Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15900. Section 15900.
This chapter may be cited as the Uniform Limited Partnership Act of 2008.
ARTICLE 1. General Provisions [15900. - 15901.17.]
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP 1.
in effectCal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.02. Section 15901.02.
In this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a)
“Acknowledged” means that an instrument is either of the following:
(1)
Formally acknowledged as provided in Article 3 (commencing with Section 1180) of Chapter 4 of Title 4 of Part 4 of Division 2 of the Civil Code.
(2)
Executed to include substantially the following wording preceding the signature: “It is hereby declared that I am the person who executed this instrument, which execution is my act and deed. Any certificate of acknowledgment taken without this state
before a notary public or a judge or clerk of a court of record having an official seal need not be further authenticated.”
(b)
“Certificate of limited partnership” means the certificate required by Section 15902.01. The term includes the certificate as amended or restated.
(c)
“Contribution,” except in the phrase “right of contribution,” means any benefit provided by a person to a limited partnership in order to become a partner or in the person’s capacity as a partner.
(d)
“Debtor in bankruptcy” means a person that is the subject of either of the following:
(1)
An order for relief under Title 11 of the United States Code or a comparable order under a
successor statute of general application.
(2)
A comparable order under federal, state, or foreign law governing insolvency.
(e)
“Designated office” means either of the following:
(1)
With respect to a limited partnership, the office that the limited partnership is required to designate and maintain under Section 15901.14.
(2)
With respect to a foreign limited partnership, its principal office.
(f)
“Distribution” means a transfer of money or other property from a limited partnership to a partner in the partner’s capacity as a partner or to a transferee on account of a transferable interest owned
by the transferee.
(g)
“Domestic corporation” means a corporation formed under the laws of this state.
(h)
“Electronic transmission by the partnership” means a communication that meets both of the following requirements:
(1)
It is delivered by any of the following means:
(A)
Facsimile transmission or electronic mail when directed to the facsimile number or electronic mail address, respectively, for the recipient on the record with the partnership.
(B)
Posting on an electronic message board or other electronic database, that the partnership has designated for the communication, together with a
separate notice to the recipient of the posting, which shall be validly delivered upon the later of either the posting or delivery of the separate notice thereof.
(C)
Other means of electronic communication.
(2)
It is to a recipient that has provided an unrevoked consent to the use of the means of transmission used by the partnership in the electronic transmission.
(i)
“Electronic transmission to the partnership” means a communication that meets both of the following requirements:
(1)
It is delivered by any of the following means:
(A)
Facsimile communication or other electronic mail when directed to the
facsimile number or electronic mail address, respectively, that the partnership has provided from time to time to the partners for sending communications to the partnership.
(B)
Posting on an electronic message board or electronic database that the partnership has designated for the communication. A transmission shall have been validly delivered upon the posting.
(C)
Other means of electronic communication.
(2)
It is a communication as to which the partnership has placed in effect reasonable measures to verify that the sender is the partner purporting to send the transmission, either in person or by proxy.
(j)
“Foreign limited liability limited partnership” means a foreign limited
partnership whose general partners have limited liability for the obligations of the foreign limited partnership.
(k)
“Foreign limited partnership” means a partnership formed under the laws of a jurisdiction other than this state and required by those laws to have one or more general partners and one or more limited partners. The term includes a foreign limited liability limited partnership.
(l)
“Foreign other business entity” means an other business entity formed under the laws of any state other than this state or under the laws of a foreign country.
(m)
“General partner” means:
(1)
With respect to a limited partnership, a person to whom either of the
following applies:
(A)
The person becomes a general partner under Section 15904.01.
(B)
The person was a general partner in a limited partnership when the limited partnership became subject to this chapter under subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 15912.06.
(2)
With respect to a foreign limited partnership, a person that has rights, powers, and obligations similar to those of a general partner in a limited partnership.
(n)
“Interests of all partners” means the aggregate interests of all partners in the current profits derived from business operations of the partnership.
