The Honorable Bennie Bock II 

Chairman 

Opinion No. R-783 

House Committee on Liquor 

Regulation 

State Capitol 

Austin, Texas 78701 

Re: Renewal of mixed 

beverage permit for 

limited partnership 

permittee after death of 

limited partner. 

Dear Chairman Bock: 

On behalf of the House Committee on Liquor Regulation, 

of which you are Chairman, you ask: 

Does Article 666-13 of the Penal Auxiliary 

laws dictate that a mixed beverage permit 

issued to a limited partnership not be 

renewed after the death of one of the 

[limited] partners. . . ? 

Article.666-13, Penal Auxiliary Laws, reads in part: 

(a) All permits issued under [the 

Texas Liquor Control Act] . . .expire 

one year from the date of issue. 

(b) Any permit or license issued. . . 

shall be purely a personal privilege, 

revocable in the manner and for the 

causes herein stated, subject to appeal 

as hereinafter provided, and shall not 

constitute property, nor shall it be 

subject to execution, nor shall it 

descend by the laws of testate or intestate 

devolution, but shall cease upon the 

death of the permittee or licensee: 

p. 3304 
The Honorable Bennie Bock II - page 2 (H-783) 

provided, however, that upon the death 

of the holder of any such permit or 

successor of any such business involved 

may make application to the County 

Judge. . . and upon certification by the 

County Judge that such person is the 

receiver or successor in interest of any 

such business involved, the Board or the 

Administrator shall, unless good cause 

for refusal be shown . . . give permission 

to such receiver or successor in interest 

to operate said business under the said 

permit or license . . . . s such 

perm:t or license shall be rens. The 

receiver 0 Es, however,- 

= make G original application for a 

permZEYrYIYicense. 

. . . 

(f) Notwithstanding any other 

provision of this Act, if the surviving 

spouse or surviving descendant of a 

holder of a Mixed Beverage Permit 

qualifies as the successor in interest 

to the permit as provided in Subsection 

(b) of this Section, the descendant or 

surviving spouse may continue to renew 

the permit by paying a renewal fee equal 

to the fee the permittee would be required 

to pay had he lived. (Emphasis added). 

As the above statute expressly states, a permit or 

license issued under the Texas Liquor Control Act is not a 

vested property right, but is granted and enjoyed subject to 

regulations prescribed by the Legislature. 

(Tex.p.OE State vmz3-6&d4:?$%$! 1952). 

Control Board v. Canyon Creek Land Cor 

p. 3305 
The Honorable Bennie Bock II - page 3 (H-783) 

The provision of the Texas Liquor Control Act with 

which you are concerned, article 666-13, has been substantially the same since 1949, except for amendments in 1971 

that limited all permits and licenses under the Act to a 

duration of one year and added subparagraph (f) regarding 

surviving spouses or surviving descendants of holders of 

Mixed Beverage Permits. Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., ch. 65, p. 

681 at 686, 699. The Uniform Limited Partnership Act, 

article 6132a, V.T.C.S., was not adopted in Texas until 

1955, (Acts 1955, 54th Leg., ch. 133, p. 471) when the 

"entity" theory of partnership law made its first appearance 

in this state. Prior to that time, partnership property was 

held by~the partners as tenants in common. Now, however, 

"[a] limited partner's interest in the partnership is personal property." V.T.C.S. art. 6132a, 9 19. 

the Commentary by Professor Bromberg following ===F sections 

and 8 of article 6132b, The Texas Uniform Partnership Act, 

in Vernon's Civil Statutes of the State of Texas, Annotated. 

Cf. Attorney General Opinions H-589 (1975), H-18 (1973). 

A limited partner has no individual interest in the 

property of the partnership. He has, instead, a right to 

receive a share of the profits or other compensation by way 

of income of the partnership and to the return of his contribution under certain conditions. V.T.C.S. art. 6132a, 

s 11(b). We do not believe he has any greater individual 

interest in the intangible assets belonging to the partnership, whether or not they are classified as "property." 

Accordingly, it is our opinion that when a limited partnership is the holder of a permit or license issued under the 

Texas Liquor Control Act, a limited partner is not any more 

a person "having an interest" in the license or permit than 

is a shareholder of a corporation holding such a permit. 

See Penal Auxiliary Laws art. 666-58. - 

The death of a limited partner does not ipso facto 

dissolve the partnership. V.T.C.S. art. 6132a, 8 22. 

Inasmuch as the death of a limited partner does not work an 

automatic dissolution of the partnership, nor is it the 

death of one having an interest in the permit held by the 

partnership, we answer your question in the negative. 

Corn are Penal Auxiliary Laws arts. 666-lla, 666-12, and 666- 

+ 

p. 3306 
The Honorable Bennie Bock II - page 4 (H-783) 

SUMMARY 

The death of a limited partner does not 

necessarily prohibit the renewal of a 

mixed beverage permit issued to the 

partnership. 

Very truly yours, 

APPROVED: 

C. ROBERT HBATX, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

jwb 

p. 3307