The Wyoming Series LLC, Explained

July 23, 2024 · All articles

One entity, separate compartments

A series LLC is a single limited liability company that can create internal series, each holding its own assets and, if set up and run correctly, shielded from the liabilities of the others. Wyoming is one of the states that authorizes them. The appeal is running several ventures or properties under one umbrella filing instead of forming and maintaining a separate company for each.

Where it fits

The classic use is real estate: one series per property, so a claim against one building does not reach the others. It also suits an owner with several distinct lines of business who wants separation without paying to form and annually maintain five LLCs. You file and maintain one entity while keeping the assets walled off internally.

The catch worth stating plainly

The liability separation between series is only as good as the discipline behind it. Each series needs its own records, its own bank account, and its own clear title to its assets. Blur those and you hand a creditor the argument that the walls were never real. The series LLC is also newer than the ordinary LLC, so how courts in other states will treat the internal shields is less settled. That matters if your assets or disputes sit outside Wyoming.

Is it right for you

For a multi-property or multi-venture owner who will keep clean books per series, it can save real money and administration. For a single business, an ordinary Wyoming LLC is usually simpler and just as protective. We form both, a Wyoming series LLC and a standard LLC, and can talk through which fits before you file. Whether the structure protects a specific asset is a legal question for Tresp, Day and Associates.