Talk to a lawyer, not strangers on the Internet.

And check your state's website for the LLC rules for your state, and the IRS site for LLC tax rules.

my farm is an LLC. i set it up myself without a lawyer by just filling out the paperwork online and paying the fee. this is in VA. but that isn't protection from personal injury lawsuits so product liability insurance should be considered whether you are an LLC or not.

Yes I know its not an insurance policy per say.... but for the one time file fee was thinking it may be worth the time and effort, thanks randy

I am about to turn my farm into an LLC. In Ohio i can do this on line and it is super cheap at $125 for the filing fee.

I don't know about LLCs, but my BIL had a sub-chapter corp in Indiana, and he had to pay a fee every 2 years, $200 the last I knew.

Some of us strangers on the internet have law degrees :)

As far as getting the LLC issued, it's easy, the state just wants your money. Proper use of the LLC is what everybody messes up. You have to think of it as an entirely separate entity from yourself. The corp or LLC is a "veil" of protection for you as an individual. If you don't keep yourself and the LLC separate, the protection becomes weaker, and it gets easier to sue you in an individual capacity, i.e. pierce the corporate veil.

annual fee in VA for an LLC is $50.i think what cole is saying is that you should get your LLC its own bank account and sales tax registration. as far as income taxes go, single member LLC's have no special tax filing requirements and its whats known as a disregarded entity for income tax purposes. a husband and wife LLC can also be considered a disregarded entity.

Absolutely. Most people will at least open the separate LLC account. But what happens is they run short of money and end up doing things like buying their groceries out of the LLC account. No one's going to care, unless someday there is a claim against you and you want the LLC to do its job and protect your personal assets. The other side's lawyer is going to argue that the LLC never really existed as a separate entity from you as an individual. If the judge agrees, then it is as though you never had an LLC, even though you paid your money to the state.

Care to elaborate what in the world an LLC is for us novices? Thanks. Northwoodswis

The point of the LLC is to protect your personal assets from legal claims. You still have to buy insurance, but any claims against your business cannot touch your house, car, land, 401k, or anything else you hold in your name, provided you have a valid LLC.

The LLC is a paper entity that you place your business inside. Although you can still control your business, it is not in your name - the LLC owns it, and you run the LLC. If everything is done properly, the LLC is your shield against lawsuits on your personal assets.

Once again, the LLC is *not* a valid excuse to not purchase liability insurance, nor is it an excuse to commit any other sort of negligence. And like I said, it must be kept separate from you as a person. All of these are the things you do to make it work for you when you need it.

Here is a link that might be useful: wiki article on LLCs