A corporation is an autonomous entity that exist separate and apart from its shareholders.  As a result, a claimant who obtains a judgment against a corporation cannot look to the assets of the shareholders to satisfy the debt created by the judgment.  This principle of law is equally applicable to parent corporation where one of its subdivision became a judgment debtor.  In short, the liability of a corporation is limited to its assets. This limited liability concept is the principle reason why may people decide to conduct in a corporate form.

There are times, however, when the courts will disregard this limited liability concept and “pierce the corporate veil” in order to allow a creditor to attach the assets of an individual shareholder or a inter-related business entity to satisfy a corporate liability.  A court will allow this unusable remedy where a corporation is used to create a fraud, manipulate an injustice or to otherwise pervert the law.  Of course, the proponent of a request to pierce the corporate veil has the responsibility to prove a rather complex collection of facts in order to succeed.