Short answer. Yes. A limited partner who was wrongfully returned property he contributed holds it in trust for the partnership. Under Article 1858 a limited partner holds as trustee for the partnership specific property stated in the certificate as contributed by him which has been wrongfully returned.
What the law says
A limited partner holds as trustee for the partnership
Civil Code, Article 1858 — Limited Partner's Liability to the Partnership. Read the full provision →
Wrongfully returned property is held in trust
Article 1858 treats a limited partner's contribution as capital the partnership and its creditors are entitled to rely on. So when property the limited partner put in is handed back to him before it should have been, the law does not simply let him keep it. He holds it as trustee for the partnership. The article names two situations: specific property stated in the certificate as contributed by him but which was not actually contributed or which has been wrongfully returned; and money or other property wrongfully paid or conveyed to him on account of his contribution. In both, the partner holds for the firm, not for himself.
Why the law imposes a trust
A limited partnership publishes its capital through the certificate filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and creditors extend credit trusting that stated capital exists. If a limited partner could quietly recover his contribution ahead of the partnership's obligations, that published capital would be a fiction and creditors would be cheated. Casting the partner as a trustee means the property, though physically in his hands, still belongs in law to the partnership. He must restore it, and he cannot treat wrongly returned capital as his own free asset while partnership debts remain unpaid.
The limits and the creditor's protection
The same article adds a limited partner is liable for the difference between what he actually contributed and what the certificate says he contributed, and for unpaid future contributions he agreed to. These liabilities can be waived or compromised only with the consent of all members — and even that waiver cannot defeat a creditor who extended credit before the certificate was cancelled or amended. A partner who rightfully received a return, by contrast, is not a trustee, but he remains answerable up to the amount returned, with interest, for debts to creditors whose claims arose before the return.
What this means for the partner
In practical terms, receiving back your contribution does not close the book if the return was improper or premature. The property can be reclaimed by the partnership or reached by its creditors, and a private agreement among the partners will not shield it against outside claims that already existed. A limited partner who wants his capital back should ensure the strict conditions for a lawful return are met first — liabilities covered, consents obtained, the certificate amended — rather than accept a payout that the law will later characterise as held in trust.