Caselaw Update:


Asset Protection just became a little harder. Limited liability companies (LLC) have been trumpeted as providing greater protections from creditors to owners of businesses than the protection provided by corporations. Although both corporations and LLC can provide the owners of the company protection in their personal assets from liability that occurs in the operation of their business, only LLC have provided protection of owners' ownership interests in the company from person liability problems of individual owners (avoiding disruption of business from creditors of an owner seizing an ownership interest in the company). In this sentinel case, the Supreme Court of Florida determined that a trial court could order a judgment debtor to pay over all his interest in an LLC to the judgment creditor when the judgment debtor was the only owner of the LLC. Considering that the vast majority of LLC are single owner LLC, what are the little guys to do to get the same protections that multiple owners LLC have? Find business partners? Add their spouses/significant others as owners? Olmstead v. FTC, Supreme Court Florida 2010