Short answer. No. Under Article 1835, the dissolution of the partnership does not of itself discharge the existing liability of any partner. A partner is released only by an agreement to that effect among himself, the creditor and the person or partnership continuing the business — and a deceased partner's individual property stays liable for obligations incurred while he was a partner.
What the law says
The dissolution of the partnership does not of itself discharge the existing liability of any partner.
Civil Code, Article 1835 — Existing Liability Survives Dissolution. Read the full provision →
Dissolution does not erase existing debts
A common misconception is that dissolving a partnership wipes the slate clean. Article 1835 says otherwise: the dissolution of the partnership does not of itself discharge the existing liability of any partner. Debts and obligations the partners were already answerable for when the firm dissolved remain their responsibility afterwards. Dissolution changes how the business goes forward; it does not cancel what was already owed.
How a partner can actually be discharged
The article does describe a way a partner can be released — but it takes agreement, not mere dissolution. A partner is discharged from any existing liability upon dissolution of the partnership by an agreement to that effect between himself, the partnership creditor and the person or partnership continuing the business. So a discharge needs three parties to agree: the departing partner, the creditor, and whoever is carrying the business on. This is typically how a retiring partner is let off a firm debt: the continuing partners assume it and the creditor accepts them in his place. The creditor's consent is essential — his rights cannot be shifted onto someone else behind his back.
A deceased partner's estate remains liable
Death does not end the exposure either. The article provides that the individual property of a deceased partner shall be liable for all obligations of the partnership incurred while he was a partner, but subject to the prior payment of his separate debts. So when a partner dies, his personal estate stays answerable for the firm's debts that were incurred during his time as a partner — his heirs do not take the estate free of that liability. There is, though, an ordering: the deceased partner's own separate debts are paid first out of his individual property, and the partnership's claims reach what is left.
What this means for you
If you are leaving a partnership, do not assume that dissolution or your departure cuts you loose from what the firm already owes. To be genuinely released from a specific debt, secure the three-way agreement the article requires — get the creditor to accept the continuing partners in your place, in writing. If you are a creditor of a dissolving firm, you keep your claim against the partners liable when the debt arose unless you have agreed to release one. And where a partner has died, his estate can still be looked to for firm debts from his time, after his own separate creditors are paid.