Do I need an attorney to form a Texas LLC?

An LLC may be formed with the Texas Secretary of State without an attorney. An attorney becomes important when the business has more than one owner, operates in a regulated field (medical, financial, licensed-professional), expects outside capital, holds real estate, employs people, or will be the subject of a buy-sell agreement or estate-plan integration. For a straightforward one-owner Texas LLC, LaunchMyEntity.com is the firm's DIY formation route. For complex family, business, or tax planning — call the firm.

What is a Texas operating agreement, and is one required?

The operating agreement — formally the company agreement under the Texas Business Organizations Code — is the LLC's internal rulebook. Texas does not file the agreement with the State and does not strictly require one to form the entity. In practice, every Texas LLC should have a written agreement: without it, the default statutory rules apply, and those defaults are rarely what the owners actually want.

Should I file as an S-corporation?

The S-election is a federal income-tax posture; the LLC remains an LLC under Texas law. An S-election may be appropriate when the owner draws a reasonable salary from the business and the remaining profits exceed a certain threshold. The decision is tax-driven and should be made with a CPA — we coordinate with the client's accountant before filing Form 2553.

What is a Series LLC, and when should I consider one?

A Series LLC under Texas Business Organizations Code § 101.601 et seq. permits multiple protected cells inside one legal entity, with internal liability shields between series. It can be powerful for real-estate owners holding multiple properties, but the operational discipline — separate books, separate accounts, careful contracting in the name of the correct series — is non-negotiable. A Series LLC that is not operated correctly is weaker than two ordinary LLCs operated correctly.

Lone Star ★ Counsel

Texas LLC Formation
and Operating Agreements.

The filing is one part of forming a business. Lone Star Counsel helps owners address management, ownership, operating agreements, and the relationship between the business and personal planning. For straightforward one-owner formations, LaunchMyEntity.com is the firm’s DIY route. For multi-owner, regulated, real-estate, or estate-coordinated matters — begin with an attorney conversation.

Request an LLC Consultation Call (972) 712-1515 for attorney-guided LLC services

Attorney counsel for Texas LLC formation and operating agreements.

What’s Included

Attorney-guided Texas LLC formation.

Entity selection, filing, governance, and coordination with the business and personal planning the client already has in place — or will soon.

Entity selection review: LLC, Series LLC, PLLC, LP, or corporation — matched to the business, ownership, tax posture, and intended operations before filing.
Texas Certificate of Formation: Filed with the Secretary of State under the Texas Business Organizations Code, with the registered-agent and management-structure elections suited to the business.
EIN and tax-election coordination: Federal Employer Identification Number application, S-corporation election review, and coordinated communication with the client's CPA on initial tax posture.
Operating or company agreement: The internal rulebook — management, voting, capital, distributions, transfer restrictions, buy-sell triggers, death and disability provisions, and dispute resolution — drafted for the owners actually involved, not a boilerplate placeholder.
Member certificates and ledger: Opening membership interest ledger, admission documentation, and — where appropriate — written consents memorializing the organizational meeting.
Beneficial-ownership guidance: Current posture on federal beneficial-ownership reporting (FinCEN) and Texas franchise-tax registration, with clear next-step instructions for the owners.
Registered agent: Firm-provided registered agent service is available for Texas entities on request.
Coordination with the plan: The LLC is drafted in coordination with the owners' estate plan, buy-sell agreement, and asset-protection posture — not in isolation from them.

The Company Agreement

The internal rulebook.

Texas does not require filing a company agreement with the State. In practice, every multi-owner LLC should have one — and the drafting choices matter the first time an owner leaves, dies, divorces, or disagrees.

Management
Member-managed vs manager-managed; the authority of each class; what requires unanimous consent and what does not.
Capital contributions
Initial capital, additional contributions, capital-call mechanics, and the consequences of a member who fails to fund a call.
Distributions and allocations
Priority of distributions, timing, tax-distribution floors, and allocations of profit and loss for federal income-tax purposes.
Transfer restrictions
The rules on who may receive a member's interest — by sale, by gift, at death, in divorce, on bankruptcy — and how those transfers are priced and funded.
Buy-sell triggers
Mandatory and permissive buy-outs on death, disability, retirement, deadlock, disagreement, and departure — plus the valuation method and payment terms.
Deadlock and dissociation
The procedure when owners disagree on a fundamental decision; the procedure when an owner leaves.
Dispute resolution
Negotiation, mediation, and venue provisions — before any dispute is live.
Amendment thresholds
What percentage of owners must agree to amend each class of provision; higher thresholds for foundational terms, simpler thresholds for operational ones.

Two Routes

DIY formation, or attorney-guided?

Not every Texas LLC needs an attorney. The decision depends on the owners, the business, and the planning around it.

DIY Formation

LaunchMyEntity.com — the self-service route

For a single-owner Texas LLC where the owner understands the trade-offs and the business is straightforward, the DIY route is sensible and inexpensive. LaunchMyEntity.com is the firm’s sibling resource for self-service Texas entity formation. We will publish a direct purchase link only after that service’s checkout and fulfillment are independently verified.

Attorney-Guided

Lone Star ★ Counsel — multi-owner, regulated, or coordinated

Begin with an attorney when the LLC will have more than one owner, operate in a regulated profession, hold real estate, employ people, be the subject of a buy-sell agreement, be owned by a trust, or need to coordinate with the owners’ estate plan. The upfront cost is modest compared to the first dispute, divorce, or departure the agreement will govern.

Request an LLC Consultation (972) 712-1515

Frequently Asked

Texas LLC questions.

Lone Star ★ Counsel

Begin a Texas LLC conversation.

Attorney-guided LLC formation, operating-agreement drafting, and coordination with the buy-sell, trust, and estate plan the owners already have — or will soon.

Request an LLC Consultation Call (972) 712-1515

LONE STAR ★ COUNSEL is a dba of Pratt Law Group, PLLC. Nearly 30 years of Texas business, tax, and succession counsel.

Texas LLC Formationand Operating Agreements.