Limited liability companies (LLC) originated from German law in the form of the Gesellschaft mit beschrnkter Haftung (GmbH) in 1892. Since then, the LLC has been introduced in the business community in the civil law countries within Europe and Latin America and in the common law countries in North America and has become the entity of choice for many purposes. Limited liability companies are flexible hybrids entities that are designed to take advantage of the significant benefits which can be obtained by having the legal status and limited liability of a corporation, with an informal management and decision making structure while, at the same time, having the ability to be taxed in many jurisdictions as a pass through entity. As such, they are the ideal structure for closely held businesses. In addition, many sophisticated estate planners also use them for their asset protection qualities and to reduce estate taxes.