(o)
“Interests of limited
partners” means the aggregate interests of all limited partners in their respective capacities as limited partners in the current profits derived from business operations of the partnership.
(p)
“Limited partner” means:
(1)
With respect to a limited partnership, a person to whom either of the following applies:
(A)
The person becomes a limited partner under Section 15903.01 or subdivision (h) of Section 15907.02.
(B)
The person was a limited partner in a limited partnership when the limited partnership became subject to this chapter under subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 15912.06.
(2)
With
respect to a foreign limited partnership, a person that has rights, powers, and obligations similar to those of a limited partner in a limited partnership.
(q)
“Limited partnership or domestic limited partnership,” except in the phrases “foreign limited partnership” and “foreign limited liability limited partnership,” means an entity, having one or more general partners and one or more limited partners, which is formed under this chapter by two or more persons or becomes subject to this chapter under Article 11 (commencing with Section 15911.01) or subdivisions (a) or (b) of Section 15912.06.
(r)
“Mail” means first-class mail, postage prepaid, unless registered mail is specified. Registered mail includes certified mail.
(s)
“Majority in interest of all partners” means more than 50 percent of the interests of all partners.
(t)
“Majority in interest of the limited partners” means more than 50 percent of the interests of limited partners.
(u)
“Other business entity” means a corporation, general partnership, limited liability company, business trust, real estate investment trust, or an unincorporated association other than a nonprofit association, but excludes a limited partnership.
(v)
“Parent” of a limited partnership means any of the following:
(1)
A general partner of the limited partnership.
(2)
A person
possessing, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of a general partner of the limited partnership.
(3)
A person owning, directly or indirectly, limited partnership interests possessing more than 50 percent of the aggregate voting power of the limited partnership.
(w)
“Partner” means a limited partner or general partner.
(x)
“Partnership agreement” means the partners’ agreement, whether oral, implied, in a record, or in any combination, concerning the limited partnership. The term includes the agreement as amended.
(y)
“Person” means an individual, partnership, limited partnership, trust, estate,
association, corporation, limited liability company, or other entity, whether domestic or foreign.
(z)
“Person dissociated as a general partner” means a person dissociated as a general partner of a limited partnership.
(aa)
“Principal office” means the office where the principal office of a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership is located, whether or not the office is located in this state.
(ab)
“Proxy” means a written authorization signed by a partner or the partner’s attorney in fact giving another person the power to vote with respect to the interest of that partner. “Signed,” for the purpose of this subdivision, means the placing of the partner’s name on the proxy, whether by manual signature, typewriting, telegraphic
transmission, or otherwise, by the partner or the partner’s attorney in fact.
(ac)
“Record” means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(ad)
“Required information” means the information that a limited partnership is required to maintain under Section 15901.11.
(ae)
“Return of capital” means any distribution to a partner to the extent that the aggregate distributions to that partner do not exceed that partner’s contributions to the partnership.
(af)
“Sign” means either of the following:
(1)
To
execute or adopt a tangible symbol with the present intent to authenticate a record.
(2)
To attach or logically associate an electronic symbol, sound, or process to or with a record with the present intent to authenticate the record.
(ag)
“State” means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(ah)
“Time a notice is given or sent,” unless otherwise expressly provided, means any of the following:
(1)
The time a written notice to a partner or the limited partnership is deposited in the United States mail.
(2)
The time any other written notice is personally delivered to the recipient, is delivered to a common carrier for transmission, or is actually transmitted by the person giving the notice by electronic means to the recipient.
(3)
The time any oral notice is communicated, in person or by telephone or wireless, to the recipient or to a person at the office of the recipient who the person giving the notice has reason to believe will promptly communicate it to the recipient.
(ai)
(1)
“Transact intrastate business” means, for purposes of registration, entering into repeated and successive transactions of business in this state, other than interstate or foreign commerce.
