LLC – Why and How?
Why an LLC?
1. Limit Personal Liability
The name says it all: Limited Liability Company. You can protect your personal assets such as your home, vehicles, and other personal property from liabilities related to operating your business.
2. Avoid Double Taxation
With an LLC, you may elect to receive the benefit of pass-through taxation, which means that the owners report the profits and losses on their individual income tax returns. The LLC itself would not be taxed, which protects you from double taxation.
3. Lessen Paperwork
An LLC will have fewer formalities than S Corporations and C Corporations in paperwork and record keeping.
4. Fewer Restrictions
An LLC is able to implement an organizational structure that fits its business as there are fewer organizational restrictions.
How do I form an LLC?
1. Contact McHenry Haszard Law for assistance in the following steps.
Any time you are dealing with legal aspects of business, you should request help from your attorney. Your attorney will assist you in with the necessary steps in the correct order.
2. Choose a Business Name
Your business name must be available and comply with state law.
3. File Formal Paperwork
In Nebraska, you must file Articles of Organization with the Nebraska Secretary of State.
4. Create and Operating Agreement
The Operating Agreement sets forth the rules that govern the operation of your LLC.
5. Set Up Your FEIN
An FEIN is a Federal Employment Identification Number, which is the tax identification number for your LLC. You will use this number for transacting business such as opening a bank account.
5 Reasons Why Leaving a Will is Important
We understand that preparing an estate plan is not something that you want think about because it contemplates your death. You may think you are too young or possibly, you cannot imagine not being there for your family. However, it is exactly the reason you should have estate plan. If you die suddenly, your family will already be dealing with a great tragedy. Having an estate plan in place will ease the additional burdens of administering your estate and leave you with peace of mind during your lifetime. Consider some reasons you should have an estate plan.
1. An estate plan creates a plan of care for your children.
2. It preserves your assets for chosen beneficiaries.
3. It will prevent disagreements among your beneficiaries.
4. You may be able to minimize tax consequences and maximize the transfer of wealth from one generation to the next.
5. You ensure that a trusted person will administer your estate.
New Procedures for Guardians and Conservators – John McHenry
How Changes to the Guardian/Conservator Laws and Supreme Court Rules will Affect You
In order to provide additional oversight to protect against the abuse of protected adults, the legislature and the Courts have made changes in how guardians and conservators make their reports to the court. For accountings due on or after January 2, 2012, 45 days in advance of the due date the Courts will provide to the Guardians and Conservators an informational packet.
The packet will include a page on the changes to your responsibilities as guardian and/or conservator as well as forms required for your annual report such as the annual report on condition of ward, an updated inventory, the annual accounting, certificates of proof of possession, a personal and financial information form, a notice of right to object, a notice to interested parties, an affidavit of mailing the annual report, the application for approval of your accounting and/or fees and an affidavit of mailing the application for approval of accounting.
NOTE, for annual reports due in years to come, you will only receive notice of the reports due and therefore you will need to keep copies of the forms or access them from the Supreme Court website http://www.supremecourt.ne.gov/forms/county/guardian-conservators.shtml You are required to use the court forms for your annual accounting/reports. Use of any other reports or deviations from the form of the required documents will be rejected and you will be sent a corrective action notice and be required to file again at your expense.
Changes in your responsibilities as guardian and/or conservator are as follows:
Funds from the protected person’s accounts should not be comingled with other funds.
You must keep all funds belonging to the protected person in an account separate from anyone else’s funds.
The account should be titled: Name of ward, Conservatorship; Your Name, Conservator.
You should not make cash withdrawals from an ATM or take cash back on debit transactions out of the protected person’s account without a prior court order.
You must file a copy of your letters with the Register of Deeds in any county where the ward owns real property or has any other interest in real property.
For more information on the new procedures regarding guardians and conservators, please click here. Please click here for the forms covered discussed in this blog.
James Haszard wins case on behalf of City Bank
After trial this week, Jim Haszard won a judgment for City Bank against Dean Hoag, Jr. in the amount of $335,000. Hoag had signed for loans on behalf of his company, Professional Title & Escrow Company, which went out of business in 2010 without paying off its loans to City Bank.
The judge determined that the evidence presented by City Bank was persuasive that the amount was owed and awarded judgment to the bank without submitting the case to a jury. The amount awarded by the judge was the full amount sought by the bank.
Click Here to see a full article by the Lincoln Journal Star on this case.
Prenuptial Agreements – Get the Facts!
Usually, we hear the words, “prenuptial agreement”, and we have a bad taste in our mouth. This does not need to be the case. Prenuptial and Premarital Agreements can protect both parties by allocating certain rights between the parties for estate planning and the possibility of a future divorce. The following are some situations that prenuptial agreements should be considered:
1. When one partner has a much higher income and/or state of wealth.
2. When one partner has a much higher debt load.
3. When you own a business.
4. When you have family assets or a family business or farm.
5. When you have children from a previous relationship or marriage.
If you believe that you would benefit from legal advice about prenuptial agreements, contact us.
POWERS OF ATTORNEY
Federal Estate and Gift Taxes
What the Relief means in 2011 and 2012:
1. The first $5,000,000.00 of the value of each estate is exempt from Federal Estate Tax.
2. There is a cost of living adjustment that could increase the $5,000,000.00 exempt value in 2012.
3. Surviving spouse may be able to use the unused exclusion amount of their deceased spouse (Would be able to use full $10,000,000.00 exemption between the two estates).
4. Maximum Estate tax rate is 35%.
5. Restores the basis of estate assets to date of death values.
6. Gift tax exclusion amount will also be $5,000,000.00 and the gift tax rate will be 35%.
7. Will be able to use the exclusion when figuring either gift taxes or estate taxes.
In 2013 we go back to a $1,000,000.00 exemption, a top rate of 55% and more drama.
