Forming a new business with a partner can be so exciting. In the rapidly approaching year of 2016, plenty of brave entrepreneurs will join forces with another intrepid soul to form a business partnership. Often life long friends will band together and try to dominate the market. While things in the early stages can seem bright and rosy, partnerships end up dissolving all the time.

There are lots of reasons a partnership can fail. It could be a difference of opinion, an unexpected health concern, a sudden family emergency or even something malicious.

To protect yourself and your new company it’s important to form your partnership in the appropriate manner. It’s important to be extremely detailed about the roles each partner will have, what rights everyone has, how profits and losses are split and how disputes are handled.

One of the biggest items that needs to be addressed in a partnership agreement is defining what happens if a partner leaves the company.

When a partner leaves or is asked to leave, things can get nasty in a hurry. If the partners had a close relationship prior to going into business together it can be almost impossible to reach an amicable resolution. Trying to divvy up who gets what in a heated dispute isn’t fun for anyone. This is why you should take the time to spell everything out while everyone is still friends.

Like almost every other state, Oklahoma follows some form of the Uniform Partnership Act. This set of laws will act as a default operating procedure in the event a partnership dissolves and the partners failed to stipulate the necessary details in their partnership agreement. This takes control away from you and puts it in the hands of the state.

If you are considering forming a partnership be sure to do it right. Call the Tulsa business lawyers at Baysinger, Henson, Reimer & Cresswell. These attorneys know how to form a partnership agreement in Oklahoma that will protect you and your company. And be sure to check back next week for our list of components to put in a Oklahoma partnership agreement.