Authorized shares are the number of shares your corporation is authorized to issue. You do not have to issue all of your authorized shares, and frequently it can be a mistake to do so. Authorized shares do not vote, and do not participate in dividends.
Directors are the individuals who direct or guide the corporation with respect its overall business model and, well, direction. The board sets policy and votes on major or extraordinary decisions. Shareholders elect directors, and directors elect officers. The “board” is the entirety of all of the directors.
Whether for a corporation or in any business or political setting, bylaws are the rules that govern the procedures of the particular entity. In a corporation, the bylaws is the set of rules which address, for example, when meetings will be held, and what the duties of the officers are. Though it’s a standard document for a corporation, some LLCs will also choose to have bylaws separate from their operating agreement. Some bylaws are considered “off the shelf”, but your business, like any other, is unique, and therefore it’s a document that should be reviewed and drafted carefully to suit your particular needs.
Novices to LLCs tend to think that this is the document governing the actual operations of the company. Not so. The operating agreement, also sometimes known as the LLC Agreement (or some variation), is the governing document for the LLC itself. It may be very short, defining merely who the members are and what their respective ownership percentages are. Added to that, there may be restrictions on the transfer of the ownership interest, as well as guidelines for meetings, consent rights, call rights, and so on. These are contracts that can become quite complex.
Need? No. And if I were a litigation attorney who made money off of people’s mistakes, I’d say don’t have one and let the chips fall where they may -- better yet, let state law govern your rights and duties. But I’m in the business of preventative law. So, yes, you should have an operating agreement. Just by way of example, without one, and your partner dies, you’ll become partner’s with your dead partner’s surviving spouse -- think about that one for a minute. No way out of that without a written operating agreement providing for a buy-out.
No, no, and no. In California, all that’s required for a contract (which is what an operating agreement is) to be effective, other than for residential real estate contracts, is a signature. And if the contract provides for an alternate method of signature, like exchanging documents in PDF format over email so that the signatures [...]
A Shareholders Agreement, if written correctly, will a) limit each shareholder’s ability to transfer his/her/their/its shares in a corporation, b) provide for certain voting rights or limitations on voting rights, and c) give the corporation and each shareholder the option to purchase the shares of a deceased or withdrawing shareholder. Its purpose is to minimize [...]
Well, without it, you could easily be engaged in litigation down the road. By way of example, without an agreement in place, the shares of a deceased shareholder will vest in that shareholder’s heirs, who will then be able to review the corporation’s books and vote. If that person doesn’t understand what’s best for the [...]
Frequently a Buy-Sell Agreement is the name used for a Shareholders Agreement in a corporation. Sometimes, though, a Buy-Sell Agreement only refers to that part of a Shareholders Agreement that provides for the remaining shareholders to purchase a deceased or withdrawing shareholders’ shares. Though a solid first step, ideally your corporation would be protected by [...]
Unanimous voting rights can bog down the governance of any enterprise, especially where there are several owners. Sometimes it’s necessary when, say, you have only two owners and they both want to be sure to be included in every decision. Typically, though, unless required by law, you’ll want to avoid unanimous voting requirements, opting instead [...]
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