The Five-State List That Is Wrong About Two States

The list, and where it came from

Three of the biggest pages on this subject carry the same five states. Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon and Texas. Same five, same order, no law quoted on any of them.

That last part is the tell. When a page tells you what the law says and does not show you the law, it usually means nobody read it.

Here is each one.

Colorado. Real. The state's law says a person filing has to be 18 or older.

Illinois. Real, and the wording is above.

Oregon. Real. The law says individuals 18 or older may form one.

Minnesota. Not real, and has not been for eight years.

Texas. Never was real.

What happened in Minnesota

Minnesota used to have a rule saying an organizer had to be at least 18. It sat in a chunk of law numbered 322B.105.

That whole chunk was thrown out. The new law took over at the start of 2018. The new one, quoted above, has no age in it anywhere.

So a page naming Minnesota today is describing a rule that stopped existing before some of the people reading it started high school.

What happened in Texas

Nothing happened in Texas, which is the point. Texas law asks a different question. It asks whether you have the ability to make a contract. That is about your situation, not your birthday.

And the office that actually handles the filing says so in plain words on its own website. That quote is above too.

The part that matters more than the list

Almost nobody reading this needs a company at all.

If you sell things or do jobs under your own name, you are a sole proprietor already. No filing. No fee. No form. That is the default, and it happens on its own the moment you start.

Companies do something specific. They put a wall between your business debts and your own things. That matters when there is real money or real risk involved. For a mowing round or a print shop run out of a bedroom, there is usually nothing on either side of the wall yet.

Every page that told you about the five states also sells company formation. Look at the button at the bottom of those pages. That is not a reason they are lying. It is a reason nobody there was ever going to write the sentence you actually needed, which is that you probably do not need this.

Before you do anything with this

Rules change. This page was last checked on the date at the top, and the Minnesota story is proof that these things move without anyone announcing it.

Go and read your own state's law. Everything you need is linked below. And before you file anything or pay anyone, show an adult what you found.