Text of the provision

Art. 1839. In settling accounts between the partners after dissolution, the following rules shall be observed, subject to any agreement to the contrary:

(1) The assets of the partnership are: (a) The partnership property, (b) The contributions of the partners necessary for the payment of all the liabilities specified in No. 2.

(2) The liabilities of the partnership shall rank in order of payment, as follows: (a) Those owing to creditors other than partners, (b) Those owing to partners other than for capital and profits, (c) Those owing to partners in respect of capital, (d) Those owing to partners in respect of profits.

(3) The assets shall be applied in the order of their declaration in No. 1 of this article to the satisfaction of the liabilities.

(4) The partners shall contribute, as provided by article 1797, the amount necessary to satisfy the liabilities.

(5) An assignee for the benefit of creditors or any person appointed by the court shall have the right to enforce the contributions specified in the preceding number.

(6) Any partner or his legal representative shall have the right to enforce the contributions specified in No. 4, to the extent of the amount which he has paid in excess of his share of the liability.

(7) The individual property of a deceased partner shall be liable for the contributions specified in No. 4.

(8) When partnership property and the individual properties of the partners are in possession of a court for distribution, partnership creditors shall have priority on partnership property and separate creditors on individual property, saving the rights of lien or secured creditors.

(9) Where a partner has become insolvent or his estate is insolvent, the claims against his separate property shall rank in the following order: (a) Those owing to separate creditors; (b) Those owing to partnership creditors; (c) Those owing to partners by way of contribution.

(n)

Civil Code of the Philippines, Republic Act No. 386, approved June 18, 1949, effective August 30, 1950. Reproduced in full; verified verbatim against the LawPhil and ChanRobles official-text renderings.

What this article means

In settling accounts, the assets (partnership property plus needed contributions) are applied to liabilities in order: outside creditors, then partners for advances, then capital, then profits. On insolvency, partnership creditors have priority on partnership property and separate creditors on individual property. The master rule for partnership liquidation.

Related provisions

Cases citing this article

Compiled automatically from Supreme Court decisions published on LawPhil that expressly cite this article, most frequently cited first. A listing means the decision cites the provision — it is not a statement that the case is the leading authority, and it does not show whether a ruling has since been modified or abandoned. Always read the decision itself.

Note. The text of the provision above is reproduced in full from the official enactment (Republic Act No. 386), verified against the LawPhil and ChanRobles renderings. The annotation and commentary around it are the work of Vivas & Nobles Law Office and are general legal information, not legal advice. How a provision applies to a particular situation depends on facts that only a lawyer reviewing your case can assess.