Holding Companies: Wyoming Privacy + Charging Orders, Done Right

What to know

• Lifetime single-member charging-order protection is statutory in Wyoming.
• Holdcos still need bank separation, resolutions, and filed reports.
• Operating subsidiaries in other states create their own nexus: the holdco doesn’t shield that.

What a charging order protects

If a member of an LLC is sued personally and loses, the creditor can generally get only a charging order, the right to receive distributions the LLC chooses to make, rather than seizing the LLC's assets or taking over management. Wyoming's statute makes this the exclusive remedy and applies it to single-member LLCs, which is why asset-protection planners favor it for holding companies.

What it doesn't protect

The holding company doesn't shield its own assets from claims against the holding company itself, and it doesn't shield operating subsidiaries from their own creditors. Courts also disregard entities that aren't respected: commingled bank accounts, missing records, and paying personal expenses from the LLC invite veil-piercing arguments.

Formalities worth the effort

Keep a separate bank account for each entity, document transfers between them as loans or capital contributions, file every annual report, and hold written consents for significant decisions. Operating subsidiaries still register and pay tax in the states where they operate.