Short answer. No, not without the others' consent. Under Article 1811, a partner is co-owner of specific partnership property and has an equal right to possess it for partnership purposes — but he has no right to possess such property for any other purpose without the consent of his partners. Personal use of the firm's things needs their agreement.
What the law says
he has no right to possess such property for any other purpose without the consent of his partners
Civil Code, Article 1811 — Co-Ownership of Specific Property. Read the full provision →
Co-owner — but only for partnership purposes
Article 1811 describes how a partner relates to the firm's specific things. A partner is co-owner with his partners of specific partnership property, and one incident of that co-ownership answers this question directly: a partner has an equal right with his partners to possess specific partnership property for partnership purposes; but he has no right to possess such property for any other purpose without the consent of his partners. So you may use the firm's vehicle, tools or premises for the business as freely as any partner. What you may not do is take them for your own private ends unless your partners agree.
You cannot deal with it as your own
Because the property belongs to the partners in common for the firm's purposes, a partner's rights in a specific item are tightly restricted in other ways too. His right in specific partnership property is not assignable on its own — he cannot sell or pledge the firm's particular asset except together with the assignment of all the partners' rights in that same property. Nor can he treat it as security for his private dealings. The thread running through these limits is the same: a specific partnership asset is not a partner's personal possession that he can lend, sell, mortgage or use as he likes.
A personal creditor cannot seize it
The same principle shields the firm's specific property from a partner's personal problems. A partner's right in specific partnership property is not subject to attachment or execution except on a claim against the partnership itself — so a partner's own creditor cannot seize the firm's truck or machinery to satisfy a debt the partner owes personally. And where partnership property is attached for a genuine partnership debt, neither the partners nor a deceased partner's representatives can invoke the homestead or exemption laws to shield it. The asset answers for the firm's obligations, not the partner's private ones, and it is not the partner's individually to protect or to lose.
What this means in practice
The practical rule is simple to state and easy to get wrong: treat the firm's specific things as the firm's, not yours. Use them for the business freely, but get your partners' consent before putting any of them to personal use, and do not try to sell, pledge or lend a partnership asset as if it were your own. On the other side, take some comfort that these same rules keep your personal creditors away from the firm's property — they can pursue your interest in the partnership, but not the desks and vehicles the partnership uses.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Roger V. Navarro vs. Hon. Jose L. Escobido, Presiding Judge, RTC, Branch 37, Cagayan de Oro City, and Karen T. Go, doing business under the name Kargo Enterprises, G.R. No. 153788, November 27, 2009 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Arcadio and Maria Luisa Carandang vs. Heirs of Quirino A. De Guzman, et al, G.R. No. 160347, November 29, 2006 — read the decision on LawPhil →