Yes, and the EIN usually comes with it. Here's what has to be checked before you build on it.

No. It's an estate planning tool, and asking it to do a second job costs you real things in exchange for nothing. Almost everyone who puts a revocable living trust on top of their companies was told it adds a layer of protection. Can a trust own your LLC? covers whether the transfer works. This one covers whether it accomplishes what you were told it would. What the trust is genuinely good at A revocable living trust does four things well: It keeps your estate out of probate

A will or trust decides who inherits your business. It doesn't decide who runs it, who can sign, or what it's worth. Here's what fills the gap.

A special purpose vehicle pools investors for one deal. The waterfall decides who gets paid, in what order. What to settle before anyone wires money.

Equity earned for work can belong to your bankruptcy estate or be reachable by creditors. What founders in Chapter 13 or with judgments should sort out first.

Holding trademarks or other IP in a separate entity and licensing it to your operating company can protect it, or create tax and paperwork problems. Here's how it works.

An anonymous LLC keeps your name off one public record. Here's where your name still shows up, and what privacy you can actually count on.

A dormant LLC is rarely worth much, and it carries every filing it missed. What a buyer actually gets, what a seller stays on the hook for, and when dissolving is cleaner.

The management election on your LLC filing decides who can bind the company. Here's what each one means and how to change it.

Structures fit the business you had when you built them. Here's how to tell when yours no longer fits.

An LLC doesn't put your ownership interest out of reach. Here's what a personal creditor can and can't do.

Series LLCs promise separation without separate entities. Here's where that promise holds and where it hasn't been tested.

Filing services do a real job well. Here's where their job ends.

A business built during a marriage is usually marital property. Here's what that means and what documents help.

Mixing business and personal money is the most common way liability protection fails. Here's what counts.

Transferring a mortgaged property to an LLC can trigger a due-on-sale clause. Here's what to check before you record a deed.

A single-member LLC protects less than most owners assume. Here's what it does and where it stops.

Bringing in a second member changes your taxes, your documents, and your obligations. Here's the order to do it in.

Holding companies serve real purposes and get sold for imaginary ones. Here's the difference.

Most institutional investors want a corporation. Here's why, and what conversion involves.