When you run a business, it is important that your legal documents are properly in place. From establishing the legal entity to planning for succession, business legal documents ensure that the appropriate protections and ongoing management are done properly in accordance with your wishes.

• Establishing an Entity: When first starting a business, it can be overwhelming to decide which form of entity is appropriate. You may be looking at a limited liability company (LLC), limited liability partnership (LLP), limited partnership (LP), corporation, benefit corporation, or other options. You may be the sole owner of the business or be in partnership with others. Depending upon the business, owners, and goals, the choice of entity is not clear. There are legal, tax, and practical implications to each, which is why Landry Law helps you in the decision. Landry Law will work with you from making the decision through ensuring the proper documents are in place and filed. Many new businesses think they can simply file with the state and be protected, but other documents and steps are required to keep the business healthy and ensure your goals are met. Without doing so, many businesses cost themselves money and protection that must be “cleaned up” by an attorney (taking much more time and thus for a higher legal fee) later – and still may not have all of the protection they would have if done properly initially. This is why the legal fee in the initial entity formation is an important expense to prioritize.

• Changes to the Business: Often, businesses grow and change over time. When this happens, it can affect your legal documents. For example, if a new owner is added to the company or there is a change in the agreement amongst the owners, this needs to be properly documented. In some cases, the primary agreement will need to be updated. When there is a large change in the income of a business, other changes may be advisable as well. Sometimes a business changes its work or adds more to its primary line of business and needs updating accordingly.

• Ongoing Business Matters: While this is a broad name, there are many ongoing business matters that come up where an attorney is needed. This may be a small matter where the attorney is needed for a short time or a longer matter involving complexities.

• Business Tax Planning: Businesses should engage in regular tax planning, ensuring that estimated tax payments are properly made and that the entity structure and operations are structured in the proper manner. Some businesses do not know about applicable deductions or do not take the actions necessary to claim the deductions. In other cases, deductions may have impacts that the owners must consider before deciding to take the deduction. Especially in more turbulent years, projections and tax planning are important to ensuring that the business is being managed in a proper and efficient manner.

• Business Succession Planning: When you own a business, you need to make a plan for what will happen to the business when you retire, become incapacitated, or die: who will run the business? who will own it? Planning ahead allows you to have flexibility in your choices. Further, the legal and tax implications of your options needs to be reviewed to ensure that you fully understand the situation. Often in business succession planning, the focus is on retirement, with a sale or transfer to other owners, a loved one, or a key employee. In each of these cases, the legal, tax, and practical implications can change the outlook of a deal entirely, so bringing on proper advisors early is essential. Additionally, owners should plan for incapacity and death to ensure the continued management and health of their business. When there are multiple owners, discussing these plans helps avoid conflict down the line. Landry Law can assist in many aspects of business succession planning.