[blibble]

if your country lets you set up and maintain an LLC easily this can be a reasonable way to manage the risk

a catastrophic mistake might result in the company going bust and all the pain associated with that

but shouldn't lose you your home (assuming you acted properly, the project using the cloud provider has to be in the aims of the company, etc etc etc)

speak to a lawyer

[crysin]

IANAL but this can be risky in the US still because if you're not careful and demonstrate a clear separation of your business funds and your personal funds it can let those pursuing you for money owed to pierce the veil, thus losing a huge benefit of the LLC.

[questionacount]

Is there a guide or someone I should talk to about how to do this?

I’ve long wondered what I can do with an LLC to protect me from debts like this but I don’t know how to get more information about it. Particularly as I’d be the sole owner I don’t really understand what the llc does/doesn’t do.

If you had just 1000$ (and made a few hundred a year) is it worth doing?

[Arnt]

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on the risk you're trying to contain, not just the routine income.

The short, short version is: You have to have a reason for the LLC that isn't just "contain some risks". Something like "this is a legal entity for my side project bilombinaboloa.com, that I'm hoping will one day become a company and make me Rich" will work, "I pay my expenses via this and take my income directly" will not.

[abeyer]

Read your sibling comment... basically doing this solely for the purpose of trying to avoid debt won't work unless the creditor is just too lazy to pursue it.

[blibble]

the word "solely" is doing a lot of work there

if you're experimenting with side project that you think has potential commercial value then this is why limited liability as a concept was invented

(as always, speak to lawyer)

[abeyer]

Of course. If you have a viable business and the debt is related to that, that's exactly what the corporate veil is for. If you just want to hedge your bets on your personal GCP bill for hobby stuff, not so much.

[blibble]

speak to a lawyer

obviously the advice will cost you but may be the best couple of hundred bucks you ever spent

it's not magic though, you do have to conduct yourself properly as a company (be that non-profit or otherwise)