Short answer. Everything you own at the time, plus the profits it earns. A universal partnership of all present property is one where the partners contribute all the property that actually belongs to them to a common fund, together with all the profits they may acquire with it. It is the present estate, not future windfalls.
What the law says
A partnership of all present property is that in which the partners contribute all the property which actually belongs to them to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the same among themselves, as well as all the profits which they may acquire therewith.
Civil Code, Article 1778 — Universal Partnership of All Present Property. Read the full provision →
What goes into the fund
Article 1778 defines the most sweeping form of partnership. A partnership of all present property is that in which the partners contribute all the property which actually belongs to them to a common fund, with the intention of dividing the same among themselves, as well as all the profits which they may acquire therewith. Read carefully, two things pass into the common fund. First, all the property that actually belongs to each partner at the moment the partnership is formed — the present estate, whatever it consists of. Second, the profits that this pooled property later earns.
'Present' property — the key word
The decisive word is present. What goes in is the property that actually belongs to the partners when the contract is made — what they own on day one. Property a partner acquires afterwards does not automatically fall into the fund merely because this kind of partnership exists; the pooling is of the present estate. This distinguishes the all-present-property partnership from the other universal form, the partnership of profits, where the partners keep ownership of what they already have and share only what they later earn by their work. Contributing all present property is thus a far larger commitment than sharing future earnings.
What that means for ownership
Once present property is contributed, it stops being the individual partner's and becomes part of the common fund, held for the partnership and ultimately for division among the partners. A partner who put in a house and a car no longer owns them outright; he owns a share in the pooled estate. The stated intention in the article — dividing the same among themselves — is the point of the exercise: the fund exists to be shared, in the proportions the partners agreed or, absent agreement, as the law on partnership provides.
Before you pool everything
Because this partnership transfers your existing property, not just your future work, treat it as the major step it is. Be clear about exactly what each partner is contributing — take an inventory of the present property going into the fund, so there is no argument later about what was pooled and what stayed personal. Be clear too about the sharing proportions and how the fund is divided if the partnership ends. And remember that once contributed, the property is the fund's, not yours to reclaim at will. Put all of this in writing before anything changes hands.