Why A Husband and Wife Should Not Own The Same Business?

Why a Husband and Wife Should Not Own The Same Business?
A husband and wife should not own the same business for one (1) major reason: Asset Protection. In today's economy, business owners are filing litigation claims against Defendants and being sued by their vendors and their customers among other people. In many states, a spouse is not responsible for the other spouse's liability concerns. This is not true in community property states such as California. But, in Illinois, a spouse is not liable for their spouse's debts (with some exceptions). Husbands and Wives generally want to each own a equal percentage in the family business. This is a worthy goal, but there are several ways to give husband and wife control without setting up additional liability concerns. First, one spouse could be an employee of the company. If an Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), an LLC can be set up in two major ways. The first way is a member managed LLC, which means that the members or owners run the day to day operations. In this example, each spouse would be an owner or if you follow my recommendation, only one (1) spouse would own your LLC or Corporation. The second way is a manager managed LLC, which is similar to the way a Corporation is structured. Here, the members or owners appoint a manager(s) such as a spouse. In this situation, one spouse could be a member or owner and both spouses could be managers of the LLC. It is generally much harder to prove liability of a manager than a member or owner. Similarly, a corporation is structured where you have shareholders and the shareholders appoint or elect a board of directors. For example, a corporation could be owned by one (1) spouse and appoint both spouses as directors of the corporation....President...Vice President. Again, the benefit of only one spouse owning an LLC or Corporation is if there is business failure or a lawsuit, one spouse is safe from lawsuits. Or, I should say safer from lawsuits. This asset protection type may be the difference between bankruptcy and more importantly, a nightmare. Today, business owners and their creditors are suing one another and many business owners are facing adversarial claims in bankruptcy court, which is threatening their ability to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If one spouse is immune from the lawsuits, the other spouse can assume key responsibilities for the family finances.

In conclusion, it is vital that a husband and wife should own the same business. During a divorce, a court of law or divorce attorney can treat the business as a marital asset. A marital asset is an asset that is created during the marriage of a husband and wife. Thus, a husband and wife each technically own fifty (50) percent of marital assets. Therefore, in a divorce scenario, whether one spouse technically owns the Corporation or an LLC will not be a big deal because the business is a marital asset.

Sean Robertson is an asset protection attorney that concentrates in business counseling, asset protection, and estate planning for business owners and individuals. Sean Robertson is Managing Partner of Robertson Law Group, LLC and may be reached at (312)-854-7102. Our website is www.RobertsonLawGroup.com.

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Medical Bills and Asset Protection

Today a friend of mine asked me about whether you can file bankruptcy on medical bills. Yes, you can but Chapter 7 bankruptcy only makes sense if your assets do not exceed the amount of the medial bills. Often times, if your assets exceed or are close in number to your medical bills, ba baby boomers do not want to risk their retirement to pay their medical bills. In contrasts, Chapter 13 is a way to repaying your debt over time. In this situation, a person re-pays a portion of their debt. I am all for people re-paying their debts, but obviously, when a repayment of your debt concerns your financial future, most people will think long and hard about this. In many cases, repaying a portion or percentage of the medical bills is the best solution. The key point of this blog is the importance of pre-planning an advanced planned asset protection plan before any lawsuits are thought of. Asset protection is vital because it protects your hard earned assets.

Sean Robertson is an asset protection attorney in downtown Chicago, which concentrates in distressed planning, judgment planning, and bankruptcy counseling. Sean Robertson may be reached at (312)-854-7102 and our website is www.RobertsonLawGroup.com.

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Entrepreneurship and Legal Protection

As a fellow entrepreneur, I understand how the legal decisions affect your business decisions. Often times, entrepreneurs focus on how to grow their business and pay little attention (if any) on how to protect the valuable assets of their business. In today's market, lawsuits and creditors claims are increasing and many entrepreneurs have taken out lines of credit and take significant risks. These risks often times are not covered by insurance or the entrepreneur does not have the capital to ensure the risks.

Asset protection is increasingly becoming important. Many entrepreneurs falsely believe that an Limited Liability Corporation or otherwise known as a "LLC" or S Corporation will protect them from business lawsuits. Unfortunately, many business owners have found out the hard way that their business entity was ill-equipped to protect them against lawsuits and creditor claims.

What do you mean? Simply put, business owners are being sued in their personal and business capacity. All of a sudden their home or investment real estate and personal assets are exposed to their business creditors. Additionally, business owners and entrepreneurs also sign personal guarantees and in difficult and trying times, entrepreneurs breach their agreements.

Sean Robertson is a business and entrepreneurial attorney that concentrates in asset protection, corporate law, and wealth preservation. Sean Robertson is based in Chicago, Illinois and is managing partner of Robertson Law Group, LLC. Robertson Law Group, LLC is an asset protection law firm concentrating in asset protection, business counseling and litigation, and estate planning.

Sean Robertson may be reached at (312)-854-7102. Our website is www.RobertsonLawGroup.com.

