Business partnerships can be a blessing or a curse. A good business partnership means that you’re going to support each other, help each other out, and pool your resources and skills to make sure that both of you become successful. A bad partnership can result in the dissolution of your company and the ultimate failure of your venture. Needless to say, partnerships have to be handled delicately.

That’s why partnership agreements at the outset of a new business venture can be such a vital legal tool. When both partners define their roles within the venture, the resources they’re expected to pledge, and other definable details of their future relationship, there’s a real chance that having it all down on paper can really make the partnership happen smoothly. In any case, writing partnership agreements that result in happiness on both ends can really kick-start a new financial venture and send it in the right direction. Here’s what you need to know about partnership agreements to find a good one of your own.

First, you’ll want to hash out a great amount of details with your partner before you put anything into writing. Why is this? Isn’t it good to put everything in writing right away? Well, you may find that when it’s time to put something in writing, you realize that you and your partner had a significantly different vision for what was going to happen in this new business venture. It’s better to find out about these differences before you invest too much into the relationship. Try to handle the big issues up front and you’ll find it’s easier to create a partnership agreement you can both live with.

Next, remember that splitting money and profits equally is a great way to proceed. It can create difficulties for someone if they feel that they’re carrying a large part of the financial burden for a smaller portion of the rewards. If you’re entering a partnership knowing that one of the parties is going to handle a large part of the financial burden already, you can and should put this in writing anyway. When someone feels they’re entitled to more, you can always point out that they signed a partnership agreement saying otherwise.

It’s also important that you get specific in your partnership agreement. If you don’t know how to divide up the profits, for example, then you’ll have to wrestle with that issue after the business venture has already lifted off from the ground - that’s not a time to deal with that issue. It can lead to rivalry, petty arguments, and generally a great deal of mistrust on both sides. That’s why you have to be specific about numbers - so there won’t be any room left for interpretation. If someone claims they thought they were signing something else, you should be able to point to the piece of paper you both signed and show them that they’re wrong.