The Entities Module
The legal entities the family holds — LLCs, trusts, corporations, partnerships — with the per-entity detail, tax records, and intellectual property an executor or successor needs, plus the warning that entity assets do not pass through the will.
Where this Module fits
E-08 Module 8 of 9 in the Estate area — step 4 of 4 on the dependency ladder (System → At-Home → Financial → Estate).
Business structures that need their own documentation layer.
Adds to The Secure Guide: Entity inventory and per-entity detail, tax records, IP inventory.
Adds to The Family Guide: Entities overview, key contacts, and the entity-assets-bypass-the-will warning.
Every Module adds one section to each guide — that is how the two guides assemble as you work. See what you're building.
Text file — the flexible one. Use it as-is, paste it into a spreadsheet, open it in any editor, or paste it into an AI tool to reshape the blank form to fit your family: rename a field, add a row, drop one you don't need.
Print / PDF — the ready-to-use one. Print it and fill it in by hand, or choose Save as PDF and complete it in your own offline PDF app. Either way it stays with you — the finished Secure Guide template goes inside your Vault.
One rule: only ever give an AI tool the blank template. Never paste your real information — passwords, account numbers, anything you'd keep secret — into an AI tool, an online service, or anywhere outside your own Vault. Customizing an empty form is fine; filling it in happens privately, offline. That's the same rule this site follows: nothing sensitive ever leaves your hands.
Secure Guide Starter Template — Entities
This template belongs in The Secure Guide, stored within The Vault. Maintain one detail block per entity; update at formation, dissolution, or role changes.
Legal entities work by creating separation — between you and the asset, between personal identity and legal ownership. For privacy and asset protection, that opacity is the feature. For the heirs and executors who must navigate the estate, it becomes a serious problem unless every layer of separation is matched by a compensating layer of documentation: a property held in an LLC does not appear in a title search under your name; a trust-held account does not appear on a statement that names you. If it is not documented here, it may not be found.
The practical standard: every entity in your financial life is discoverable through The Secure Guide, every formation document is locatable, and every successor is named in the entity's own governing documents — not just in this system. Trusts appear both here and in the Estate Plan Module by design: here as operating structures (what they hold, who has authority day to day), there as estate instruments (how they distribute). If a trust shows up in both places, that is correct. And if you are uncertain whether something qualifies — a side business never incorporated, a handshake partnership — record it anyway; whether it needs a formal structure is a question for your attorney, but whether it is documented is one you can answer right now.
| Entity Name | Type | Purpose | Key Assets Held | State of Formation | EIN | Formation Date | Operating / Trust Agreement Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLC | |||||||
| Trust | |||||||
| Corporation | |||||||
| Partnership | |||||||
Legal name, type, purpose, assets held, ownership/membership structure, the planner's role, other parties and roles, registered agent and contact, state of formation and registration number, EIN, formation and operating/trust document locations, annual filing requirements and who files, accountant/CPA and attorney contacts, succession provisions on death or incapacity, and notes for the executor or successor.
Duplicate the Entity Detail block for each entity.
| Entity | Tax Return Type | Years Retained | Storage Location | CPA Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
For general tax record retention guidance, see the Tax Planning and Documentation Module.
| Item | Type | Status | Income-Generating | Registration / Protection | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patent | Yes / No | ||||
| Trademark | Yes / No | ||||
| Copyright | Yes / No | ||||
| Proprietary content / methodology | Yes / No | ||||
| Domain names with business value | Yes / No | ||||
Only IP owned BY an entity belongs in this table — the LLC's trademark, the company's patents, content the business holds title to. Personally-owned IP lives with the assets Modules: income-generating → Digital Financial Assets; latent-value → Other Assets; kept-for-meaning → Digital Legacy. If a business incorporates, its IP moves into this table deliberately, not by accident.
Family Guide Starter Template — Entities
This template belongs in The Family Guide. It gives heirs an overview of the entities and the contacts who manage them.
In the matching Secure Guide section: entity inventory and per-entity detail, tax records, IP inventory.
That detail is what makes recovery possible — and it is protected in the Vault, which opens with The Vault Key. The key is never written here, by design. The people listed on this page know how it is kept, and the steward's job is to keep that path current, so this page never leads to a locked door.
| Entity Name | Type | Purpose | Primary Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Entity | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney | ||||
| Accountant / CPA | ||||
| Registered Agent | ||||
Each entity has its own operating agreement or trust document, tax identification number, and filing requirements. Do not assume that assets held by these entities transfer through the will — each has its own succession provisions. Contact the attorney before taking any action with respect to these entities. Full entity documentation is in The Secure Guide.
Anything this page's reader should know that the sections above didn't ask for — the exceptions, the house quirks, the thing you would say out loud while handing this page over.
For more information on how to use these templates, see The Recoverable Family book.
Worked example — Frank's family
For the system's first six months this Module was one honest line: “No business entities.” June changed that — the estate update created the Mercers' first entity, a revocable living trust — and the Module picked up two almost-entities worth recording: Sarah's unincorporated design business, and the still-open question of an LLC for the Cedar Court rental.
All details are fictional and illustrative. The assembled example guides live at the example Secure Guide and the example Family Guide.
Secure Guide — Frank's entry
The Entities section of the Mercers' Secure Guide:
| Entity Name | Type | Purpose | Key Assets Held | State of Formation | EIN | Formation Date | Operating / Trust Agreement Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Family Revocable Living Trust | Trust (revocable) | Holds the house outside probate; grows as assets retitle | Primary residence (deed recorded 2026-07); Summit joint brokerage — retitle in progress with Elena | Our state | None while we're living — reports under our SSNs; gets an EIN at the first death (Ruth's memo in the folder explains) | 2026-06 | Original at Alvarez Law Office; certified copy in the fire safe; scan in FrankSecure → Estate → Trust |
| Entity | Tax Return Type | Years Retained | Storage Location | CPA Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Family Revocable Living Trust | None while revocable — grantor trust, on our 1040s | n/a | Trust papers: FrankSecure → Estate → Trust | Marcus Lee, Lee & Tran — 555-0153 |
| Sarah's design business (sole proprietorship) | Schedule C with our joint 1040 | 7 years, with the returns | Tax archive; invoices and contracts in her business folder | Marcus Lee |
| Item | Type | Status | Income-Generating | Registration / Protection | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None — the trust holds no IP | — | — | — | — | Sarah's contract templates and brand library are hers personally (documented with her business records) — they would move INTO an entity deliberately if the business incorporates: the fall-agenda question. mercerfamily.net is personal — Digital Financial Assets |
The open questions, on the fall agenda with Ruth Alvarez: an LLC for the Cedar Court rental (the retitling flag in Other Assets) and whether Sarah's business should incorporate. Recorded as questions so they can't evaporate — whether something needs a structure is Ruth's call; whether it is documented is ours.
Family Guide — Frank's entry
The entities page of the Family Guide — plain language.
| Entity Name | Type | Purpose | Primary Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercer Family Revocable Living Trust | Trust | Holds the house so it passes without a court process; Mom and Dad run it while living | Ruth Alvarez, 555-0177 |
| Name | Role | Entity | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruth Alvarez | Attorney | The trust | 555-0177 | r.alvarez@alvarezlaw.example |
| Marcus Lee | CPA | The trust + Sarah's business taxes | 555-0153 | — |
The house is owned by the trust, not by Mom and Dad directly — that is the point, and it means the house does not pass through the will. Uncle Tom becomes trustee if they can't act. Call Ruth before doing anything involving the house or the brokerage. Full documents are in The Secure Guide.