How to form a Michigan PLLC

How do you form a Michigan PLLC?

1. 1

   Check licensure and whether a PLLC is required

   An LLC providing services in a learned profession (dentist, osteopathic physician, physician, surgeon, clergy, attorney) must form under article 9. Each member and manager must be licensed in a service the company renders; for public health code services all must hold the same licence, subject to MCL 450.4904(3) and (4).

   Source: MCL 450.4201 · MCL 450.4102 · MCL 450.4904 · LARA form CSCL/CD-701

2. 2

   Include a professional LLC designator

   MCL 450.4903(3): the name "shall contain the words 'professional limited liability company' or the abbreviation 'P.L.L.C.' or 'P.L.C.' with or without periods or other punctuation." The Bureau's form accepts PLLC and PLC.

   Source: MCL 450.4903 · LARA form CSCL/CD-701

3. 3

   File form CSCL/CD-701 Articles of Organization

   File CSCL/CD-701 with the Corporations Division online through the MiBusiness Registry portal or by mail. Article II states the specific professional services, as MCL 450.4903(2) requires, and Article V certifies that all members and managers will be licensed. Pay the filing fee set by the state.

   Have LLCity prepare and file it ›

   Source: LARA form CSCL/CD-701 · MCL 450.4903 · LARA Corporations Division FAQs

4. 4

   Name a resident agent and registered office

   Every Michigan LLC must continuously maintain a registered office in Michigan and a resident agent: a Michigan resident whose business office or residence is the registered office, or a qualifying corporation or LLC with a business office there. The form asks for the street address of the registered office's physical location.

   What Michigan requires of your agent, and how we serve as it ›

   Source: MCL 450.4207 · LARA form CSCL/CD-701

5. 5

   Put the operating agreement in writing

   Michigan defines the operating agreement as a written agreement of the sole member, or among all members, about the company's affairs and business. It may add restrictions on transferring membership interests.

   Source: MCL 450.4102 · MCL 450.4908

6. 6

   File the annual statement and PLLC annual report

   By February 15 each year, file the annual statement (MCL 450.4207(3)) and the PLLC annual report (MCL 450.4909) listing all members and managers and certifying their licensure; a company formed after September 30 skips the next February 15. Two missed years can cost good standing.

   Source: MCL 450.4207 · MCL 450.4909 · LARA Corporations Division FAQs

Steps checked against the sources linked under each one on 12 November 2026.

The Michigan professional LLC

Which occupations does Michigan say must use a PLLC?

A general licensed-service test, a mandatory list, then profession-specific ownership rules. MCL 450.4902(b) defines "professional service" as a type of personal service to the public that requires a license or other legal authorization as a condition precedent, including but not limited to services of a certified or other public accountant, chiropractor, dentist, optometrist, veterinarian, osteopathic physician, physician, surgeon, podiatrist, chiropodist, physician's assistant, architect, professional engineer, land surveyor or attorney-at-law. MCL 450.4201 requires an LLC providing services in a learned profession to comply with article 9; MCL 450.4102(2)(t) defines those as services of a dentist, osteopathic physician, physician, surgeon, doctor of divinity or other clergy, or attorney-at-law. MCL 450.4904: every member and manager must be a licensed person in one or more of the services rendered (subsection 1); for a service within the public health code all members and managers must be licensed in the same service, subject to the mixed-practice rules in subsections (3) and (4) for chiropractic, medicine, osteopathic medicine and surgery, podiatric medicine and surgery and physician's assistants; public accounting requires more than half of the equity and voting rights to be held directly or beneficially by licensed individuals (subsection 7).

Michigan also offers a corporation under a professional statute

A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.

Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Michigan LLC’s?

No. Michigan sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Michigan LLC files under.

Michigan's term is resident agent (MCL 450.4207), and article 9 does not vary the requirement for a professional company. The professional filing differs in what it must state, the specific professional service and the licensure of every member and manager, not in who receives service of process.

What else Michigan requires

Michigan requires some licensed practices to use the professional form and leaves others a choice. An LLC providing services of a dentist, osteopathic physician, physician, surgeon, clergy or attorney must comply with article 9 (MCL 450.4201, 450.4102(2)(t)). By contrast, MCL 450.4904(6) lets an ordinary limited liability company practise architecture, professional engineering or professional surveying if not less than two-thirds of its members or managers are licensed in Michigan, while a professional limited liability company practising those services needs all of its members and managers licensed. MCL 450.4905 preserves personal liability: a member, manager, employee or agent remains personally and fully liable for their own negligent or wrongful acts and for those of anyone under their direct supervision and control, and the company is liable up to the full value of its property. A PLLC files both the annual statement (MCL 450.4207(3)) and a PLLC annual report (MCL 450.4909) by February 15.