Hi, Pab.

I am an agent in South Dakota. I just completed working with a client who was pretty much in the same situation as yours, where he faced business bankruptcy and the need to protect both personal and business assets as much as possible. That it is more and more common these days. First, yes, consult an attorney for the contractual aspect of protecting your assets.

First, off, in case you are not aware, South Dakota has this unique situation where a business sale must be handled pretty much like a sale of real property. e.g., if you want to sell a dental practice, you'll want to engage a realtor to help examine your options and the market outlook for that, besides handling the sale transaction.

However, as demonstrated by my recent similar case to yours, just as I am not a bankruptcy attorney, most attorneys are not experienced or trained or up to date on the market for businesses (if that is relevant to you). In addition, you'll want to involve a realtor who has an extensive background in business financials. I am fortunate to have had extraordinary prior business financials experience, but that is not the norm for real estate agents.

Also, as it turns out, (as in the case of my recent client) it is ironic that one of the ways you may need to protect your assets is to sell them (i.e., convert to cash). My client's attorney advised my client to sell some assets and that is when the individual looked me up in a search for business-savvy real estate agents.

When it's all over, you too, may need to engage the support of a 3-way team consisting of an attorney, a real estate agent, and a CPA.

Just my thoughts. Please check with your own advisors before acting on any statements here.

Best wishes to you.

-LEE ALLEY
PRUDENTIAL Real Estate
Rapid City, SD

The first question is how the company is structured, ie; partnership, corporation or llc or sole owner. If your have it on your sole owner split by parnters you will have personal issues. You really need to talk to a attorney before filing bankruptcy, so you know your options and possible issues.