(2)
A foreign limited partnership shall not be considered to be transacting intrastate business within the meaning of paragraph (1) solely because of its status as one or more of the following:
(A)
A shareholder of a foreign corporation transacting intrastate business.
(B)
A shareholder of a domestic corporation.
(C)
A limited partner of a foreign limited partnership transacting intrastate business.
(D)
A limited partner of a domestic limited partnership.
(E)
A member or manager of a foreign limited liability company transacting intrastate business.
(F)
A member or manager of a domestic limited liability company.
(3)
Without excluding other activities that may not constitute transacting intrastate business, a foreign limited partnership shall not be considered to be transacting intrastate business within the meaning of paragraph (1) solely by reason of carrying on in this state one or more of the following activities:
(A)
Maintaining or defending any action or suit or any administrative or arbitration proceeding, or effecting the settlement thereof or the settlement of claims and disputes.
(B)
Holding meetings of its partners or carrying on other activities concerning its internal affairs.
(C)
Maintaining bank accounts.
(D)
Maintaining offices or agencies for the transfer, exchange, and registration of its securities or depositories with relation to its securities.
(E)
Effecting sales through independent contractors.
(F)
Soliciting or procuring orders, whether by mail or through employees or agents or otherwise, where the orders require acceptance without this state before becoming binding contracts.
(G)
Creating or acquiring evidences of debt or mortgages, liens, or security interests on real or personal property.
(H)
Securing or collecting debts or enforcing mortgages and security
interests in property securing the debts.
(I)
Conducting an isolated transaction completed within a period of 180 days and not in the course of a number of repeated transactions of like nature.
(J)
Transacting business in interstate commerce.
(4)
A person shall not be deemed to be transacting intrastate
business in this state within the meaning of paragraph (1) solely because of the person’s status as a limited partner of a domestic limited partnership or a foreign limited partnership registered to transact intrastate business in this state.
This definition shall not apply in determining the contacts or activities that may subject a foreign limited partnership to service of process, taxation, jurisdiction, or other regulation under any other law of this state.
(aj)
“Transfer” includes an assignment, conveyance, deed, bill of sale, lease, mortgage, creation of a security interest or encumbrance, gift, and transfer by operation of law.
(ak)
“Transferable interest” means a partner’s right to receive distributions.
(a
l
)
“Transferee” means a person to which all or part of a
transferable interest has been transferred, whether or not the transferor is a partner.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.03. Section 15901.03.
(a)
A person knows a fact if the person has actual knowledge of it.
(b)
A person has notice of a fact if the person:
(1)
knows of it;
(2)
has received a notification of it;
(3)
has reason to know it exists from all of the facts known to the person at the time in question; or
(4)
has notice of it under subdivision (c) or (d).
(c)
A certificate of limited partnership on file in the office of the Secretary of State is notice that the partnership is a limited partnership and the persons designated in the certificate as general partners are general partners. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (d), the certificate is not notice of any other fact.
(d)
A person has notice of:
(1)
another person’s dissociation as a general partner, 90 days after the effective date of an amendment to the certificate of limited partnership which states that the other person has dissociated or 90 days after the effective date of a certificate of dissociation pertaining to the other person, whichever occurs first;
(2)
a limited partnership’s dissolution, 90 days after the effective date of an amendment to the certificate of limited partnership stating that the limited partnership is dissolved;
(3)
a limited partnership’s termination, 90 days after the effective date of a certificate of cancellation;
(4)
a limited partnership’s conversion under Article 11 (commencing with Section 15911.01), 90 days after the effective date of the certificate of conversion; or
(5)
a merger under Article 11 (commencing with Section 15911.01), 90 days after the effective date of the certificate of merger.
(e)
A person notifies or gives a notification to another person by taking steps reasonably required to inform the other person in ordinary course, whether or not the other person learns of it.
(f)
A person receives a notification when the notification:
(1)
comes to the person’s attention; or
(2)
is delivered at the person’s place of business or at any other place held out by the person as a place for receiving communications.
