventional Obligations, in all things not differently provided for by this title.

* * * * * *

Art. 2805. Partnerships must be created by the consent of the parties.
Art. 2809. Property, credit, skill and industry being the sources from which the profits of a partnership may be drawn, each of the partners may furnish either or all of these, in such proportions as they may mutually agree.
Art. 2810. By credit, in the foregoing article, is meant, not only a reputation for responsibility as to pecuniary concerns, but also any quality or other circumstance that may acquire the good will *528 of others, and contribute to the prosperity of the partnership.

It follows from the Civil Code articles quoted above that the only persons who can be members of a given partnership are those who contract to be partners. A partnership is an entity distinct from its partners. Edco Properties v. Landry, 371 So.2d 1367 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 1979). In view of these principles, Mrs. Martinez is not a member of the partnership in question.

A partner in a professional partnership brings into the partnership his knowledge, skill and labor. Physical assets, which may consist of a building, furniture, and equipment and other movables, merely assist the individual partners in rendering services to clients—in this case patients. Except for a pooling of talents and sharing of physical facilities, professional partners are no different from sole practitioners. As to a sole practitioner, it seems obvious that the spouse of the practitioner does not, by the act of marriage, acquire any ownership rights or interest in the knowledge, skill or laboring capacity of the practitioner.[3] Nevertheless, whether a person practices alone or in partnership it is basic, of course, that once the practitioner puts the knowledge and skill to work, and thereby earns professional fees, such fees are community income. Due v. Due, 342 So.2d 161 (La. 1977). Also, some accounting must be made to the community, in case of the dissolution of a partner's marriage, for any proportionate interest the partner-spouse may have in physical assets of the partnership acquired during the existence of the community.[4]

We fail to see how being a member of a professional partnership changes the basic propositions referred to above. It is true that a partnership is a legal entity separate and distinct from the partners. However, a partnership is by no means the same as a corporation. A partnership and a corporation are two different and distinct legal entities; the rights and obligations of a partner are not at all similar to the rights and obligations of a stockholder in a corporation. Monteleone v. Airey, 57 So.2d 257 (La.App. Orl. 1952), writ denied June 2, 1952.

A corporation derives existence through being granted a charter by the state following compliance with certain forms by an incorporator or incorporators.[5] Ownership, represented by shares of stock may be freely transferred without the consent of other shareholders (absent anything to the contrary in the corporate charter.) A share of stock in a corporation is but a fragmented portion of the ownership with rights regulated by the corporation and the corporate charter. A corporation does not consist of persons but is a fictional person itself which functions through agents deriving their appointment as an ultimate matter from the shareholders. The direct appointing authority usually is a board of directors elected by the shareholders in which corporate power is placed. Ordinarily, no contribution in "property, credit, skill or industry" is required of a shareholder. No contractual relationship exists between shareholders. No shareholder can act for or bind the corporation.

In a partnership, the relationship (1) is founded on the intent of the members to be partners, that is, their consent thereto, LSA-C.C. art. 2805, (2) is founded on a contract between two or more persons for a pooling of "property, credit, skill or industry" for "the mutual participation in the profits which may accrue" therefrom, LSA-C.C. art. 2801 and (3) is founded on the *529

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
385 So. 2d 525, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martinez-v-posner-martinez-and-padgett-lactapp-1980.