General partnership
In one sentenceA company between two or more persons in which each partner is personally and jointly liable for its debts with all their assets.
Simply put
Joint liability means a creditor can claim the company's entire debt from any partner if the company's assets are not enough, and the partner then recovers their partners' portions from them. That is why it rests on great trust between the partners.
A partner's share is not usually transferred to someone else except with the partners' consent or as the company's contract provides.
Example
A general partnership between two brothers owes a supplier 200,000 SAR, and its assets are only 120,000 SAR. The supplier may claim the remaining 80,000 SAR from either brother's personal money, and whoever pays then recovers his brother's portion from him.
Don't confuse it with
Limited partnershipA limited partnership has limited partners whose liability is limited to their shares, while in a general partnership all partners are liable with all their assets.