Robert Phillips, Attorney at Law

Many small businesses operate as sole proprietorship.  In this setup, profits and losses are reported on the owner’s personal tax returns.  Other types of business entities also exist, each with different advantages in terms of taxation and individual asset protections.  The common entities include corporations, subchapter S corporations, limited liability corporations, and partnerships.  Each will be introduced below.

Corporation:      A corporation is a legal entity which owns income and liabilities.  The corporation is a fully taxable entity and files its own returns.  The corporation also retains all profits, and any compensation to the owner is considered regular income.  The corporation is also the responsible party is a lawsuit is filed.  No liability flows to the owner, except in extremely limited circumstances.

Subchapter S Corporation:  A subchapter S Corporation, or S Corp, is a tax treatment of a regular corporation where profits and losses and flowed down to the individual tax returns of the owners.  The S Corp still provides liability protections to the owners, but provides different tax treatment to the owners.  There are special rules regarding ownership of a S Corp, so be aware that certain actions can suddenly change the tax treatment of S Corps.

Limited Liability Corporation:  Usually just called an LLC, this entity is treated more as a partnership than a corporation by the IRS.  All profits and losses are allocated to the members and flowed down to their individual tax returns.  An LLC is somewhat more forgiving in ownership rules, so this entity has become very popular compared to S Corps.  The same liability protections are afforded the members of an LLC when properly structured.

Partnerships:  This entity is often seen in real estate investment businesses.  The tax treatment is the same as the LLC, but the liability protection is different.  In a partnership, a limited partner is afforded protections that are not available to the general or managing partner.
Each business entity has its own advantages and disadvantages, as mentioned earlier.  There is no way to determine which would be most advantageous without a detailed discussion regarding business structure and operations.

Please feel free to contact this office to discuss your options further.

The first is uncontested, where both parties have agreed to separate, and have agreed to the division of assets.  This style of divorce isgenerally quick and is the least expensive of all divorces.

The second type of divorce is contested.  This type of divorce arises when there is disagreement between the parties over a number of different issues.  The most common issues are child custody arrangements and division of assets.  This type divorce can take from 12-24 months to finalize, depending on the county where the divorce is filed.

A third type of divorce that is becoming somewhat more common is the collaborative divorce.  This is where both parties agree on the divorce, disagree on the terms, but agree to work thru the issues in a cooperative manner.  This generally involves both parties retaining an attorney, agree to jointly retain an accountant, and often a mental health counselor.  The attorneys participating, will receive agreement from their respective client that should the parties fail to reach an agreement, the attorneys will withdraw, and the results of the cooperation are not permitted to be used in a contested divorce.  This type divorce will generally cost about half of the contested divorce.

There is a homework requirement for any type of divorce.  The filing party must provide the basic information required for a marriage license, as well as information on the party’s children, if any.  You may click below and view a fillable pdf that contains all the necessary information.
Should you decide to retain this firm, we ask that you bring this completed information sheet to our first meeting.

Divorce Information Sheet