[rdin]

Forming a startup without a real lawyer is very difficult, especially if you have to create contracts with outside parties. For a basic incorporation and issuing of shares, you are looking at a few thousand in legal fees. Though it may seem like a lot, it's best to do it correctly from the start, rather than doing it multiple times.

[ryanlchan]

I'm going to echo the 'real lawyer' advice. It's really not that expensive - your first consultation is likely free, giving you the ability to shop around to find a firm that you trust. With the right lawyer and a boilerplace incorporation, you should be able to get incorporated with only $2-3K.

Though there's nothing terribly complicated about forming an S-Corp or a LLC (the two entities you'd be likely to form), there are a lot of little niggles that, should you get wrong, can go very wrong. Allow me to remind you of this disaster that happened on HN just a few days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2399139

tl;dr Don't hack your legal stuff. Get a real lawyer.