Build it right. Run it clean. Pass it on.
Most Florida business problems are paperwork problems that were never solved at the start — no operating agreement, a handshake partnership, no plan for who takes over. Truestead Law forms your entity, papers the deal, and builds the buy-sell and succession plan that protects the business and the family behind it.
Serving Florida founders, partners & family businesses statewide.
From idea to a Florida entity that holds up.
Pick the structure
LLC, S-corp, or corporation — the choice drives taxes, liability, and how you can bring in partners or investors later.
Form it correctly
Articles of Organization on Sunbiz, registered agent, EIN — and the annual report every May 1 so you don't get dissolved.
Govern it
An operating agreement (or shareholder agreement) that sets ownership, control, money, and what happens if someone leaves.
Plan the exit
A buy-sell and succession plan so the business survives a death, divorce, or departure — and you can one day sell or hand it down.
Florida business matters we take on.
Choosing and forming the right Florida entity, with the filings and registrations done right the first time. How to form an LLC →
The document that actually governs your company — ownership, control, money, and exits. Operating agreements →
Service agreements, vendor and customer contracts, NDAs, and the terms that keep deals from becoming disputes.
What happens to an owner's share on death, divorce, disability, or departure — funded so the company can actually pay for it. Buy-sell & succession →
Coordinating the company documents with the owner's estate plan and tax picture so the business transitions, not collapses.
Reviewing and negotiating the lease that's often a business's largest fixed obligation — and a frequent source of disputes.
Practical lawyering for people who have a business to run.
Flat fees for defined work. Formation packages, an operating agreement, a contract, a buy-sell — most are quoted as a flat fee so you can budget. You'll know the scope and price before we start.
We build for the exit at the entrance. The cheapest time to decide what happens when an owner dies, divorces, or wants out is the day you form — not the day it happens. We put those answers in writing from the start.
One firm for the business and the family. Your company and your estate plan are the same plan. We coordinate them so the business and the people who depend on it are protected together.
Whether a particular entity, agreement, or structure is right for you depends on facts only an attorney and your tax advisor can evaluate after reviewing your situation. This page is general information, not legal or tax advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. We coordinate with your CPA on tax-election and structuring questions.
Your business is your biggest estate-planning asset.
For most owners, the business is the largest thing they own — and the one most likely to be destroyed by a death without a plan. We're also a Florida estate planning firm, so we don't just form your LLC and walk away: we make sure the operating agreement, the buy-sell, and your will or trust all tell the same story, so the company you built actually makes it to the next generation.
Common Florida business-law questions.
File Articles of Organization with the Division of Corporations (Sunbiz) under Chapter 605, name a Florida registered agent, and pay the $125 filing fee. Then adopt an operating agreement, get an EIN, and file the annual report by May 1 each year ($138.75) to stay active. We handle the whole package and the governance document that actually matters.
Florida doesn't require one, but going without is a real risk. It controls ownership, management, money, and what happens when a member leaves or dies. Without it, Chapter 605's defaults apply — rarely what the owners intended, especially with partners.
If you have co-owners, yes. It controls what happens to an owner's share on death, divorce, disability, or exit — how it's valued and who buys it — and is usually funded with life insurance. It stops a co-owner's heirs or ex-spouse from becoming your new partner.
It depends on taxes, how you'll pay yourself, liability, and whether you'll raise outside investment. The LLC is the default for most small Florida businesses, often with an S-corp tax election, but the right answer is fact-specific — we decide it with your CPA.
Often chaos: the interest passes through probate, control is unclear, partners and heirs clash, and the value erodes — sometimes forcing a fire sale. A buy-sell plus an estate plan that align prevent exactly that. It's the single most overlooked risk for Florida business owners.
Let's set your business up to last.
Whether you're forming, papering a partnership, or planning who takes over, a focused consultation gets the foundation right — and the exit planned.