Form an Anonymous LLC

We receive this question a lot, despite our attempt to be price competitive with “the rest”. It seems every time we lower our price, the competition lowers theirs even further.

At the end of the day, we’re an actual law firm. Your questions are answered by licensed and trained professionals. We are able to extend attorney-client privilege and confidentiality to our clients. Our business/activities is/are governed by the professional rules of conduct for each state we’re licensed in, and we carry professional liability insurance. We have licensed professionals dealing with the registered agent’s office.

Regularly, we fend off private investigators, police investigators and more. Our people have the training to maximize the legal protections available to our clients.

So, we’re not the cheapest game in town. The “other guys” are trying to sell formations, we’re trying to sell relationships. There are many things we won’t do that the “other guys” will do, because we’re worried about our clients’ long-term success and we’re concerned with minimizing our clients’ long-term liability.

We can provide a range of services for our clients, where forming the anonymous LLC is just the first step. This includes contracts, switching ownership of real property, resolving disputes, trademarks, and much, much more. You can do things things with this firm, relying on our training, experience, professionalism and confidentiality.

If you’re considering a cheaper option, ask yourself the following questions first:

• How critical is anonymity, and do I want the maximum protection available?
• Do I want the ability to obtain sound legal advice?
• Do I care about whether things are setup properly?
• Is liability protection important, and do I want to minimize the ability for someone to “pierce the corporate veil” of my LLC?
• Do I care whether the folks I hire are trained professionals?
• Do I care whether I can hold the company accountable for screwing up my LLC?
• Do the “other guys” not disclose who they actually are, making it difficult to know whether their claims are actually true or they actually have the experience they claim to have?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you may want to think twice before hiring the “other guys”.

There are no limitations on where you can or cannot open a bank account, no matter where the LLC is formed. Please note, at a legal level, there really is no such thing as an “Anonymous LLC.” These are normal LLC’s, but filed carefully in a state that doesn’t require disclosure of ownership information. When seeking a bank account, simply request a commercial bank account for a LLC.

Make sure the bank account is owned by the LLC, and that you are simply a signatory.

The bank will want to know who you are — there’s really no getting around this — but the banks are supposed to keep signatory information confidential.

“Member Managed” means the LLC is simply managed by the Members. All Members have similar powers to run day-to-day operations of the business, and the Operating Agreement will specify what powers the Members have that do and do not require a vote.

“Manager Managed” means the day-to-day operations of the LLC is managed by a Manager. The Manager has certain powers, as specified in the Operating Agreement, that do not need the approval of the Members. Note that Members will always have some powers reserved to a vote, such as assigning a new Manager, or dissolving, or bringing on new Members. A Manager does not need to be a Member, but one or more Members can certainly be the Manager.

Typically, I advise clients that it’s often best to go with a “Member Managed” LLC unless one of two things is present:

• One or more Members will run day-to-day operations, and other Members will not (i.e. silent investors, for example). It’s often convenient to make as Managers the day-to-day operating Members, so they can run the business without having to always call a vote.
• One Member is really the “one in charge.” This Member can be assigned as the Manager, and have additional powers assigned to him or her.

This is often a very complicated subject that is often ignored. If you have questions, please contact us.

Tax status is very confusing for LLC’s. Take for example, when an accountant says “S-Corp”. This means “tax status”, and both a LLC and a Corporation can be taxed “like a S-Corp.”

LLC’s can be taxed as either disregarded, partnership, S-Corp or C-Corp. Each have their advantages and disadvantages (so you should consult with a tax professional at some point).

It is NOT necessary you know what tax status you want, when you form a LLC. Furthermore, we do not need to know the tax status when forming your LLC, and the tax status is really not relevant to forming a LLC. But, if you do know, we can help you if you select the appropriate option in your order.

However, tax status is critical for the Operating Agreement, and we do provide you with an Operating Agreement — by giving you access to our Expert System (we call it the “Couture Operating Agreement”) that builds you a high-quality, highly customizable Operating Agreement.

It’s possible to obtain an Operating Agreement from us, without knowing what tax status you want. That’s okay, because our Couture Operating Agreement will make assumptions, although those assumptions could end up being wrong down the road if you decide you want a tax status that is different from what our Expert System assumes. If that turns out to be the case, you can always come back to us and request further access to our Couture Operating Agreement, so you can obtain the appropriate Operating Agreement for your tax status.

A quick word on the assumptions our Couture Operating Agreement system makes: Our assumptions are the same as what the IRS makes. For example, if you’re a sole member LLC, we’re going to assume disregarded tax status (that is the same as what the IRS does). If you’re a multimember LLC, we’re going to assume partnership tax status (again, that is what the IRS does).

No. The Registered Agent is a specific person or entity, available at a specific address, where service of process and legal notices can be sent (think sheriff showing up with a summons).

This means you want a Registered Agent who:

1. has a valid office that is staffed during normal business hours (i.e. be careful with those “cheap registered agents” you find on the Internet),
2. knows something about the law, and knows how to properly accept service (i.e. again, be careful with registered agents who are not attorneys), and
3. can convey some level of attorney-client privilege and confidentiality. This means the staff will be properly trained not to give out sensitive information, thereby better protecting your anonymity.

A Registered Agent can simply scan in your material, and email it to you when received.

This is different from a “Physical Mailing Address.” Such an address would can receive actual mail, perhaps checks, credit cards and more. These things cannot be scanned. They must be physically handled and relayed. They don’t have to be staffed the same way a Registered Agent’s address needs to be staffed. Such addresses also have an impact with Google and other search engines, which are becoming ever increasingly smart and will “flag” addresses that are shared by too many businesses.