The Amazing Powers of the Corporate Veil…

Cover Your Assets
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Hi,

The “corporate veil” is an important, and often misunderstood, concept for many small business owners…

Corporations are started for a number of reasons…

One important one is to create a veil of protection for the assets of the owners of the business.  Let’s say John and Rob have worked and saved for fifteen years in ”regular jobs” and decide to start their own corporation.  Assume they are mildly successful and they both have houses, some savings, and families that depend on them… They are comfortable and they do a great job in their business, and it is growing by leaps and bounds.  They also work very hard and they love what they do.  There isn’t enough time in the day to get it all done…
One day, something happens… something unexpected…

One of their products explodes, someone trips in their building and is disabled, an employee sues them over something ridiculous and claims millions in emotional damages.  In today’s lawsuit-happy culture, it could be anything.

Disaster…

(but maybe not the end of the world…)

As long as everything is nice and proper with this corporation, the worst that will happen is that the judge will take away the assets of the corporation and give them to the person who filed the suit.  This sounds pretty terrible but it much better than what happens in the case where the corporate records are not in good shape…

With good records and procedures, their personal assets are safe behind the corporate veil…

The corporate veil is not automatic…you need to follow the “corporate rules”…
With no records or poor records, their personal assets like their house, their savings, their stuff are easy pickings for the vultures…

 

They call this “piercing the Corporate Veil” and what it means is the judge takes everything your corporation has, then he tosses your corporation in the rubbish heap and connfiscates everything the owners have as well… property, savings, asset accounts, automobiles, your stuff…

These sue-happy attorneys know that small corporations usually do not maintain large amounts of cash and valuables inside the corporation.  They know that the real money is in the bank accounts of the owners and the only way to get to the loot is to try to “pierce the corporate veil” in court.  So almost without fail, they demand these records and they go over them with a fine-toothed comb…

Looking for any “proof” that you weren’t dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s like a “real corporation” is supposed to.

I am  the owner of two corporations, and I met one of these unfortunate businessmen who was having his corporate veil pierced, and when he told me his wretched story on a plane to Atlanta from New York, I took notes and made an Action Plan. 

In response, I wrote a clear, concise, step-by-step guide for small business owners to help them understand these requirements and also to bring them up-to-date with the minimum amount of time and effort, because one thing never changes—business owners never have enough time.  Don’t let that be your excuse for losing your corporate veil of protection.  You can find more information on this system at my CorporateVeil Pro website…

PS: The above assumes you are operating an honest business, if you are ripping people off or committing fraud, then you deserve to have your personal stuff confiscated. The vast, and I mean vast in the largest sense of the word, percentage of small businessmen and women I meet are honest, hard-working, and want to do the right thing…  I hope you are one of the “good guys”…



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20 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Matthew ShieldsNo Gravatar (36 comments)  •  Oct 12, 2008 @11:17 pm

    Hi , Rob
    Your service to protect the corporate veil of a person’s business is a necessity now more then ever. As people become more and more desperate for money they will start to look for all sorts of ways to find it. Even if it means suing a company for a pittly thing
    Happy Trails
    Matthew Shields
    Hotel Resort Energy Management
    Anything Solar

    Reply

    Lisa McLellanNo Gravatar (90 comments) Reply:

    Rob, I don’t know how to leave a comment here so I had to reply to matt’s comment to get this box to come up. Am I looking like an airhead yet? Anyway, I’m thinking the company I work for could really use your corporate veil pro system. I’m going to recommend it to them.
    Lisa McLellan
    Babysitter, Nannies, and Au-pairs

    Reply

    adminNo Gravatar (5 comments) Reply:

    Lisa, THanks, there should be a Leave A Reply box at the bottom of the comments…
    Let me know if you don’t have one, and I’ll try to figure it out.

    Rob N

    Reply

  2. AprilBraswellNo Gravatar (6 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @1:38 am

    Hi Rob,

    this is more excellent and timely information to protect SBO/Small Business Owners. Many simply don’t realize the benefits of incorporating and think it is SO complex to maintain that they then DON’T. And then leave themselves wide open for RISK.

    All the best,

    April Braswell – Online Dating Coach, Romance Coach

    Online Dating Sites Review, Internet Dating Sites Guide

    Reply

  3. Steve ChambersNo Gravatar (103 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @9:08 am

    Very clear adn concise explanation of what can often be a complicated subject. I misunderstood it when I owned my first corporation.