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Commercial Litigation and Asset Protection for Business Owners

This morning, I met with a fellow entrepreneur who has a legal case at the Daley Center in downtown Chicago, Illinois at the Circuit Court of Cook County-1st Law Division. His case stemmed from a real estate company that he used to own. His story is a similar story that business owners are facing everyday. Business owners are being sued by their customers, vendors, and others. Most often, business owners have bought into the illusion of limited liability protection provided by LLCS and Corporations. Unfortunately, most business attorneys do not inform a shareholder or member of an LLC that there is a good chance that they will be sued personally if a lawsuit is commenced. Later on this afternoon, I met with a father and son team that have a successful closely held business. Their objective is to gift the business to the son. In one of the topics, we discussed is it is better to have his company, ABC, Inc. (made up name) to be owned by a new entity, S corporation, instead of him personally. The business purpose behind this is most creditor's attorneys will sue the ABC, Inc. and S corporation and not the client personally. If the Client was a member or shareholder in his personal name, the Client gets named in the lawsuit. This is important for several reasons. The first reason is the costs of paying for litigation can and does bankrupt a lot of business owners. My main point is asset protection and wealth preervation are critical for business owners before a litigation arises.

Sean Robertson is a commercial litigation and wealth preservation attorney that concentrates in litigation, estate planning, and asset protection for business owners. Unlike most litigation attorneys, Sean Robertson focuses on distressed business owners and giving them their legal and financial options.

Sean Robertson is Managing Partner of Robertson Law Group, LLC, which concentrates in asset protection and commercial litigation. Asset protection is a combination of estate planning, business law, litigation, and bankruptcy planning. Robertson Law Group, LLC may be reached at (312)-854-7102 and our website is www.RobertsonLawGroup.com.

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Distressed Business Planning, Asset Protection, and Litigation

In today's market, distressed business planning and asset protection is becoming a more relevant legal concentration. Distressed business planning is a combination of laws involving judgments, asset protection, business law, and bankruptcy counseling. Often times, these interrelated areas of law affect a small to medium sized business owner and the options that they have available. In many cases, a small to medium sized business owner must consider whether Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy law is a good option for them. Obviously, many business owners and people are reluctant about using the bankruptcy code as a legal option. In many cases, a business owner or individual may negotiate their way out of debt and financial distress. In Cook County, Illinois, the Circuit Court of Cook County is filled with judgments and business owners that are facing default judgments. A default judgment is a court order where a Defendant failed to show up for a court and a Plaintiff got a judgment. The Plaintiff's judgment is called a "default judgment" because the Plaintiff got a judgment based on Defendant's lack of showing up for court.

Robertson Law Group, LLC is a business and asset protection law firm that concentrates in assisting small to medium sized business owners and individuals with their asset protection, business, bankruptcy, and litigation legal needs. In many instances, this unique niche is required to understand the unique and complex legal issues facing you.

Robertson Law Group, LLC is located at 35 East Wacker Drive, Suite 935, Chicago, Illinois 60601. We primarily practice in Chicago, Illinois at the Richard Daley Center and in the counties of Cook, Dupage, and Will Counties.

Sean Robertson is the Managing Partner and may be reached at (312)-854-7102.

False Sense of Security & Business Owners

I have a friend of mine that reminds me of many business owners and the problems that face them. In many cases, a person has assets, is incorporated, has real estate investment properties, and fails to adequately take protecting their money and assets seriously.

I have not talked to my friend about this yet, but one lawsuit or judgment can threaten your whole family's livlihood and/or your family's financial future. In my friend's case, she wants to pay for her kid's college education, which is currently nine (9) years old. One lawsuit would threaten her kid's college education and even their financial future. She has a business and is a creative person and I doubt she seriously is concerned about a lawsuit. She reminds me of a typical client's story.

She does business with some small and big vendors and one contract dispute can threaten her family's financial future. Business is unforseeable at times and disputes are natural in business or an injury. In most cases, a Defendant does not have insurance to pay for a breach of contract or partnership dispute. You cannot insure these types of loses. After paying a lot of attorney's fees, a big judgment can threaten your children and your financial futures.

If you are like most business owners or professionals, Asset protection must be important because one lawsuit can impact your future. In today's economy, I have witnessed this alot within individuals who are 55 and older. Unfortunately, this failure threatens their retirement and their ability to live out their lives in peace and financial security.

Sean Robertson is an Asset Protection Attorney based in downtown Chicago. Sean Robertson may be reached at (312) 498-6080.

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Is Asset Protection for Rich People?

No, asset protection is not for rich people. In fact, ordinary middle class Americans should have an asset protection plan especially if you are a self-employed professional or have your own business. For Physicians, Dentists, Doctors, Construction Owners, and many other professionals, your incorporation does not limit your malpractice exposure.

Most professionals have malpractice insurance to cover malpractice claims. However, there are a lot of liabilities that are not covered by insurance. These type of risks include business and partnership disputes, breach of contract claims, and any type of fraud claim.

In many cases, breach of contract claims and business partnership disputes are the most common types of litigation. Generally, one files a breach of contract claim or has a breach of contract claim filed against them when they are owed money or they owe somebody money. In today's economy, many business owners are being sued in record numbers. Furthermore, we have a lot of mortgage foreclosures. Many of these homes that are in foreclosure are owed by people that own multiple properties. Mortgage foreclosures threaten real estate owners entire assets including other properties. These items are most likely occuring to middle-class America. Rich people are not experiencing a lot of mortgage foreclosures because they have the resources to avoid a mortgage foreclosure.

In conclusion, asset protection is for anybody that has a legitimate risks of litigation. This could include all of society because litigation is rampant and it is hard to predict when litigation may occur. For example, Charlie Sheen could have never predicted he would be involve with a civil litigation case a year ago. Litigation is generally unexpected and therefore, it is important to plan your estate plan and asset protection plan prior to a lawsuit or the risks of one.

Sean Robertson is an asset protection attorney in Chicago, Illinois. Sean Robertson may be reached at (312) 498-6080.

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