Estate Planning
LLC Formation in Georgia
If you own rental property, run a business, or hold real estate in your own name, your personal home, savings, and retirement accounts are exposed to every lawsuit those assets attract. An LLC puts a legal wall between your business life and your personal life. Here is how to build it.
Find Out Where You Stand
How Georgia Real Estate Investors and Business Owners Use LLCs to Limit Personal Liability
A Georgia LLC separates your personal assets from business or investment liability — if a tenant sues or a business debt is called, your home and retirement accounts are not reachable. But an LLC without an operating agreement and proper funding provides limited protection in court. We form the LLC and build the operating agreement so the protection is real, not just on paper.
What You Are Exposed to Right Now
If you own rental property in your own name, every tenant, visitor, and contractor who walks onto that property can sue you personally. Your home, savings accounts, retirement funds, and other investments are all available to satisfy a judgment. There is no separation between your personal life and your rental business.
The same is true for business owners who hold real estate, equipment, or business assets personally. A delivery driver gets injured on your commercial property. A piece of equipment malfunctions and hurts a worker. A business partner disputes ownership. Without an LLC, your personal finances are on the table. The business and the person are legally the same thing.
Georgia courts have awarded millions of dollars in premises liability cases. A single verdict can exceed the value of your personal home. If that verdict is entered against you personally, creditors can pursue your bank accounts, place liens on your property, and garnish income. One lawsuit can undo years of work.
When One LLC Is Not Enough
One LLC puts everything in one bucket. Your operations, your assets, your income, and your property all sit in the same legal container. If that entity is hit with a judgment, everything in it is reachable. A patient sues a medical practice. A customer is injured at a warehouse. A contractor gets hurt on a job site. If the operations and the assets live in the same LLC, a successful claim can reach all of it. One judgment can take the whole bucket.
Separation is how you prevent that. A physician who owns their clinic and the building it sits in should have two separate entities: one for the practice and one for the real estate. A malpractice claim against the practice cannot reach the building if it is held in a different LLC. A roofing company owner who holds trucks and equipment in a separate entity protects those assets if a job site lawsuit goes against the operating company. A real estate investor with multiple rentals benefits from keeping each property in its own LLC so a judgment on one cannot reach the others. The more you have built, the more valuable separation becomes.
Holding companies take this one step further. You form operating or property LLCs for each line of business or asset, then a separate holding company that owns the individual LLCs. The holding company handles the income, the banking, and the management layer. The individual LLCs hold only what they were created to protect. A claim against one part of your business cannot reach the holding company or any other entity in the structure.
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If your net profit exceeds $60,000, an S-Corp tax election on top of your LLC can reduce self-employment taxes by $6,000 to $7,500 per year. Learn about S-Corp formation at The Hive Law →
Without an LLC
- Your home, savings, and retirement accounts are exposed to lawsuits from tenants or clients
- A single premises liability verdict in Georgia can exceed $500,000
- All your assets sit in one legal bucket — a judgment against any part can reach all of it
- There is no legal separation between your personal life and your business or rental property
- One lawsuit can put everything you've built on the table at once
- Creditors can pursue your bank accounts, place liens on your property, and garnish your income
With an LLC
- Your personal home, savings, and retirement accounts are outside the lawsuit's reach
- A Georgia LLC can typically be formed and ready to use within 72 hours
- Separate entities for separate properties or business lines keep one claim from reaching the rest
- A properly funded operating agreement makes the protection real, not just paperwork
- Keeping the entity active costs as little as $50 a year in Georgia
- If your business qualifies, an S-Corp election on top of your LLC can reduce self-employment taxes by $6,000 to $7,500 a year
How It Works
A 15-Minute Call With Shawn
Tell us what is going on with your family. Shawn walks you through your options and what each one costs. Free.
The Design Meeting With Shawn and Melissa
In a 60-minute meeting, Shawn and Melissa review your assets, your family, and your goals together and confirm your price. This meeting is credited toward your plan if you move forward.
