In reply to:
Bob’s view on LLC’s is exactly what I have been told in CA
I cannot comment on your view or Bob’s view. I don’t know what you do or did for a living and I therefore don’t know the extent of your legal training. I also cannot comment on CA law, I am not licenced there although barring minor deviation, most corporate law has common conceptual threads based upon model codes with some differences.
In reply to:
If the main purpose of the LLC is liability protection, rather than business operations, you have very thin protection, if any. This is also true of LLC’s and incorporation in general.
Is that legal advise? Oh, someone told you so? Well, all doctors are rich, all small planes crash, and none of these statements are accurate. They are sweeping generalizations.
In fact, one of the principal purposes of corporations and LLC’s is to isolate an owner from liablity. If you get blamed, it is most likely because of “your flying”. Not because of the entity in which the aircraft is held.
While it is true that my corporation will not protect me from my negligence, it is “my” negligence, not that of my corp. Thus my partners do not share the liability of my error; only me and the corp.
In reply to:
The legislature created these entities to aid
There is no such thing as “the legislature” as a general organization.
Each state creates its own law as to corporate entities. Your statement is another sweeping generalization. A competant attorney with experience in corporate law will structure your entity properly such that it will generally accomplish your goals.
I pierce corporation for a living and it’s not because the corporations, as a concept, are defective. Most often, it’s because most corp officers fail to maintain and respect the isolation between their corp and themselves.
In reply to:
If they really worked why would we need liability insurance?
Truth is, you don’t need liability insurance. The same issues that would be used to pierce a corp, would likely be used by your insurance company to disallow your insurance claim. Just because you pay insurance doesn’t mean the claim will be paid, and even if they do, your insurance company could turn around and sue you for your negligence.
Based upon what you say about CA law, I would not own a plane in CA. Perhaps you should register it somewhere else.
As many doctors and other high income earners understand, if you engage in high risk behavior, either professionally or personally, you should do some learnin about “asset protection” techniques, and don’t hang your hat on your corp, LLC or your insurance.
For example; Can a creditor get your home in CA? They can’t in Florida, even if its worth 10 zillion dollars
There is no one answer. Seek the advise of the appropriate professionals. Put your aircraft in a LLC or corp. Carry appropriate insurance and only then, go and live your life and have fun. And before you do, put on your seatbelt.