(g)
Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (h), a person other than an individual knows, has notice, or receives a notification of a fact for purposes of a particular transaction when the individual conducting the transaction for the person knows, has notice, or receives a notification of the fact, or in any event when the fact would have been brought to the individual’s attention if the person had exercised reasonable diligence. A person other than an individual exercises reasonable diligence if it maintains reasonable routines for communicating significant information to the individual conducting the transaction for the person and there is reasonable compliance with the routines. Reasonable diligence does not require an individual acting for the person to communicate information unless the communication is part of the individual’s regular duties or the individual has reason to know of the transaction and that the transaction would be materially affected by the information.
(h)
A general partner’s knowledge, notice, or receipt of a notification of a fact relating to the limited partnership is effective immediately as knowledge of, notice to, or receipt of a notification by the limited partnership, except in the case of a fraud on the limited partnership committed by or with the consent of the general partner. A limited partner’s knowledge, notice, or receipt of a notification of a fact relating to the limited partnership is not effective as knowledge of, notice to, or receipt of a notification by the limited partnership.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.04. Section 15901.04.
(a)
A limited partnership is an entity distinct from its partners.
(b)
A limited partnership may be organized under this chapter for any lawful purpose. A limited partnership may engage in any lawful business activity, whether or not for profit, except the banking business, the business of issuing policies of insurance and assuming insurance risks, or the trust company business.
(c)
A limited partnership has a perpetual duration.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.05. Section 15901.05.
A limited partnership has the powers to do all things necessary or convenient to carry on its activities, including the power to sue, be sued, and defend in its own name and to maintain an action against a partner for harm caused to the limited partnership by a breach of the partnership agreement or violation of a duty to the partnership.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.06. Section 15901.06.
The law of this state governs relations among the partners of a limited partnership and between the partners and the limited partnership and the liability of partners as partners for an obligation of the limited partnership.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.07. Section 15901.07.
(a)
Unless displaced by particular provisions of this chapter, the principles of law and equity supplement this chapter.
(b)
If an obligation to pay interest arises under this chapter and the rate is not specified, the rate is that specified in Section 3289 of the Civil Code.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.08. Section 15901.08.
(a)
The name of a limited partnership may contain the name of any partner.
(b)
The name of a limited partnership shall contain the phrase “limited partnership” or the abbreviation “L.P.” or “LP” at the end of its name.
(c)
The name of a foreign limited liability limited partnership that is applying for a certificate of registration pursuant to Section 15909.02 shall contain the phrase “limited liability limited partnership” or the abbreviation “LLLP” or “L.L.L.P.” and shall not contain the abbreviation “L.P.” or “LP.”
(d)
The name of a limited partnership shall not
be a name that the Secretary of State determines is likely to mislead the public and shall be distinguishable in the records of the Secretary of State from all of the following:
(1)
The name of any limited partnership that has previously filed a certificate pursuant to Section 15902.01 or any foreign limited partnership registered pursuant to Section 15909.01.
(2)
Each name reserved under Section 15901.09.
(e)
The use by a limited partnership of a name in violation of this section may be enjoined notwithstanding the filing of its certificate of limited partnership by the Secretary of State.
(f)
Subject to Section 15909.05, this section applies to any foreign
limited partnership transacting business in this state, having a certificate of registration to transact business in this state, or applying for a certificate of registration.
(g)
The name shall not include the words “bank,” “trust,” “trustee,” “incorporated,” “inc.,” “corporation,” or “corp.” and shall not include the words “insurer” or “insurance company” or any other words suggesting that it is in the business of issuing policies of insurance and assuming insurance risks.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.09. Section 15901.09.
