Free US Law Dictionary

Limited Partnership

A limited partnership is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership, except that in addition to one or more general partners (GPs), there are one or more limited partners (LPs).

The GPs are, in all major respects, in the same legal position as partners in a conventional firm, i.e. they have management control, share the right to use partnership property, share the profits of the firm in predefined proportions, and have joint and several liability for the debts of the partnership.

As in a general partnership, the GPs have actual authority as agents of the firm to bind all the other partners in contracts with third parties that are in the ordinary course of the partnership's business. As with a general partnership, "An act of a general partner which is not apparently for carrying on in the ordinary course the limited partnership's activities or activities of the kind carried on by the limited partnership binds the limited partnership only if the act was actually authorized by all the other partners." (Uniform Limited Partnership Act § 402(b))

Like shareholders in a corporation, the LPs have limited liability, i.e. they are only liable on debts incurred by the firm to the extent of their registered investment, and they have no management authority. The GPs pay the LPs the equivalent of a dividend on their investment, the nature and extent of which is usually defined in the partnership agreement.

Limited partnerships are distinct from limited liability partnerships, in which all partners have limited liability.