Law for Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Law for Business - Essay Example These are some of the important aspects to be covered. They should also have a good knowledge of its legal status, debts and obligations depending on the nature and form of the business and how it has been registered in the UK (Federation of Small Business Website, 2012, 1) Forms of Business Ownership While the form of business ownership to be adopted depends both on the number of owners and the funds, skills or both that they are willing to contribute and invest in the business, this can often be a very tricky though pertinent question requiring considerable thought. Any business student will be able to tell you that the usual forms of business ownership are the Sole Trader, the Partnership and the Private or Publicly held corporation. Regardless of the many combinations and varieties of business ownership that we see in the real world, they basically all boil down to the above three forms. Mergers, acquisitions and buyouts only enhance the size of the business while having differen t effects on the assets, liabilities and owners equity of the business. These are usually agreed on the basis of the takeover or merger agreements that are made. The Sole Trader business is a very easy business to start and is admittedly the most common form of business enterprise in the UK. ... lies ultimately with the business owner, and his personal assets may also be attached for the settlement of claims relating to his business obligations. There is no separation of his business obligations from his personal assets. The existence of the business is also dependent on his physical existence, for his demise would signify the end of his business in legal terms as well. Coming to the formation of a partnership, we can see that like a Sole Trader business, it is also quite easy to create. We have to decide the nature of the business, the number of partners joining, the rights, duties and responsibilities of each partner, what will they invest and how will they share the profits or losses. The business name will have to be registered with the local authorities. It is better also to have all the essential details written out in a Partnership Agreement/ Deed which is legally admissible in a Court of Law. Obtaining a business license, registering for tax purposes and opening a ba nk account in the name of the business with proper mandate for signing cheques and business letters are all that remains to get the business up and running in legal terms. A partnership may be formed for a specific purpose, and is terminated by will, or any of the partners retiring or dying. So we see here that both sole traders and partnerships suffer from the deficiencies of unlimited personal liability of the owners as well as a life and legal existence limited to the death, bankruptcy or retirement of any of the owners (Citizen Law Media Project, 2011, 1). Contrasting this with the corporate form of ownership, where we see that the disadvantages of limited financing, people and other resources have been overcome by publicly held corporations. Anybody who buys their shares in the open