(a)
The exclusive right to the use of a name that complies with Section 15901.08 may be reserved by:
(1)
a person intending to organize a limited partnership under this chapter and to adopt the name;
(2)
a limited partnership or a foreign limited partnership authorized to transact business in this state intending to adopt the name;
(3)
a foreign limited partnership intending to obtain a certificate of registration to transact business in this state and adopt the name;
(4)
a person
intending to organize a foreign limited partnership and intending to have it obtain a certificate of registration to transact business in this state and adopt the name;
(5)
a foreign limited partnership formed under the name; or
(6)
a foreign limited partnership formed under a name that does not comply with subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 15901.08, but the name reserved under this paragraph may differ from the foreign limited partnership’s name only to the extent necessary to comply with subdivision (b) or (c) of Section 15901.08.
(b)
Upon payment of the fee prescribed by Section 12188 of the Government Code, any person may apply to reserve a name under subdivision (a), and obtain from the Secretary of State a certificate of reservation of any name not prohibited by Section 15901.08. If the Secretary of State finds
that the name is available for use by the applicant, the Secretary of State shall issue a certificate of name reservation and thereby reserve the name for the exclusive use of the applicant for 60 days.
(c)
An applicant that has reserved a name pursuant to subdivision (b) may reserve the same name for an additional 60-day period. The Secretary of State shall not issue a certificate reserving the same name for two or more consecutive 60-day periods to the same applicant or for the use or benefit of the same person.
(d)
A person that has reserved a name under this section may transfer the reserved name to another person, effective upon delivery to the Secretary of State of a signed notice of transfer that states the reserved name and the name and address of the person to which the reservation is to be transferred.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.10. Section 15901.10.
(a)
Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), the partnership agreement governs relations among the partners and between the partners and the partnership. To the extent the partnership agreement does not otherwise provide, this chapter governs relations among the partners and between the partners and the partnership.
(b)
A partnership agreement may not do any of the following:
(1)
Vary a limited partnership’s power under Section 15901.05 to sue, be sued, and defend in its own name.
(2)
Vary the law applicable to a limited partnership under Section 15901.06.
(3)
Vary the requirements of Section 15902.04.
(4)
Vary the information required under Section 15901.11 or unreasonably restrict the right to information under Section 15903.04 or 15904.07, but the partnership agreement may impose reasonable restrictions on the availability and use of information obtained under those sections and may define appropriate remedies, including liquidated damages, for a breach of any reasonable restriction on use.
(5)
Eliminate the duty of loyalty under Section 15904.08, but the partnership agreement may do either or both of the following:
(A)
Identify specific types or categories of activities that do not violate the duty of loyalty, if not manifestly unreasonable.
(B)
Specify the number or percentage of partners which may authorize or ratify, after full disclosure to all partners of all material facts, a specific act or transaction that otherwise would violate the duty of loyalty.
(6)
Unreasonably reduce the duty of care under subdivision (c) of Section 15904.08.
(7)
Eliminate the obligation of good faith and fair dealing under subdivision (b) of Section 15903.05 and subdivision (d) of Section 15904.08, but the partnership agreement may prescribe the standards by which the performance of the obligation is to be measured, if the standards are not manifestly unreasonable.
(8)
Vary the power of a person to dissociate as a general partner under subdivision (a) of Section 15906.04 except to require that the notice under subdivision (a) of Section 15906.03 be in a record.
(9)
Eliminate the power of a court to decree dissolution in the circumstances specified in subdivision (a) of Section 15908.02.
(10)
Vary the requirement to wind up the partnership’s business as specified in Section 15908.03.
(11)
Unreasonably restrict the right to maintain an action under Article 10 (commencing with Section 15910.01).
(12)
Restrict the right of a partner to approve a conversion or merger.
(13)
Vary the provisions of Article 11.5 (commencing with Section 15911.20), except to the extent expressly permitted by such provisions.
(14)
Restrict rights under this chapter of a person other than a partner or a transferee.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.11. Section 15901.11.
