LLC Essentials
What is a "registered agent"?
A registered agent is a legal requirement that pretty much every state has, if you have a registered legal entity that's in that state. So, for instance, if we use an example of a California corporation, if you have a corporation in the state of California, you need to list out a registered agent. That is the agent that is allowed to receive what is called service of process. That's just legal mumbo jumbo, for you need a person who lives in the state that can accept important legal and government documents for your company. So every once in a while the Department of Corporations of the Secretary of State, their going to send out notices, and forms, and things that you need to answer, you need to reply to. Additionally the IRS might send things to you. Or you might get sued, and there needs to be at least one person that resides in the state that is responsible for collecting that mail and getting it off to you. If you don't want to do it yourself, or you don't reside in the state where your company is there are many places where you can do this. Many times the law firm that you use, if you use a law firm to form your corporation or LLC, they can act as your registered agent. If you went online, many companies, like www.legalzoom.com, they do registered agent services in all the fifty states. A lot of times when your in the state it's cheaper and easier to do it yourself.
Do I have to designate a registered agent for my LLC?
Every legal entity that's registered with the state is going to typically require a registered agent. And the reason is because the state needs to know that there is one person or entity (a registered agent could be a business), the state can go to whenever they need to make sure that legal documents or corporate documents have been passed on to that corporation. So every single time the state wants to communicate with the company, they are going to do it through your registered agent. Whenever someone sues you or tries to take you to court or issues a subpoena, they are going to do it through your registered agent. The registered agent is the legal resident who is responsible for ensuring that the mail gets to your company. Because that is so vitally important, every state requires that you have a registered agent.
Should I set up a separate bank account for my LLC?
Yeah, I don't see any reason why you really wouldn't want to. I guess in some very rare instances, where you're setting up, there are certain LLCs, like family LLCs and tax planning shelters that you can do where you might not necessarily need a separate bank account or separate finances, but if you're talking about running and operating a legitimate business, then you would want to have, obviously, the ability to bank, the ability to file your own taxes – the same things that you need an employer identification or a tax ID for. And, once you have that, you can go to pretty much any bank, and show them you tax ID number, and some identification that you're a member or a person who is authorized on behalf of corporation or that limited liability company and you can actually start a bank account in that company's name. So, for instance, myself as Chas Rampenthol, I can have a bank account with my bank and if I also had Chas Rampenthol, a professional corporation and lawyer, or a professional legal corporation, I could have a bank account with checks that said Chas Rampenthol Professional Legal Corporation, as well.
Can my LLC reimburse me for expenses I pay from my personal account?
Basics of reimbursement from companies.
How can I transfer my assets to my LLC?
Probably a good example of how to transfer an asset into an LLC is if you had a, an apartment complex that you went out and bought as an individual and then all of a sudden, you realized you wanted to put that into a limited liability company, you know, so you could keep it separate from your personal finances and also so you could keep it separate so if anyone sued you, one of your tenants, that your own personal home wouldn't be, you know, up, up on the chopping block. Then the way that you would typically do that is you would contribute that asset to the limited liability comapny and in return for that contribution you would receive some sort of shares or membership interest in the limited liability company. The thing that you need to be very careful with is sometimes what assets you contribute, how much it is, what you're getting back versus what other people are contributing with money, and in certain cases you might want to talk to a tax professional about bulk sales laws because if you, you know, take, you know, a large amount of items and essentially sell them to your company, you can trigger some of those laws. They're very complex and they don't trigger most of the time, but it is a possibility that you would want to think through with your lawyer or your tax planner.
