Which statement best describes a partner's liability for partnership debts?

• A. Only for contracts entered into by a partner personally.
• B. Only for actual contracts with other partners.
• C. For authorized contracts and torts within the scope of the partnership business.
• D. For all acts of the partner, regardless of scope.

Answer: (C)

Partners act as agents of the partnership, so the partnership is bound by contracts a partner makes on behalf of the partnership and by torts a partner commits within the partnership’s ordinary course of business or with the partnership’s authority. That means liability for partnership debts arises when the partner’s actions are authorized or fall within the scope of the partnership’s activities.

The best description is that a partner is liable for authorized contracts and torts within the scope of the partnership business because it captures both the agency relationship and the idea of acting within the partnership’s realm of operation. For example, signing a lease for the partnership or causing a workplace injury in the course of running the business binds the partnership to those obligations.

Why the other ideas don’t fit: limiting liability to contracts with the partner personally ignores third-party contracts and torts against the partnership; saying liability covers all acts of the partner regardless of scope goes too far because acts outside the partnership’s business typically do not bind the partnership.