Having a partnership deed in place will protect the stability of your GP business. Partnerships can exist without a deed in place but in such cases, they will be regulated by the default statutory provisions under the Partnership Act 1890. Such partnerships are known as ‘partnerships at will’ which is a highly unstable business arrangement. The most worrying aspect of a partnership at will is that any partner can dissolve the partnership at any time without notice. This could be catastrophic for a GP Practice and the stability of the partners’ NHS Contract.
Capsticks are highly experienced in the preparation of GP Partnership Deeds. Our Partnership Deeds are drafted to be comprehensive, bespoke to each GP Practice and tailored to each client’s requirements.
Premises form one of the most valuable assets of any medical practice. If you have chosen to regulate your business with a partnership deed then it is good practice to regulate ownership of your property with a ‘declaration of trust’. A declaration of trust is a document made between the co-owners of a property to record the owners’ shares, rights and obligations of the property.
Although property provisions are typically incorporated in a partnership deed, if a new partner joins the partnership who is not bound into the deed (which happens frequently!), problems can arise. The arrival of a new partner means that the provisions of the existing partnership deed become invalid including those that relate to the property. The benefit to your partnership of having a separate declaration of trust in place is that the intentions of the partners relating to the property are still protected.
We can also assist with 24 hour retirement requirements when a transitional partnership deed may be required.
Capsticks are highly experienced in the preparation of GP Declarations of Trust and we will draft this document to sit alongside your Partnership Deed.
