Legal Question in Business Law in Louisiana

Re: Boat title transfer to an LLC

You have one legal step, and a few practical steps.

The legal step is that you'll need to prepare a bill of sale, whereby you sell the boat from yourself to your business for a specific amount of money. Whether you should sell it for $1 or "donate" it is something that depends upon the circumstances of the sale, but you want to be careful that the sale is viewed by the law as a bona fide sale and not simply a forged transaction.

I assume you want the boat transferred to avoid potential liability exposure. By making a transaction that smells forged, you'll potentially leave that door open. While there is no technical "consideration" in Louisiana like it exists in other states, there are similar theories, and your transaction must meet the "laugh test."

Concerning practical measures, you'll need to transfer title, and insurance.

I know that when you sell aircrafts you must also file certain documents with the FAA. I'm not sure what the regulatory agency is for sailboats, but I'd be pretty surprised if there wasn't one. I image you'll have to get this recorded by the Wildlife & Fisheries Agency, or the Coast Guard, as the case may be.

You can do this on your own, but a lawyer will be familiar with these types of transactions and documents, and will know where to look to determine the steps required to sell the boat.

Good luck.