Justice Barbara Jaffe
The Seavey defendants moved for an order finding Edmonds incompetent to act as general partner. Edmonds previously transferred a portion of his partnership share, and was demoted to limited partner. Defendants denied he regained his managing general partner position. Edmonds’ niece, Irish, was appointed his temporary special guardian, and she had a court-validated durable power of attorney from Edmonds. Seavey defendants argued Irish may not act as a general partner alleging an incompetent partner ceased to be a general partner under the Revised Limited Partnership Act (RLPA). The court noted there was no evidence the partnership, formed in 1973, adopted the RLPA, which only applied to partnerships formed after 1991. It stated the RLPA was triggered only when a court found the partner was incompetent, noting Irish’s appointment did not find Edmonds was incompetent. The court also noted a person was not incapacitated if they arranged for appointment of an attorney-in-fact to make decisions on their behalf while they still had capacity. It ruled absent authority for the proposition an attorney-in-fact could never act as a general partner on a general partner’s behalf, Seavey defendants’ motion for a finding Edmonds was incompetent was denied.
