Incorporation in California

Find the right Business Incorporation attorney in Sunnyvale, CA

California law allows a business to incorporate and be identified as its own legal entity. After incorporation, buying and selling property, agreeing to contracts and exercising legal rights are considered acts of the business itself and not its owners. The office of the Secretary of State is the agency that receives applications for incorporation in California, and they must be completed in conformity with specific guidelines.

Benefits of Incorporation in California

Benefits of incorporation are many. The primary benefit is that the liabilities of the business can only be satisfied by the assets specifically invested into the company by the owners. If the business had remained a personal asset of the owners, they could run the risk of losing their personal property to pay for the company's financial liabilities in case of default. Furthermore, banks in the Sunnyvale area prefer to evaluate the credit worthiness of a business as a whole rather than that of individual owners. This makes the process of getting corporate loans simpler. Finally, a corporations charter requires that ownership be divided into stakes or "shares" of stock, all of equal size. This makes the process of transferring control much more practical.

Costs of Incorporation

Incorporation can be costly. First, a modest filing fee might be charged in California for any business that wants to incorporate. Also, a corporation is taxed as its own entity. Disbursements to the owners of the corporation are also taxed as individual income, so this means earnings might be taxed twice. But this double taxation can be avoided with proper planning and help from a local Sunnyvale lawyer.

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Life in Sunnyvale

Sunnyvale, California is a major city in the Silicon Valley of the San Francisco Bay Area. It has a population of 140,000 and is an important contributor to the field of high-tech electronic and digital technology. Sunnyvale is home to several major high-tech companies, and consistently ranks as one of the safest cities in the entire country.

As early as the 1960's, major corporations have been moving to Sunnyvale, California to participate in the digital and electronic boom centered in the Silicon Valley. Companies such as Yahoo!, Advanced Micro Devices, and Palm, Inc. are headquartered in the city. Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, grew up in Sunnyvale, where he was exposed to the innovation and technology in Silicon Valley.

Sunnyvale is an unique city in that it maintains a Department of Public Safety. This department is a single, unified body that trains all personnel to operate as police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical response teams. This arrangement helps contribute to the city's low crime and overall city. Sunnyvale also holds a number of community social events that provide residents with ample opportunities for recreation.

Lawyers in Sunnyvale, California practice law in a number of fields in order to serve the unique needs of the city's businesses and residents. Sunnyvale lawyers process many legal claims at the Sunnyvale branch of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara.

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