What happens when a small business owner dies or gets divorced?

Before you meet with your lawyer: Business governance documents

By Bryan Zlimen

If your new business has multiple owners, it is important to have proper governance documents—like a partnership agreement, operating agreement, or shareholder agreement. Typically, these documents address topics like who can make day-to-day decisions on the company’s behalf, how ownership interests can be sold or transferred, and who decides what the company does with net…

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LLC? D/B/A? Corporation? Which Is Right for My Business?

By Bryan Zlimen

If you’re thinking of starting a business, you’ve probably wonder whether you could be personally responsible for business debts, how to manage having business partners, and what to do about future plans to expand, sell, or transfer your company. The answers to these questions depend on the type of business you choose to form. This…

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Getting Your Business Name Right

By Bryan Zlimen

Three Simple Ways to Name Your Business Legally Business name, DBA, assumed name—it’s all Greek to many people.  But as a small business owner, you can’t afford to ignore the legal niceties when it comes to the names your company uses.  When you do business in Minnesota, you are required to use a registered name…

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What happens when a small business owner dies or gets divorced?

By Bryan Zlimen

A client recently asked, what happens to small businesses upon the death or divorce of an owner?  What documents should be in place prior to those events to smooth an ownership transition?  These questions can have many different answers depending on the facts of a specific situation, but here’s a general overview of the process,…

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