business Anyone tried legal zoom for an LLC?

[ChileHeadCliff]

Been looking at getting an LLC done to try and expand my mom and pop pepper shop op and was looking into legal zoom to put it through. They made it seem like it would take forever unless I went an extra $200 Into it for their expedited filing before fees. Long question short, anyone have any luck with them, recommendations, or just an honest review?

Chilliest Regards,
Cliff

 

[hottoddy]

Check with your Secretary of the State website first. Many have free online LLC creation options. It is quite easy if it's a sole member LLC. You still have to pay the annual fee (typically $100). The important thing is you understand the major legal/tax differences between an LLC, PC, S Corp, etc.

 

[AJ Drew]

ChileheadCliff, if you are pricing I think you should ask a local lawyer.  I have found Legal Zoom prices to be not all that much better than brick and mortar lawyer.
 
I -think- that one member LLCs are treated the same as sole proprietorships for tax purposes.  I think the term is 'pass threw' entity or something like that.  Most states feel that making it easy on a person to create an LLC encourages business.  But you still gotta ask yourself why not stay sole proprietorship.  Creating an entity is a good way to help protect personal assets, but so is liability insurance.

 

[PepperDaddy]

Like hottoddy says, the website for your Secretary of State should have all the paperwork you need.  Legal Zoom does nothing other than provide paperwork, a "Wizard" to complete it, and a big bill.  Read the fine print and they disclaim everything.  If you use them and something goes wrong they say they are not actually providing legal information and take no ownership.  Use their articles for research but otherwise they are just a middleman you don't need.  Google you do need.

 

[Scuba_Steve]

I had a LLC about 8 years ago.  My memory is horrible and I do not remember anything about exactly what I did to establish it.  I did do it on my own though, and it was easy enough that again, I don't even remember what was entailed.  I think it was just a couple forms.

 

[kendall]

I've done LegalZoom, local lawyers, and filed everything myself. Unless you have a good knack for the legal side of things, I don't recommend trying to do it yourself. At least in NC there's a fair bit of legalese and I didn't want to assume the liability that comes with me screwing something up. Having a lawyer handle things comes with a lot of peace of mind.
 
The local lawyer route proved to be the cheapest and easiest in both circumstances I've used it. Both lawyers were super easy to deal with and the process moved fairly quickly. I'll likely go this route with all future business ventures.
 
I've also used LegalZoom twice, once with the rush and once without. The rush service is certainly quick and I imagine this is due to the automation of the whole thing (leading me to believe that the non-rush service is intentionally hampered). The thing with LegalZoom is that there are A LOT of third party offers wrapped up in the process and if you're not careful, you'll end up with hundreds of dollars in annual fees for things you absolutely don't need.
 
EDIT: I should note that none of the aforementioned ventures were food related.