Short answer. Yes. Article 1796 of the Civil Code makes the partnership answer to a partner for the obligations he contracted in good faith in the interest of the partnership business, and for risks arising from its management. The firm, not you alone, must bear a debt honestly taken on for the venture.
What the law says
it shall also answer to each partner for the obligations he may have contracted in good faith in the interest of the partnership business, and for risks in consequence of its management.
Civil Code, Article 1796 — Partnership's Reimbursement Duty. Read the full provision →
The partnership stands behind you
Article 1796 says the partnership shall also answer to each partner for the obligations he may have contracted in good faith in the interest of the partnership business, and for risks in consequence of its management. The idea is fairness: a partner who acts for the firm should not personally shoulder what was really the firm's burden. The same article also makes the partnership responsible for the amounts he may have disbursed on behalf of the partnership and for the corresponding interest, from the time the expense are made.
The two conditions the words impose
Notice what the article requires before the partnership must answer. The obligation must be taken on in good faith and in the interest of the partnership business. A debt incurred for your own private purpose, or one you knew was harmful to the firm, does not fall within the protection. The good faith and the business purpose are what convert a personal act into a partnership obligation, so the character of the transaction matters as much as the amount.
What this does not decide
This article governs the internal relationship between the partner and the partnership — reimbursement and indemnity among themselves. It does not, by itself, settle how an outside creditor may proceed against the partners or their separate property, which other provisions address. Nor does it protect a partner who exceeded his authority or acted against the firm's interest. Keep the records that show the expense was made for the business and in good faith — invoices, correspondence and the firm's own resolutions — because those are what the partnership will be measured against if reimbursement is disputed.
When the right survives, and when it fails
The right to be made whole is not lost merely because the venture later fails or the partners fall out. It is settled on the accounting when the firm's affairs are wound up, so a partner who advanced money or shouldered a business risk can press the claim against the partnership's assets at that stage rather than losing it. What the partner cannot do is convert a loss he caused by his own fault, or an expense he ran up for himself, into a firm liability. The good-faith and business-interest conditions police exactly that, and a partner who oversteps his authority answers for the shortfall alone.