The memorandum and articles of association of the Company are the documents the original poster needs to read to see what their liability is. I'm assuming it is a Company as they describes themself as a shareholder. If it is then they are probably safe as their liability should be limited in the memorandum or articles.

If it isn't a Company then they could well be liable but would ahve signed something when they joined to accept this responsibility.

As ever its a case of checking the small print of what was signed.

The way it appears huckster; is that as there are two types of legal structure, the main one being unincorporated association for smaller less official type set-ups, then the OP could be well liable for his pro-rata share of any bad debt produced by the club.

Your right not very sociable.: -- (

On the other hand - I was a member once of a small workingmens club that folded due to poor attendance, the club had assets leftover after closure in the form of the club building and the freehold land.

In that case all the "paid up" members got a share of the net proceeds after the property was sold, which was just short of 2k each for 40 members....so it works both ways. !

CMK

Would this also apply to social members who pay £15 a year for cheaper bar prices? I would call that unsociable.

I had a quick look at a golf clubs membership t&c's but could see no mention of having any shared liability for club debts. With a local golf club they have an annual meeting of members which looks at issues regarding the club and the accounts. Only the die hards turn up for these and the committee takes most of the decisions. I would have thought the committee members would have more responsibilty as they sign off the accounts and expenditure.

Huckster

There is a possibility that could be the case, it very much depends on how your club has been legally established when it was set up.

There are two main legal structures. I suggest you read the article below in conjunction with investigating the legal structure of your golf club.

http://www.helpforclubs.org.uk/TopicNavigation/Admin+and+management/Club+Structures.htm

Unincorporated association -

One consequence that you should be aware of with this type of structure is that - on the rare occasions that something does go seriously wrong - ALL the members of the association are liable. So, if the club goes bankrupt, all the members could be liable for the debts, irrespective of their individual financial circumstances. Because this liability is unlimited, those with more wealth could be hit harder than those with relatively little money.

golfconfused.

You would have to check the details of your golf club membership. It depends on who owns it. Some are limited companies.

I don't believe you have a liability for the debts if you are a member, as usually you would just lose your investment i.e. your membership. I suspect the clubs committee members responsible for the accounts and employment of staff, may have more of a worry.

Someone my Dad knew had this issue come up a few years back. He had just paid an expensive joining on and membership fee. The club then went bust and had to be sold. He then tried via his solicitors to try and recover some of the fees without success. The outcome was that he given half price membership by the new club owners for the first year. This was done as gesture of goodwill to keep the existing members sweet.

Huckster

Hi,

I'm needing some advice. I am a member of a golf club that is facing some some financial difficulty. As a member I am a shareholder and I have been told that as shareholder I would be partly responsible for the debt of the club should it go under. Can anyone confirm if this is true or otherwise?

Thanks,