Short answer. Yes, unless the business is continued. Under Article 1860, the retirement, death, insolvency, insanity or civil interdiction of a general partner dissolves the partnership — unless the remaining general partners continue the business, either under a right stated in the certificate or with the consent of all members. A limited partner's departure does not have this effect.
What the law says
The retirement, death, insolvency, insanity or civil interdiction of a general partner dissolves the partnership, unless the business is continued by the remaining general partners
Civil Code, Article 1860 — Effect of a General Partner's Retirement/Death. Read the full provision →
A general partner's exit dissolves the firm
Because the general partner is the one who runs the business and bears its risks, his departure strikes at the heart of a limited partnership. Article 1860 provides that the retirement, death, insolvency, insanity or civil interdiction of a general partner dissolves the partnership. Any of those five events happening to a general partner brings the partnership to dissolution as a matter of course. The reason is that the limited partners entrusted the running of the firm to particular general partners; when one can no longer serve, the default is that the partnership dissolves.
How the business can be kept going
Dissolution is the default, not an inevitability, because the article provides two ways to continue. The business goes on if it is continued by the remaining general partners: (1) Under a right so to do stated in the certificate, or (2) With the consent of all members. So if there is more than one general partner and the certificate gave the survivors the right to carry on when one drops out, they may — no fresh agreement needed. Failing that, the members can agree to continue, but the consent must be unanimous. Either route keeps the firm alive despite the loss of a general partner.
Limited partners are different
It is worth stressing that this rule is about general partners. The events that dissolve the firm under this article — retirement, death, insolvency, insanity, civil interdiction — matter here because they befall a general partner, the person managing the business. The same events affecting a limited partner do not dissolve the partnership; a limited partner is an investor, and the firm can carry on when one dies or drops out, with the interest passing as the law provides. So the vulnerability the article addresses is specific to the general-partner role.
Plan for it in the certificate
If you are setting up or investing in a limited partnership, treat the loss of a general partner as a real contingency and address it in the certificate. Include a right for the remaining general partners to continue the business, so a single retirement, death or insolvency does not automatically end the venture. If the certificate is silent, understand that such an event dissolves the firm unless all the members then agree to continue — which may be hard to obtain at a difficult moment. For a limited partner, this is also a point to check before investing: a firm resting on one general partner with no continuation right is fragile.