CHAPTER 2

Legal Entity Basics

What Is a Legal Entity, Anyway?

If you are a sole proprietor, you are your business. Even if you adopt a name for your business as a branding strategy, you’re just wrapping yourself in a label. From every meaningful perspective there’s no division between a sole proprietorship and its owner.

Perhaps the most important thing distinguishing sole proprietorships from legal entities like LLCs and corporations is that legal entities have a separate existence from their owners. They come into being by complying with state laws, and once they’re organized they are treated, in a strange way, like people. In fact, legal entities have a wide range of rights and privileges that living, breathing people enjoy. These rights and ...

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