Legal Question in Business Law in Texas

Re: bad partnership

Assuming you weren't foolish enough to hand over bags of money and may to put something in the memo section of your check, you can sue to recover the money that you gave. It will take time and cost you for attorney fees, but you should get a judgment that you might be able to collect on, assuming you don't wait too long. Never do anything like this again without an attorney. It never ceases to amaze me how people can do this type of thing but it happens all the time. Isn't your money worth doing this right?

Re: bad partnership

It would be really difficult since you have nothing in writing to prove that he said or promised anything.

Re: bad partnership

Of course. But, as Mr. Grissom implied, proof is the major issue. You can prove the facts with testimony from those who participated in conversations or overheard converstation, about what was said and promised. If there is no proof, just his word against yours the problem is much more difficult since the burden of proof is yours. That being said, you gave him $40,000. I suspect that there is a paper trail proving the movement of the funds. Unless he claims it was a gift to you, you should be able to get it back either as a loan, with reasonable interest, or as part of a partnership dissolution proceeding.

The bigger problem, to me, is that it is not $400,000. In this day and age, $40,000 is almost to little to fight over since it may wind up costing you $25,000 in attorneys fees, which are not recoverable, and you could lose.