Business Law
If you are in business there are
almost an untold number of legal documents you must
deal with. Forms for some of these documents can be
found on other pages of this site and some are here.
The first thing to consider is what form of business
are you. Is your business a sole proprietorship, a partnership, an corporation, or maybe an LLC?
If your business is a sole
proprietorship or a general partnership you might
consider making your business a form with some type
of limited liability. There are several business
entities which provide this protection for you
personal assets.
Corporation
A corporation or an incorporated
business is a legal entity created by the state. The
law regards the corporation as an entity distinct
from its shareholders no matter if its an large
corporation with tens of thousands of shareholders
or a closely held corporation with two or three
shareholders.
The
Corporations page has more information and forms
for corporation formation.
LLC, Limited Liability Company
The LLC, or Limited Liability
Company, is a relatively new hybrid of a corporation
and a partnership, or sole proprietorship. As the
name implies, LLCs have limited liability, like a
corporation. That is to say, the creditors of the
LLC can only go after assets of the LLC, the owners,
(called members,) of the LLC have their personal
assets protected.
To learn more about LLCs or to
download the forms for the creation of an LLC go to
the LLC page.
Partnerships
A partnership is an association of two or more
persons to carry on as co-owners a business for
profit. Some partnerships have a written partnership
agreement but it is not required. As a matter of
fact there are people who are in a partnership and
don't even know it.
General partnerships are the default partnership and
if there is no written agreement to the contrary the
partnership will be deemed a general partnership.
General Partnerships have unlimited liability and
each partner is jointly and several liable for the
wrongful acts of the other partners.
Go to the Partnership
page for forms and information about partnerships.
LLP, Limited Liability Partnership
A new form of partnership is the LLP, or Limited
Liability Partnership. The LLP is much like the LLC
but in most states the LLP is governed by
partnership law whereas LLCs are a mixture of
partnership law and corporate law. |