Winding-up your own partnership

How can I wind up my own partnership?

The partnership can either:

• petition for the winding up of the partnership as an unregistered company with no bankruptcy petitions presented against the individual partners (under Article 9 of the Insolvent Partnerships Order (Northern Ireland) 1995)
• petition for the winding up of the partnership as an unregistered company where bankruptcy petitions are also presented against all the individual partners (under Article 10 of the Insolvent Partnerships Order (Northern Ireland) 1995)
• petition for Bankruptcy orders to be made against all the partners (known as a Form 16 petition under Article 11 of the Insolvent Partnerships Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1995). The petition must be presented jointly by all the partners. It can only be presented where all the partners are individuals - if one or more of the partners is a corporate member, the petition must be presented under Article 10 of the Insolvent Partnerships Order (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (as above). A formal winding-up order is not made against the partnership, but any order made as a result of a Form 16 petition will include authority for the partnership to be wound up by the trustee appointed to deal with the bankrupt partners' affairs

Where a bankruptcy petition has been presented against one partner

If a bankruptcy petition has already been presented against one of the partners, and the Court is made aware of the insolvent partnership, the Court may make an order regarding how the partnership affairs should be dealt with.

Can a partner petition for his/her bankruptcy?

As the partners are personally liable for the debts of the partnership, an individual partner can apply for his/her bankruptcy without applying for the partnership to be wound up.

For information on how to present your own bankruptcy petition, please refer to our publication 'How to petition for your own bankruptcy'.