These are the public and nonprofit bodies in Ohio that help two or more owners start a business together, fund it and settle it when they disagree. Every one is free or low cost, and every link goes to the organization itself.

This is general information as of October 2026; a lawyer in Ohio should read your actual agreement.

Ohio's partnership rules at a glance

  • The law. General partnerships follow the Uniform Partnership Act (1997), Ohio Rev. Code §1776.01. LLCs have their own, newer act, Ohio Rev. Code §1706.01, which replaced the old chapter in 2021. LLPs and LLLPs are both open to any partnership. All 50 states compared.
  • The cost. An LLC files for $99 and owes no annual report and no franchise or minimum tax at all. An LLP registers for $99 and files a $25 biennial report every other year. Fees in every state.
  • Non-competes. No general statute: courts apply reasonableness, weighing the time and area restricted, access to confidential information and hardship to the person restrained, and may modify an overbroad one and enforce it as modified. Every state's rule.
  • When a court can end it. Ohio has only one ground for either an LLC or a partnership: that it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under its own agreement. There is no oppression ground and no statutory buyout. Grounds by state.

Forming and filing

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