Hi all-

I need to get serious about insurance. All of my certified plane flying buddies have registered ownership through an LLC for liability purposes, without exception. If push came to shove in a heated court match, I really wonder how effective that would actually be for protecting personal assets? Seems more often than not agreements these days aren't worth the paper they're written on when it gets into the court environment (just ask Tiger, lol).

Since it is feasible to think the damage caused by even a small aircraft like a Kitfox falling out of the sky into a crowd below would exceed the combined limits of the typical $1mil max aviation liability plus added $1mil personal excess liability (assuming no aviation exclusions from your insurer), I'm curious what percentage of Kitfox owners go this LLC route. Obviously, I realize this will be higher for business or high net worth owners, but is this a good idea simply as a rule of thumb in our litigious society?

As for cost, I suspect each state is different regarding fees. In NY, a single member LLC is inexpensive to set up, however, they want $100/yr renewal fee and IIRC, an additional $600/yr for each additional member. Basically, trying to decide whether the money spent on LLC annual renewal fees provides a more effective (both legally and cost wise) personal asset protection than paying annual premiums for excess liability umbrella policy coverage which may, in a real life situation, be insufficient. What say you? On a similar note, my wife suggests it would be quicker and easier just to put everything in her name, hmmm.....

Thanks for any input.