Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: corporation

Can you? Yes.

Should you? That is not a question that can be answered in this kind of a context. You need to talk to a lawyer and probably should also talk to an accountant before taking such a drastic step.

Re: corporation

You don't give LawGuru much information as to what kind or kinds of properties you have in mind to transfer to a corporation or LLC.

If you are an ordinary person whose "properties" are a home (probably not paid off yet), car, furniture, bank account, maybe a few stock-and-bond type investments, possibly a 401(k), I'd say the answer is clearly no. If you're this kind of guy, you should be thinking in terms of a living trust to pass your estate to your heirs with the best combination of tax benefits and freedom from probate hassles.

If your "properties" are investment real estate, especially properties that you actively manage for rental income, that's another matter. Also, if you are involved in other proprietorship or partnership business activities, that's also another matter.

A person who has moderate to high exposure to personal liability due to business and investment activity needs to review his or her liability exposure regularly. Many investors and business operators find that insurance provides adequate protection. Other place their investment properties into liability-shield business entities such as LLCs and corporations.

In addition to the question of whether an owner of, say, several apartment buildings should put them in an LLC, there is the question as to whether one LLC should be used for all of them, or whether each should be in a separate LLC.

Making and carrying out a decision to set up one or more LLCs or corporations is a job where an experienced and savvy lawyer should be retained. There are many issues to address, e.g., how to handle the issues of transferring property into the entity if they are encumbered with loans and subject to leases to tenants.

No decision is wise if it is made uninformed. At best, if things work out, it is a lucky decision. At worst, it is a blunder.