A limited partnership shall maintain at its principal office the following information:
(a)
A current list showing the full name and last known street and mailing address of each partner, separately identifying the general partners, in alphabetical order, and the limited partners, in alphabetical order;
(b)
A copy of the initial certificate of limited partnership and all amendments to and restatements of the certificate, together with signed copies of any powers of attorney under which any certificate, amendment, or restatement has been signed;
(c)
A copy of any filed certificate of conversion or merger;
(d)
A copy of the limited partnership’s federal, state, and local income tax returns and reports, if any, for the six most recent years;
(e)
A copy of any partnership agreement made in a record and any amendment made in a record to any partnership agreement;
(f)
A copy of any financial statement of the limited partnership for the six most recent years;
(g)
A copy of any record made by the limited partnership during the past three years of any consent given by or vote taken of any partner pursuant to this chapter or the partnership agreement; and
(h)
Unless contained in a partnership agreement made in a record, a record stating:
(1)
The amount of cash, and a description and statement of the agreed value of the other benefits, contributed and agreed to be contributed by each partner;
(2)
The times at which, or events on the happening of which, any additional contributions agreed to be made by each partner are to be made;
(3)
For any person that is both a general partner and a limited partner, a specification of what transferable interest the person owns in each capacity; and
(4)
Any events upon the happening of which the limited partnership is to be dissolved and its activities wound
up.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.12. Section 15901.12.
A partner may lend money to and transact other business with the limited partnership and has the same rights and obligations with respect to the loan or other transaction as a person that is not a partner.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.13. Section 15901.13.
A person may be both a general partner and a limited partner. A person that is both a general and limited partner has the rights, powers, duties, and obligations provided by this chapter and the partnership agreement in each of those capacities. When the person acts as a general partner, the person is subject to the obligations, duties and restrictions under this chapter and the partnership agreement for general partners. When the person acts as a limited partner, the person is subject to the obligations, duties and restrictions under this chapter and the partnership agreement for limited partners.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.14. Section 15901.14.
(a)
A limited partnership shall designate and continuously maintain in this state:
(1)
an office, which need not be a place of its activity in this state; and
(2)
an agent for service of process.
(b)
A foreign limited partnership shall designate and continuously maintain in this state an agent for service of process.
(c)
An agent for service of process of a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership must be an individual who is a resident of this state or a corporation that has complied with Section 1505 of the Corporations Code and whose capacity to act as an agent has not terminated.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.15. Section 15901.15.
Action requiring the consent of partners under this chapter may be taken without a meeting, and a partner may appoint a proxy to consent or otherwise act for the partner by signing an appointment record, either personally or by the partner’s attorney in fact.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.16. Section 15901.16.
(a)
In addition to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, process may be served upon limited partnerships and foreign limited partnerships as provided in this section.
(b)
Personal service of a copy of any process against the limited partnership or the foreign limited partnership will constitute valid service on the limited partnership if delivered either (1) to any individual designated by it as agent or, if a limited partnership, to any general partner or (2) if the designated agent or, if a limited partnership, general partner is a corporation, to any person named in the latest certificate of the corporate agent filed pursuant to Section 1505 at the office of
the corporate agent or to any officer of the general partner, shall constitute valid service on the limited partnership or the foreign limited partnership. No change in the address of the agent for service of process where the agent is an individual or appointment of a new agent for service of process shall be effective (1) for a limited partnership until an amendment to the certificate of limited partnership is filed or (2) for a foreign limited partnership until an amendment to the application for registration is filed. In the case of a foreign limited partnership that has appointed the Secretary of State as agent for service of process by reason of subdivision (b) of Section 15909.07, process shall be delivered by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the capacity of assistant or deputy, which shall be one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the court order authorizing the service and the fee therefor. The order shall include and set forth an
address to which the process shall be sent by the Secretary of State.
