Can a business name have both an "indovidual owner" and a "company owner"

[Simple1]

see title, please help?

[FletcherTax]

As far as I am aware, a trading name can only be owned by 1 entity.

An individual and a Company are two different entities - so I would assume - no.

It is relatively easy to change ownership (signatures of all outgoing and incoming owners required) via a free form.

[akagrp]

Hello

With regards to can a business name have an individual owner and a company, the general answer is yes. A business name can often be separate to the actual business. For example it is common that business owners will register business names, domains, etc in an other entity from the one that is conducting the trading to protect the names should they be sued or go into liquidation, and then assign a license to rights to use.

Most states around Australia have the equivalent of the department of Fair Trading as in NSW, this is the body that maintains business names in addition to ASIC who is for entities trading as a company.

For example you could register Simply1 and have it be owned by an individual and another entity. As long as the name is not used by someone else or is a name that is similar to one already register where it can confuse the general public.

In effect having two name as owners would indicate the business is run by a partnership. Where one of the partners is an individual and the other a company.

Feel free to post if not sure.

Please note the above should not be taken as professional advice, it is general in nature and one should always consult a suitably qualified person before acting on such advice.

[FletcherTax]

I stand corrected.

As Anna correctly mentioned, more than 1 applicant is allowed for a business name.

The theory on the Department of Fair Trading website suggests otherwise, yet their Application Form allows it.

If you are going to go ahead with this - I would advise to consider the possible consequences of such a step.