Business should be done only in the corporate name for that business. The costs of creating and maintaining the corporation are substantial. Two to three thousand dollars is a common minimum to reserve name, charter, issue stock, generate bylaws, consider tax consequences, hold first meeting of directors, prepare corporate records, and to prepay state franchise, stock issuance and other costs. Even if all the requirements for corporate limitation of liability are met, few people use it because most people pay their bills and insure to cover unexpected risks. The money spent on incorporating and maintaining a small business can often be better spent on equipment, inventory, marketing or insurance.
Homesteads are also highly touted as a liability limiting device.
However, homesteads are seldom useful unless you have been driven to the edge of an adverse court judgment or bankruptcy. Also, if you have a recorded homestead, a lender will require you to abandon it during a refinance and may wonder why you placed it on the property in the first place. Trusts are often not as wonderful as they are propagandized to be, however, particularly in a husband and wife situation with net assets under one million dollars in a flat or deflationary economy. Then other techniques are often available to avoid probate and death tax costs with less expense, complexity and risk than a trust. Community property, gifts, family ownership, off shore ownership, precious metals, irrevocable insurance beneficiaries, pension plans are examples.