(c)
(1)
If an agent for service of process has resigned and has not been replaced or if the agent designated cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the address designated for personal delivery of the process, and it is shown by affidavit to the satisfaction of the court that process against a limited partnership or foreign limited partnership cannot be served with reasonable diligence upon the designated agent or, if a foreign limited partnership, upon any general partner by hand in the manner provided in Section 415.10, subdivision (a) of Section 415.20, or subdivision (a) of Section 415.30 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court may make an order that the service shall be made upon a domestic limited partnership which has filed a certificate or upon a foreign limited partnership which has a certificate of registration to transact business in
this state by delivering by hand to the Secretary of State, or to any person employed in the Secretary of State’s office in the capacity of assistant or deputy, one copy of the process for each defendant to be served, together with a copy of the order authorizing the service. Service in this manner shall be deemed complete on the 10th day after delivery of the process to the Secretary of State.
(2)
Upon receipt of any such copy of process and the fee therefor, the Secretary of State shall give notice of the service of the process to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership, at its principal office, by forwarding to that office, by registered mail with request for return receipt, the copy of the process.
(3)
The Secretary of State shall keep a record of all process served upon the Secretary of State under this chapter and shall record therein the time of service and
the Secretary of State’s action with reference thereto. A certificate under the Secretary of State’s official seal, certifying to the receipt of process, the giving of notice thereof to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership, and the forwarding of the process pursuant to this section, shall be competent and prima facie evidence of the matters stated therein.
(d)
(1)
The certificate of a limited partnership and the application for a certificate of registration of a foreign limited partnership shall designate, as the agent for service of process, an individual residing in this state or a corporation which has complied with Section 1505 and whose capacity to act as an agent has not terminated. If an individual is designated, the statement shall set forth that person’s complete business or residence street address in this state. If a corporate agent is designated, no address for it shall be set forth.
(2)
An agent designated for service of process may deliver to the Secretary of State, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State for filing, a signed and acknowledged written statement of resignation as an agent for service of process containing the name of the limited partnership, the Secretary of State’s file number for the limited partnership, the name of the resigning agent for service of process, and a statement that the agent is resigning. Thereupon the authority of the agent to act in that capacity shall cease and the Secretary of State forthwith shall mail or otherwise provide written notice of the filing of the statement of resignation to the limited partnership or foreign limited partnership at its designated office.
(3)
The resignation of an agent may be effective if, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State containing the name of the limited partnership, the
Secretary of State’s file number for the limited partnership, and the name of the agent for service of process, the agent disclaims having been properly appointed as the agent.
(4)
The Secretary of State may destroy or otherwise dispose of any statement of resignation filed pursuant to this section after an amended certificate of limited partnership or amended foreign limited partnership registration is filed pursuant to Section 15902.02 or 15909.06 replacing the agent for service of process that has resigned.
(5)
If an individual who has been designated agent for service of process dies or resigns or no longer resides in the state or if the corporate agent for that purpose, resigns, dissolves, withdraws from the state, forfeits its right to transact intrastate business, has its corporate rights, powers, and privileges suspended or ceases to exist, (A) the limited partnership
shall promptly file an amendment to the certificate designating a new agent or (B) the foreign limited partnership shall promptly file an amendment to the application for registration.
(e)
In addition to any other discovery rights which may exist, in any case pending in a California court having jurisdiction in which a party seeks records from a partnership formed under this chapter, whether or not the partnership is a party, the court shall have the power to order the production in California of the books and records of the partnership on the terms and conditions that the court deems appropriate.
Cal. Corporations Code - CORP § 15901.17. Section 15901.17.
(a)
A partner may, in a written partnership agreement or other writing, consent to be subject to the nonexclusive jurisdiction of the courts of a specified jurisdiction, or the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of this state.
(b)
If a partner desires to use the arbitration process, that partner may in a written partnership agreement or other writing, consent to be nonexclusively subject to arbitration in a specified state, or to be exclusively subject to arbitration in this state.
(c)
Along with this consent to the jurisdiction of courts or arbitration, a partner may consent to be served with legal process in the manner prescribed in the partnership agreement or other writing.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026