{"id":560,"date":"2012-05-05T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2012-05-05T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/?p=560"},"modified":"2012-09-12T06:22:22","modified_gmt":"2012-09-12T06:22:22","slug":"individuals-do-not-file-bankruptcy-when-a-business-they-own-does","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/individuals-do-not-file-bankruptcy-when-a-business-they-own-does\/","title":{"rendered":"Individuals Do Not File Bankruptcy When a Business They Own Does"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan C. Wood<\/a><\/p>\n

There seems to be a misconception about when a corporation or limited liability company files for bankruptcy and the business is owned by one or a few individuals.\u00a0 In the news, talk shows and with speaking with people on the street I hear over and over again such and such has filed bankruptcy.\u00a0 I think the most common name I hear is Donald Trump.\u00a0 I had a client at a meeting of the creditors meeting whisper in my ear something about the debtor currently being questioned by the Trustee and then Donald Trumps name.\u00a0 What she said was as if Mr. Trump had filed bankruptcy too.\u00a0 As far as I know Donald Trump has never filed for personal bankruptcy and only his casino holdings has ever filed for bankruptcy protection.\u00a0 This is a huge distinction that is very important.<\/p>\n

Corporations and limited liability companies are separate legal entities from the owners.\u00a0 This is the whole point in creating the business in this form.\u00a0 Creating a separate legal entity keeps your personal assets safe and protected from the debts or harms created by the corporation or limited liability company.\u00a0 You must keep up the corporate formalities and run the corporation as a separate legal entity.\u00a0 You must keeping the assets, expenses and income separate from your own personal finances.\u00a0 Like many Americans Mr. Trump has many business interests that are set up under various legal entities.\u00a0 This is smart.\u00a0 If one business venture does not work out it should not negatively effect or destroy his other interests.\u00a0 Mr. Trumps venture into gambling has not gone well.<\/p>\n

The formerly named Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (DJT) and now the Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 three times since 1991.\u00a0 I cannot imagine the amount of bankruptcy attorneys<\/a> fees that have been expended in all three cases.\u00a0 Chapter 11 allows corporations to restructure their debts and allow the corporation to survive and hopefully prosper.\u00a0 The company still exists so something must have gone right.<\/p>\n

For more information about bankruptcy, either personal or business, you may contact one of our bankruptcy lawyers<\/a> by calling 1-877-963-9543 or providing us your information on-line in a submission form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Corporations and limited liability companies are separate legal entities from the individuals that own the business. As the owner of the business you have limited liability for the debts of the business and harms the business may cause. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westcoastbk.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}