Incorporation in California

Find the right Business Incorporation attorney in Los Gatos, CA

California law allows a business to incorporate and be recognized as its own legal entity. After incorporation, buying and selling property, assenting to contracts and exercising legal rights are considered acts of the business itself and not its owners. In California, the process of incorporation is begun by filing with the Secretary of State in accordance with certain guidelines.

Benefits of Incorporation in California

Advantages 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. Had the business remained unincorporated, owners risk losing their personal property should the business become unable to fulfill its liabilities. A corporation also allows creditors in the Los Gatos area to assess the credit worthiness of the business as a whole rather than that of its owners, allowing the business to obtain loans more easily. Lastly, a corporation's ownership stake is divided into equal slices or "shares" of stock, which make investments in the business much easier to transfer.

Costs of Incorporation

There are costs associated with incorporation, both short and long term. First, businesses in California may be charged a fee to incorporate. Also, a corporation is taxed as its own entity. The individual incomes of the owners are still taxed also, and this can mean the same income is taxed twice, known as double taxation. With proper planning and assistance from a local Los Gatos lawyer, you can avoid this disadvantage.

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Life in Los Gatos

Los Gatos, California is a city in Santa Clara County, in the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population is currently about 25,000 people. "Los Gatos" is Spanish for "the cats." The name refers to the mountain lions which used to roam the area.

The nearest large city to Los Gatos is San Jose. It is also a fairly short drive from the other major Bay Area cities of San Francisco and Oakland, meaning that residents of Los Gatos, California have access to a wide variety of amenities and job opportunities that these three large, and very different, cities offer.

Being located in the Silicon Valley region of California, several high-tech companies, including Netflix, ImageShack, Cryptic Studios, among others, are headquartered in Los Gatos, California.

Thanks to the presence of companies like those, many national and international law firms have Silicon Valley offices, many of them close to Los Gatos. Of course, you don't need to be able to afford the rates charged by a large law firm to get quality legal representation in Los Gatos, California. There are many quality and affordable Los Gatos, California lawyers who can help you with almost any legal issue you might be facing.

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