Business Partnership Resources in New York

These are the public and nonprofit bodies in New York that help two or more owners start a business together, fund it and settle it when they disagree. Every one is free or low cost, and every link goes to the organization itself.

This is general information as of October 2026; a lawyer in New York should read your actual agreement.

• The law. General partnerships still run on the 1914 Uniform Partnership Act (Partnership Law §1), one of the few states that never adopted the 1997 revision. LLCs have New York's own LLC Law. LLPs are for professional firms. All 50 states compared.
• The cost. An LLC files for $200, then must publish a notice in two newspapers for six weeks within 120 days and file a $50 Certificate of Publication; the newspapers often cost more than every state fee together. A $9 biennial statement follows. Fees in every state.
• Non-competes. No statute: courts enforce one that is reasonable and may trim an overbroad one (BDO Seidman v. Hirshberg, 1999). A bill to limit them passed the Senate in June 2026 but not the Assembly. Every state's rule.
• When a court can end it. An LLC only when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on under its own agreement (LLC Law §702); there is no oppression ground and no statutory buyout. A partnership has the older UPA list (Partnership Law §63). Grounds by state.