Yes, for obligations that arose before your participation ended. Leaving does not end liability for old debts; it only closes off its extent: you are no longer liable for obligations arising to the partnership after your participation ends. The opposite applies on joining, since a new partner is liable also for obligations of the partnership that arose before their accession.
The partners of a general partnership are liable for its debts with all their assets, jointly and severally. If one of them decides to leave the business, they naturally ask whether their exposure disappears on departure. The Act answers by distinguishing according to the time at which the obligation arose: what arose while you were a partner follows you even after you leave.
Liability during participation in the partnership
The basis is stated tersely in the Act:
A general partnership is answerable for its obligations with all its assets. The partners are liable for the obligations of the partnership with all their assets, jointly and severally.
— Section 86 of Act No. 513/1991 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
Jointly and severally means that the creditor may choose which partner to claim the whole debt from, regardless of that partner’s share in the profit. The general rules on guarantee liability apply mutatis mutandis to the liability of partners (Section 56(6)). The creditor therefore turns first to the partnership and may sue a partner only once the partnership has failed to perform a due obligation even within a reasonable time after a written demand; no demand is needed where it cannot be made or where it is beyond doubt that the partnership will not pay, in particular in bankruptcy (Section 306(1)). A partner who has paid on the partnership’s behalf acquires the creditor’s rights against it (Section 308).
What changes on leaving
A partner may leave the partnership by amending the partnership agreement, provided at least two partners remain in it (Section 83). Where the partnership is for an indefinite period, a partner may also give notice, but that dissolves the partnership, which may continue only if the remaining partners agree to it within three months by amending the partnership agreement (Section 88(1)(a) and (2)). For liability, the decisive moment is when participation ends:
Where a partner’s participation ends during the existence of the partnership, they are liable only for obligations that arose before their participation ended.
— Section 87(2) of Act No. 513/1991 Coll. (unofficial English translation)
What matters is when the obligation arose, not when it fell due. If the partnership drew down a loan before you left, the creditor may turn to you even where the partnership stops repaying only several years later. With recurring performance, such as rent, it may be disputable which partial obligations arose while you were still a partner. On leaving, it is therefore worth knowing what obligations the partnership has and agreeing with the remaining partners how they will settle them, or agreeing with the creditor that you are released from liability.
A new partner takes on the old debts too
The opposite direction matters just as much to anyone joining an existing partnership. A partner who has acceded to the partnership is liable also for obligations that arose before their accession; they may claim from the other partners reimbursement of what they have paid for those obligations and the associated costs (Section 87(1)). Before joining a general partnership it is therefore necessary to check its obligations as thoroughly as when buying a company.
Bankruptcy and dissolution of the partnership
Where bankruptcy is declared over the partnership’s assets, the partners are liable only up to the amount by which creditors whose claims were lodged in time have not been satisfied in the bankruptcy (Section 56(6)). Nor does the partnership ceasing to exist end their liability: the partners are then liable up to the amount of their share in the liquidation balance, but at least to the extent to which they were liable during its existence (Section 56(7)), which in a general partnership means with all their assets.
How to prepare
The rules on departure, settlement and mutual adjustment between partners where one of them pays a creditor more than corresponds to their share belong in the partnership agreement from the outset. We prepare them as part of our formation of a general partnership service. If personal liability is too great a risk for your plans, our choice of legal form service offers a comparison with forms carrying limited liability. The partners of a general partnership are entered in the Commercial Register (Section 9(e) of Act No. 29/2026 Coll.), and after leaving it is in the departing partner’s interest for the entry to be changed as soon as possible. A person to whom an entered detail relates cannot object to its inaccuracy as against a third party if they have not seen to a correction that could fairly have been required of them, unless they prove that the third party did not rely on the entry or knew, or must have known, of its inaccuracy (Section 7(4) of Act No. 29/2026 Coll.). We arrange the change of entry as part of changes in the Commercial Register.
This answer provides general information on the law as at 12 September 2026. It does not constitute legal services or replace an assessment of an individual case. The details of your situation may differ. Book a consultation to discuss them.
