Short answer. Only with a general partner's separate property — never with partnership property. Under Article 1862, when a court charges a limited partner's interest to pay his creditor, that interest may be redeemed using the separate property of any general partner, but it may not be redeemed with the partnership's own property.
What the law says
The interest may be redeemed with the separate property of any general partner, but may not be redeemed with partnership property.
Civil Code, Article 1862 — Creditor of a Limited Partner. Read the full provision →
What the law says
On due application to a court of competent jurisdiction by any creditor of a limited partner, the court may charge the interest of the indebted limited partner with payment of the unsatisfied amount of such claim
Civil Code, Article 1862 — Creditor of a Limited Partner. Read the full provision →
The direct answer on redemption
The article draws a sharp line about whose money may be used to redeem the charged interest. It says: The interest may be redeemed with the separate property of any general partner, but may not be redeemed with partnership property. So redemption must come from a general partner's own, personal property, not from the assets of the partnership itself. Any general partner may step in and use his separate funds to redeem the indebted limited partner's charged interest; but the firm's property is off-limits for that purpose. This keeps a limited partner's personal debt from being paid off out of the common fund that belongs to the venture.
How the interest gets charged in the first place
The redemption question arises only after a creditor has gone to court. Article 1862 provides that on due application to a court of competent jurisdiction by any creditor of a limited partner, the court may charge the interest of the indebted limited partner with payment of the unsatisfied amount of such claim. In other words, a personal creditor of a limited partner does not seize partnership assets directly; instead the court places a charge on that partner's interest in the partnership to satisfy the unpaid claim. The court may also appoint a receiver and make whatever other orders and inquiries the circumstances require.
Why partnership property is protected
The prohibition on using partnership property to redeem exists to shield the business and the other partners from one member's private debts. A limited partner's creditor is chasing a personal obligation; it would be unfair to let that debt be discharged out of assets that belong to the partnership as a whole, in which other partners have a stake. By allowing redemption only from a general partner's separate property, the law lets someone rescue the situation voluntarily with his own funds while keeping the firm's capital intact and untouched by the limited partner's individual liability.
The remedy is not the creditor's only option
The charging procedure is a remedy, not a straitjacket. Article 1862 adds that the remedies it confers shall not be deemed exclusive of others which may exist, so a creditor is not necessarily limited to charging the interest and may have other avenues available. At the same time, the article preserves the limited partner's protections: Nothing in this Chapter shall be held to deprive a limited partner of his statutory exemption. So while a creditor can reach the limited partner's interest through the court, the limited partner keeps whatever exemptions the law grants him, and the partnership's own property stays beyond the reach of redemption.