Andy and Paul form a corporation. Paul opens a personal AMEX account
for business expenses and puts Andy on the account as an authorized
user. (A business account could not be established through AMEX
because the business was less than two years old.) After a fallout,
Paul resigns from the corporation and they have a verbal agreement in
which Andy will make monthly payments to the AMEX account in good
faith. Andy has a list of the equipment and products and start up
costs that were charged and has proof of regular payments to AMEX in
the form of cancelled checks. Paul has removed Andy's name from the
account and possibly closed the AMEX account which has not been used
since Paul's resignation. However, Andy does not know how much or what
Paul has charged since then since he no longer has access to the
account and Paul is insisting that checks be written to him, not AMEX.
Paul is now making verbal threats to sue for the balance of the debt,
which happens to be a higher amount and to have the police confiscate
the equipment and products purchased through this account. Question:
Does Paul have legal grounds to sue even if he has been receiving
payments every month as agreed or to send the police to confiscate
equipment at the business? If Paul moves the debt and closes the
account is Andy liable to pay Paul if there is no written contract?

According to what I've learned in a recent business law class, a
verbal agreement conerning an amount exceeding $500 would be very
difficult to enforce.  Paul owns the account and would be financially
responsible for all of the debt in his name, whether Andy was an
authorized user at one point or not.  If Andy wants to do the ethical
thing and pay what he feels is his portion of the debt, and has all of
the paperwork and proof of the payments he has made, then I would
suggest going to court (small claims court if possible) and getting a
clear and definte outline of his financial responsibility.