Incorporate in California

The decision to incorporate in California is a fairly simple one. There are 200,000 plus attorneys looking for cases, so just do it to protect yourself.

Incorporate in California - CA

California is the eighth biggest economy in the world. It also has the second highest number of attorneys of any state in the nation. This should make you nervous if you are running or starting a business! The potential of running into a legal dispute is fairly high. Throw in the fact the legal codes in the state are almost as gargantuan as the federal government, and you really need to take all necessary steps possible to protect yourself, your business and your family.

If you want to incorporate in California, the Secretary of State is the agency that controls everything. You can have a go at it yourself or turn it over to attorney such as myself. Is it possible to do it yourself? Of course. Should you? Well, it depends on how clearly you understand the process and how much patience you have with government red tape. If you understand the following items, then you can probably handle it on your own:

• Subscription Agreements
• Securities compliance with the SEC and Department of Corporations
• Proxy votes
• First Meeting Protocals
• Capitalization and Risk Requirements
• Stock Issuance 
• FTB Annual Fee Filings
• Officer and Director Public Notice Requirements
• Agent for Service of Process Requirements,
• Mandatory bylaw provisions and
• Mandatory article provisions.

It used to take 10 to14 business days to incorporate in California. Then the budget problems hit. The Secretary of State was forced to close all of its corporate filing offices except for the one in Sacramento. This office now has to process everything and filing times are currently in the 4 to 6 WEEK range. There are methods for expediting the filings, but they cost significantly more. 

Why use me instead of some of the cheap services that you saw advertised on television? Competency. Those advertised services cannot practice law, so they simply file the necessary paperwork with the Secretary of State and then send you a corporate book with a bunch of blank forms that you have no idea how to fill out or which may not even be applicable to your business. I charge a few hundred bucks more and provide you with a custom solution. I handle the securities filings, the bylaws, the subscription agreements and so on. I also provide you with one hour of consultation time during which I answer your questions, show you how to open a bank account, how to sign business agreements and so on. 

If you are going to do business in California, you need to protect yourself with a formal business entity. Contact me at 619-637-6043 to get started.