    Important subject matter.

    Steve

    Reply

  4. Jennifer SkinnerNo Gravatar (42 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @9:17 am

    Rob,
    You are certainly the most knowledgable person I know surrounding this subject. And I am so grateful that you have the gift of being able to make a complicated subject so darn clear!
    Thank You!

    Jennifer Skinner
    Wardrobe Planning Expert

    Reply

  5. michael rothNo Gravatar (24 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @11:26 am

    Hi Rob, thanks for your post. I am confused as to your rle in the corporation process. Due you write up the corporation? Excuse my ignorance. Thank,michael http://www.drmichaelroth.com

    Reply

    RobNo Gravatar (9 comments) Reply:

    Dr Michael,

    I help people who already have corporations to understand what they need to be doing to maintain their corporate records in an manner that will maintain their protection.
    There are certain things that you need to do and it is not all that easy to figure out for most busy business owners. (Ever notice that business has busy right in the name?)

    One issue is that many corporation owners don’t even realize the risk that they are placing themselves at by not following the proper strategies…

    There is more detail at the first link below…

    Seize the Day,

    Rob Northrup

    Is Your Corporation Protecting You?
    Protecting Your Assets From The Envious Hordes

    Reply

  6. John Shoemaker (2 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @12:16 pm

    Attorneys. Corporations. Sue Happy Lawyers.

    I just want to be in business and don’t want any more stress and anxiety in my life.

    Thanks to you, and your record keeping systems…I can deal with this necessary evil.

    Thanks,

    Intuitive John Shoemaker

    Freedom From Stress and Anxiety

    Reply

  7. LenaNo Gravatar (39 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @8:02 pm

    Hi Rob
    very constructive and interesting post.Great you wrote guide as well.Keep it and together with other knowledge -write a book.HONESTLY.You know your subject A-Z.Your posts are interesting and easy to understand.Very useful for common people.
    Lena
    Reading and Decoding body Language

    Reply

  8. Anonymous (4 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @10:08 pm

    Michael and All,

    Rob is filling a huge hole in this market. In 15 years of practice I have had only one corporation come to me for work that had their record book up to date and most were not aware that it should be done.

    I am going to support Rob in whatever way I can because this is going to take off like a rocket.

    Robert Kaufer
    http://www.diylawyer.net
    http://robertkaufer.vox.com/

    Reply

    adminNo Gravatar (5 comments) Reply:

    Thanks so much for the vote of confidence Bob!

    Rob N

    Reply

  9. Steve ChambersNo Gravatar (103 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @10:35 pm

    I have your link updated.

    Steve
    Sales and Leadership Consultant

    Reply

    adminNo Gravatar (5 comments) Reply:

    thanks Steve…
    Rob

    Reply

  10. kevinNo Gravatar (7 comments)  •  Oct 13, 2008 @11:03 pm

    the great thing about a nightmare is you wake up
    (tell no one i was that optmistic…)
    kevin
    http://www.kevinhogan.net

    Reply

    adminNo Gravatar (5 comments) Reply:

    but now the Giants are on, so the nightmare continues, it’s looking like I might go down and you might have a winner. I’m going to bed, and I’ll see in the am…

    Rob N.

    Reply

  11. Cindy EyansonNo Gravatar (36 comments)  •  Oct 14, 2008 @1:28 am

    Rob,
    You are amazing. You know so much on this subject!
    Thanks for sharing!
    Cindy

    Reply

  12. Scott A BellNo Gravatar (27 comments)  •  Oct 14, 2008 @8:01 am

    More great information. Thanks!

    Scott

    http://www.truereviewsforyou.com

    Reply

  13. David J. ParnellNo Gravatar (38 comments)  •  Oct 14, 2008 @8:50 am

    Rob,

    You are absolutely correct, by not keeping proper records and being able to appropriately communicate that information if and when the time comes, you are effectively screwing yourself… Good information.

    David J. Parnell
    Communication Expert

    Reply

  14. Internet Marketing For AttorneysNo Gravatar (2 comments)  •  May 19, 2009 @10:13 pm

    Cool site! great presentation, and really great content. Thank you for providing this info – The Amazing Powers of the Corporate Veil… | Asset Defenses was just what i was looking for and helped with my research into %KEYWORD” and related content. Sincerely, Brett

    Reply

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