Friday, March 6, 2009

The Limited Liability Company Agreement Essentials

By Alice Johnson

The Limited Liability Company Agreement plays an important role for every LLC business. A thorough understanding of the requirements of this document and complying with the same can help in avoiding business disputes and other potential business risks.

ESSENTIAL #1: Always Have a Written LLC Operating Agreement.

In the absence of an operating agreement, an LLC would be dealt with according to operational and government rules as laid out by the laws. It is quite clear that every body of law assumes a limited liability company should have a written agreement with operating details. While the laws do provide some default provisions, they are often incomplete and fail to address even general LLC operational matters.

ESSENTIAL #2: Every Member Must Sign the Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement

An Operating Agreement for a limited liability company is the main document defining the relationship between and among the owners of the business entity. So, you must ensure that every Member and the company itself sign the Agreement.

ESSENTIAL #3: The Breakdown of ownership should be clear in the LLC Operating Agreement

It is surprising as to how many times people get together and orally agree on who will own what in a business venture. The next step involves setting up a limited liability company to run the venture and they never document, in writing, the relative ownership. Later, as the business grows,disagreements ensue on the ownership. Thus a lot of time and unnecessary money is spent on litigation. Remember, once disputes and then litigation ensue, everyone loses except the lawyer. Documenting the specific and relative ownership of each Member in the LLC Agreement and updating the same as new members come in or additional ownership units are issued to existing members help in minimizing unwanted eventualities.

The Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement is the most important document for an LLC business. Take the time and effort to make sure it is properly customized for your situation and signed by all proper parties. Then, on a continuing basis, make sure it is properly amended and updated as the LLC business evolves. - 15246

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