Munkdale v. Giannini

In Munkdale v. Giannini (1995) 35 Cal.App.4th 1104, a partnership owned several parcels of real property. The issue there was whether the partners enjoyed beneficial use of the real property, as set forth in section 60, by virtue of their status as partners of the partnership. The issue of beneficial use arose in Munkdale because certain parcels of real property were transferred to one or other of the partners upon dissolution of the partnership, causing a reassessment for property tax purposes. (Munkdale, supra, 35 Cal.App.4th at p. 1107.) The partners argued that beneficial use had not transferred, and thus ownership had not changed under section 60, in that they enjoyed beneficial use of the real property before the dissolution of the partnership due to their status as partners. (35 Cal.App.4th at p. 1110.) Munkdale examined the legal nature of the interest held by a partner in a partnership, including the significant limitations on a partner's use of the property for his or her own purposes, and concluded that a partner does not enjoy beneficial use of the real property held by the partnership. As Munkdale explained, "'most of the normal incidents of ownership are held by the partnership as a group rather than the individual partners.'" (Munkdale, supra, 35 Cal.App.4th at p. 1111.)