Sometimes a partnership between two or more dentists can be the best configuration for a dental practice. A partnership can take a variety of forms:
A general partnership between two or more individuals
A general partnership between two or more corporations
A general partnership between an individual and one or more corporations
A corporation with multiple shareholders (although this is not a true partnership, it involves many of the same steps as a partnership in correctly setting up the entity)
In any multiple owner practice, a variety of issues need to be addressed, including:
Buy-in amount and structure
Decision making on day-to-day elements as well as major, long-term decisions
How partners will be compensated both for their work as dentists and on how they share any profits or losses from the operation of the practice
How dentists exit their ownership through death, divorce, bankruptcy, bad acts or termination of employment, disability, and voluntarily leaving. The document which deals with these events, as well as how the company is valued on sale, is called a buy-sell agreement.
Timeline and duration of the partnership