This case was an ejectment action brought by the collateral heirs of Thomas O. Ihmsen, who died intestate in 1901, seeking an undivided interest in real estate that had been acquired with partnership funds. The defendant claimed title through a chain of conveyances from the surviving partners and administrators of Ihmsen's estate following the dissolution of a limited partnership that later operated as a general partnership. The court affirmed judgment for the defendant, holding that Ihmsen's interest in the real estate was personalty rather than realty because the partners had agreed to treat all assets, including the disputed property, as partnership property held for ongoing business purposes. The core reasoning was that the partners' course of conduct after the limited partnership's term expired converted and maintained the assets as personalty, allowing the administrators to validly convey the interest to settle the estate without a forced sale, and that parol evidence could establish the partnership character of the real estate as between the partners and their heirs.

propertybusiness & regulatory