Review Every Document With Melissa
Before you sign, Melissa walks through every document with you in plain language. No legal jargon. No confusion about what you are signing.
Your Plan Is Complete
Melissa delivers your completed documents and explains exactly what your family needs to do. You leave knowing your plan is in place and your family is protected.
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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What Our Clients Say
After my father passed away, my mother had to rely on my father's employer to navigate the estate. It was a disaster. After this experience, I knew I needed a plan. I turned to The Hive Law to set up a trust. I no longer have to worry about my wife and children going through a difficult process if something happens to me. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
My biggest fear was that if I died first, my wife would have no idea how to navigate the estate and legal system. I reached out to The Hive Law and they put my mind at ease immediately. Their process is easy to follow and they took care of everything. The Hive Law is the best decision I've made for my family's future.
Working with Melissa Breyer to set up our Living Trust was a wonderful experience. She and her entire team were knowledgeable, professional, and made the whole process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law for all your estate planning needs!
We highly recommend Hive Law. They were extremely patient and responsive, answering our many rounds of questions regarding trusts and estate planning. Shawn consistently responded the same day we sent our questions, even while his family was on vacation, which we greatly appreciated. Shawn was also always available to discuss matters by phone whenever we needed additional clarification on the options we were considering. Both are very knowledgeable in estate planning, and we would confidently recommend Hive Law to friends and family.
The Hive Law made the entire estate planning and trust process easy to understand and stress-free. Melissa and Shawn walked us through every step and answered all of our questions. We feel confident that our family is protected. Highly recommend!
My mom chose The Hive firm to help with estate planning and developing a trust to protect her assets. I sat in on her meeting with Melissa, and Melissa did a great job of simplifying complex legalese into easily understood concepts. Shawn was very quick to get us our documents and all steps in the process were clear and easy. They make a great team and we are thankful for their help!
I used The Hive Law to help me create a trust for my family. The process was straightforward and Melissa and Shawn made sure I understood each step. They were responsive to all of my questions. I feel much more confident about my family's future now. Highly recommend!
Working with Shawn and Melissa at The Hive Law has been an excellent experience. They were one of three firms we contacted, but she made the strongest impression during our initial call. They asked great questions to understand our situation and clearly explained what we needed to put in place. We initially had some reservations about their fully virtual approach, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. After the first two calls, it was clear how easy they are to work with and how well connected we felt. Communication has been clear, organized, and reassuring throughout the process. Shawn and Melissa are professional, approachable, and thorough. We feel confident we're in good hands and highly recommend The Hive Law for estate planning.
The Hive Law Firm, and specifically Melissa, has been wonderful to work with during our estate planning process. She is knowledgeable, patient, and thorough. She answered all of our questions and made the process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
Shawn and Melissa were amazing to work with! My partner and I recently bought a house and wanted to get important things like wills, healthcare directives, etc. set up. They were incredible at answering all our questions and working with us to make sure we felt confident in all of the legal aspects. Having tried to do this online before with one of the DIY tools, it was just an amazing experience to get to talk through what we wanted with a knowledgeable human and have them take care of the details.
Hive Law was awesome to work with! Melissa and Shawn explained everything, kept things stress-free, and were always quick to respond to my questions. They made the whole process simple and smooth from start to finish. Highly recommend if you want a team that's knowledgeable but also easy to work with.
I lost my father in February of this year without any estate planning in place. The process of dealing with the probate court has been overwhelming and expensive. After this experience, I contacted The Hive Law to set up a trust so my children never have to go through what I've been through. Melissa and Shawn were compassionate, knowledgeable, and made the entire process simple. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
I used to know the bare minimum about probate and trust. I first encountered Shawn Breyer on Facebook. He was offering a webinar that I watched. That gave me a better understanding of probate versus trust. I was impressed enough to have him and his wife represent me. I had my initial one on one interview with Melissa Breyer, it went smoothly and she made everything clear. We are now proceeding with getting a revocable trust in place.
