Short answer. Yes. Article 1809 lists four separate grounds for a formal partnership accounting: wrongful exclusion is only the first. A partner may also demand one where an agreement grants that right, where Article 1807's trustee-for-undisclosed-profits rule applies, or, as a catch-all, whenever other circumstances render an accounting just and reasonable.
What the law says
Any partner shall have the right to a formal account as to partnership affairs: (1) If he is wrongfully excluded from the partnership business or possession of its property by his co-partners; (2) If the right exists under the terms of any agreement; (3) As provided by article 1807; (4) Whenever other circumstances render it just and reasonable.
Civil Code, Article 1809 — Right to a Formal Account. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Every partner must account to the partnership for any benefit, and hold as trustee for it any profits derived by him without the consent of the other partners from any transaction connected with the formation, conduct, or liquidation of the partnership or from any use by him of its property.
Civil Code, Article 1807 — Partner as Trustee of Benefits. Read the full provision →
The four grounds Article 1809 lists
Article 1809 opens by stating that any partner shall have the right to a formal account as to partnership affairs in four separate situations. Being wrongfully excluded from the partnership business or possession of its property by his co-partners is only the first of these. The article goes on to list three more grounds, each of which stands on its own and can support a demand for a formal accounting even where no one has been locked out of anything.
Ground two: a right under an agreement
The second ground is straightforward: a partner has the right to a formal account if the right exists under the terms of any agreement. Where the partners have themselves written accounting rights into their partnership agreement or some other contract between them, that agreement supplies an independent basis for demanding an accounting, separate from whether any partner has been excluded from the business.
Ground three: the Article 1807 trustee situation
The third ground is as provided by article 1807, which requires every partner to account to the partnership for any benefit and to hold as trustee any profits the partner derived, without the other partners' consent, from a transaction connected with the partnership's formation, conduct, or liquidation, or from using partnership property. So where a partner is suspected of having taken undisclosed profits this way, that situation alone triggers the right to a formal accounting under Article 1809, independent of exclusion or any written agreement.
Ground four: the 'just and reasonable' catch-all
The fourth and broadest ground is the catch-all: whenever other circumstances render it just and reasonable. This ground exists precisely to cover situations the first three do not specifically name, giving courts room to order an accounting where fairness calls for one even though the facts do not fit neatly into exclusion, an agreement, or the Article 1807 trustee scenario.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Marjori Tocao and William T. Belo vs. Court of Appeals and Nenita A. Anay, G.R. No. 127405, October 4, 2000 — read the decision on LawPhil →
Related provisions
- Civil Code, Article 1809 — Right to a Formal Account
- Civil Code, Article 1807 — Partner as Trustee of Benefits