You’re already running a business. It just might not have the protection it needs.
Most self employed people start the same way. They get a client, do the work, get paid. The business grows from there, sometimes quickly. What doesn’t always keep pace is the legal structure underneath it.
When you operate as a sole proprietor, there’s no legal separation between your personal finances and your business finances. If a client claims your work caused them harm and they get a judgment against you, they can come after your personal assets. Your home, your bank account, your car. Rhode Island law treats the sole proprietor and the business as one and the same.
Insurance helps, but only to a point. It doesn’t cover every type of claim, and policy limits matter. This isn’t a problem unique to high risk industries. A freelance designer who misses a deadline, a consultant whose advice a client blames for a bad outcome, a contractor whose employee causes damage on a job site. Any of these situations can produce the kind of liability that follows you home.
Forming a single member LLC in Rhode Island draws a legal line between you and your business. It doesn’t make you lawsuit proof, but it means that in most circumstances, your personal assets aren’t on the table when something goes wrong on the business side.
Importantly, the LLC doesn’t change how your taxes work in most cases. A single member LLC is treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax purposes, meaning your business income still flows through to your personal return just like it did as a sole proprietor. You get the liability protection without the complexity of a corporate tax structure. In Rhode Island, forming an LLC requires filing articles of organization with the Secretary of State and paying a $150 filing fee.
Rhode Island law doesn’t require an LLC to have a written operating agreement. That doesn’t mean you should operate without one. Without one, your LLC is governed by the default provisions of the Rhode Island Limited Liability Company Act, a set of rules written for general situations, not your specific business.
A written operating agreement lets you define how your business runs, what happens if you become incapacitated, how future ownership changes would be handled, and how profits are managed. For a single member LLC, it also reinforces the legal separation between you and the business, which is what makes the liability protection meaningful over time.
We handle the operating agreement. That’s where most self employed people get stuck. Either they skip it entirely, or they download something generic that wasn’t drafted with Rhode Island law in mind. We draft single member LLC operating agreements tailored to Rhode Island, reviewed and approved by a licensed attorney, at a flat upfront rate.
If you also need help with the contracts you use in your business, client agreements, independent contractor arrangements, NDAs, those are services we offer as well. Either individually or through a monthly subscription that gives you ongoing access to attorney reviewed documents as your business needs change.
We handle the operating agreement. That’s where most self employed people get stuck. Either they skip it entirely, or they download something generic that wasn’t drafted with Rhode Island law in mind. We draft single member LLC operating agreements tailored to Rhode Island, reviewed and approved by a licensed attorney, at a flat upfront rate.
If you also need help with the contracts you use in your business, client agreements, independent contractor arrangements, NDAs, those are services we offer as well. Either individually or through a monthly subscription that gives you ongoing access to attorney reviewed documents as your business needs change.
Free 30 minute consultation. Flat rate pricing. No surprises.
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