REI Wealth Magazine Featuring Paul Finck | Page 107
Warning~!
with which to gamble onto the table (ie. The table is the
Limited Liability Company), your overall liability would
be “limited” to that capital contribution (ie. The $500,000
of Cash in this instance). Meaning, you can only lose that
which you risked gambling in the first place. That is
(basically) the reason why an LLC is called a “Limited
Liability Company” so that you (as a member) can “limit”
you losses in the event your pokerhand (ie. The business
activities of the company) goes really badly and you lost
your hand (ie. Your capital contribution into the company)
in the event of an inside lawsuit to the company. growth.
The “Charging Order Protection”
does not apply to an inside lawsuit.
The Bad News is that there is very little (if anything)
that can be done to protect your assets in a Limited
Liability Company after you have been served with an
inside lawsuit. (ie. Insurance and/or financial
encumbrances should help.) So, just like the torpedo is
penetrating the hull of the submarine in the illustration
above, all of the assets owned within the company are
subject to seizure by a judgement creditor in the event of
an inside lawsuit.
The Good News is that notwithstanding fraud, gross
negligence or other acts of stupidity, members of a
Limited Liability Company have no personal liability for
the debts and obligations
of the company (unless you willingly cosign on a bank
loan, etc). Member liability is limited to their capital
contribution into the company, thus isolating their losses.
Compartmentalization
Capital Contribution
Capital Contribution is the amount of capital (ie. Cash,
physical assets, intellectual property, etc) that you
contribute into the company.
“Compartmentalization” means to segregate real
estate assets of significant value into separate entities (ie.
Corporations, Limited Liability Companies and/or
Limited Partnerships).
Generally, real estate assets are separated into various
types (or even layers) of entities based on the value of
the properties including their equity and cashflow. The
cost to form and maintain these entities and their
corresponding bank accounts, bookkeeping, and filing of
tax returns is a logical and taxdeductible decision. The
key is to ensure you don’t have more entities than you
actually need, while no one (real estate) asset is left
exposed unnecessarily.
For more information on how to properly “Cover
Your Assets” please contact our offices today for your
free asset protection consultation.
Sincerely,
So, in the illustration above, if you were sitting at a
poker table and placed $500,000 (Ie. Capital Contribution)
107
JAY BUTLER
Managing Director