The Hive Law has been amazing throughout the process of setting up our trust. Every detail is considered and no stone is left unturned. They have been easy and enjoyable to work with. I would absolutely recommend them! Don't let your estate be turned over to Probate!!
The Hive Law helped us set up a revocable trust. Their webinar is great for answering any questions you may have, to clarify and avoid probate. Get in touch with them right away, you won't be disappointed.
Melissa was great! She gave me an honest review of my future plans that I already have in place. Turns out, I already had my ducks in a row!!! She was a pleasure to talk with!!
For several years now I have been thinking about having a will drawn up, but continued to procrastinate until an older sibling had a medical situation occur which none of the family was prepared for. This was the determining factor for me to get it done. We never know when an emergency medical situation could arise and I didn't want my other siblings to be scrambling around trying to figure things out in the event I couldn't make any decisions for myself, or God forbid I pass away. My attorney (Melissa), was very funny and made the whole experience quite entertaining. She listened to what I wanted and explained the type of plan I needed. Thanks Melissa & Shawn for making the process an enjoyable experience.
The Hive Law Firm did an excellent job helping my mother-in-law with her estate plan. The process felt overwhelming at first, but their team walked us through every step with compassion and professionalism. They listened to our concerns, explained things in simple terms, and made sure our mother's wishes were honored. We're very grateful for their guidance.
The Hive Law firm did an outstanding job helping my family members with their estate planning. They made the process clear, smooth and stress free. Truly professional and caring team, highly recommend!
The whole process of creating a family trust felt simple, clear, and stress-free. We really appreciated how patient, helpful, and easy to communicate with the team was throughout everything. Shawn and Melissa gave us great guidance and helped us feel confident every step of the way. We're grateful for their support and would definitely recommend them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Georgia does not require a separate LLC for each property, but separating them is the stronger structure if asset protection is your priority. A judgment tied to one property can reach everything held inside a single LLC. Separate LLCs keep that exposure contained to one property at a time. If you own several rentals, we can walk through the right structure in your Design Meeting.
A single-member LLC has one owner and a multi-member LLC has two or more. The practical difference is how much protection the structure tends to give, since courts have generally been more willing to look past the protections of a single-member LLC. This is one reason many planners prefer a multi-member structure when protection is the goal. If you have a spouse, a business partner, or a trust that could hold a second membership interest, that option is worth discussing.
An LLC can protect your personal assets from a tenant lawsuit, as long as it is genuinely maintained. The LLC puts a legal wall between the property and your personal finances, so a judgment against the LLC reaches what the LLC owns and not your home, your savings, or your retirement accounts. That wall comes down if you mix personal and business money, or otherwise treat the LLC as if it were not a separate thing.
An LLC held in your personal name goes through probate when you die. Your family cannot manage it or transfer it until the court process finishes. The cleaner setup is to have your revocable living trust own the LLC, so the successor trustee you named can take over at your death with no court involved. We can set that up as part of both pieces of work.
Once your operating agreement is signed, we file the Articles of Organization with the Georgia Secretary of State. How long the state takes to process a filing is set by the Secretary of State, not by us, so check its website for current processing times.
The fee depends on how the LLC fits with the rest of your plan, because LLC work is usually part of a larger estate or real estate structure rather than a standalone filing. The work covers the Articles of Organization, a custom operating agreement, EIN registration, registered agent setup for the first year, and any initial resolutions you need. You get an exact number in your Design Meeting before you commit to anything. Georgia charges its own annual registration fee to keep the LLC active, and that renewal stays your responsibility after formation.
Find Out Where You Stand
You’ve been meaning to do this for a while now. That’s normal. Most families wait until something happens, then wish they hadn’t.
A 15-minute call tells you exactly what you have, what’s missing, and what your family needs next. No paperwork, no obligation, just a straight answer.
- No sales pitch. Just a straight answer about where you stand.
- No confusing terms. We explain everything in plain English.
- A real next step. You’ll know exactly what to do when we hang up.
Where We Serve
Georgia Counties We Serve
We help families across Georgia protect their assets and avoid probate. Select your county to learn more about estate planning where you live.