Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Cover Your Personal Assets By Creating an LLC

By Caressa Waechter

An LLC operating agreement is an agreement that lets you configure your financial relationships as well as your business relationships with the co-owners to establish the way your business will be run. In the operating agreement, your co-owners will establish each owner's percentage of ownership, their share of profits (or losses), responsibilities and rights, and what will happen if anyone ever leaves the business.

Although each state does not require you legally to attain an LLC, it is highly recommended. Obtaining an LLC will help to protect your and your co-owners personal assets and should something happen, ensure that your business will be governed under your rules and not the states.

First and foremost, you want to make sure that your company name is unique in your state. Lastly, all limited liability companies must end in LLC or L.L.C.

Next, you will go to the Secretary of State's website for your state. There you can either complete the forms online or you may print them, complete them and deliver them personally to the SOS office. There is a fee to complete these documents. The fee can be as large as $900 in some states.

Your documents will be mailed directly to you. Though the mailing time varies, it is usually approximately two weeks until arrival.

An LLC does not fully protect you personally. There are some cases that would cause your personal assets to be sought after. A couple examples of such are if you personally or directly injure someone. If you or an owner were to personally guarantee a business loan or bank loan in which the LLC were to default on. Another example is if you were to fail to pay taxes to the IRS on an employee withholdings or if you were to intentionally do something reckless or harmful to the company or someone else. The final example is if you were to use the business as an extension to personal use and not as the separate entity that it is.

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