How to form a Montana PLLC

How do you form a Montana PLLC?

1. 1

   Confirm members and managers are qualified

   Members must be persons authorized to render a service the articles permit, or qualifying partnerships and professional entities (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1304), and at least half of the managers must be qualified (§ 35-8-1303). Services are rendered only through persons permitted in Montana (§ 35-8-1305). The Secretary of State says a professional LLC must provide a copy of its filed articles to each licensing authority with jurisdiction.

   Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1304 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1303 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1305 · Montana Secretary of State: Business Structures

2. 2

   Put a PLLC designator in the name

   The name must contain "professional limited liability company", "professional limited company", "professional l.l.c.", "professional llc", "p.l.l.c." or "pllc", and must conform to any rule of the licensing authority over the professional service in the articles (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1302).

   Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-1302

3. 3

   File Articles of Organization online

   File the Articles of Organization for Domestic Limited Liability Company in the Secretary of State's Business Filing Portal. The articles must state that the company is a professional limited liability company and the professional service or services it will render, with the registered agent, principal office and management details (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-202(1)). Pay the filing fee set by the state.

   Have LLCity prepare and file it ›

   Source: Montana Secretary of State: Business Filing Portal forms · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-202 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-102

4. 4

   Appoint a Montana registered agent

   The articles must give the information § 35-7-105(1) requires: the name of a commercial registered agent, or the name and address of a noncommercial registered agent (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-202(1)(d)). An address in the filing must be a street address or rural route box number in Montana, plus a Montana mailing address if different (§ 35-7-104).

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

   Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-202 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-7-105 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-7-104

5. 5

   Adopt an operating agreement

   Montana defines the operating agreement as an agreement on the conduct of the company's business and affairs and the relations among the members, managers and the company that binds all members (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-102(23)). Where it conflicts with the articles, it controls as to managers, members and transferees (§ 35-8-202(3)).

   Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-102 · Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-202

6. 6

   File the annual report and the board statement

   File the annual report with the Secretary of State between January 1 and April 15 each year, starting the year after formation; a PLLC's report states that all members and at least half of the managers are qualified persons (Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-208). Before April 15 each year, also file a statement of qualification with each licensing authority over the company's services (§ 35-8-208(6)).

   Source: Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-208

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

The Montana professional LLC

Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?

Neither part 13 nor the Secretary of State names a licensing-board approval before the articles are filed. The Secretary of State says professional limited liability companies have the same requirements as professional corporations, which must provide a copy of the filed articles to each licensing authority with jurisdiction (for corporations, Mont. Code Ann. § 35-4-208). By statute a PLLC must file, before April 15 each year, a statement of qualification naming its members and managers with each licensing authority over a service described in its articles (§ 35-8-208(6)).

Which occupations does Montana say must use a PLLC?

A general licensed-profession test. Mont. Code Ann. § 35-8-102(26): "professional service" means a service that may lawfully be rendered only by persons licensed under a Montana licensing law and may not lawfully be rendered by a limited liability company that is not a professional limited liability company. A PLLC is organized for a single profession, or for two or more professions or with business purposes where the licensing laws and rules permit (§ 35-8-1301). Members are limited to the persons in § 35-8-1304, and at least half of the managers must be qualified persons (§ 35-8-1303).

Montana 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 Montana LLC’s?

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

A PLLC files the same Articles of Organization as any Montana LLC, so the ordinary rule applies: the articles must give the information required by Mont. Code Ann. § 35-7-105(1), the name of a commercial registered agent or the name and address of a noncommercial registered agent (§ 35-8-202(1)(d)), and an address must be a street address or rural route box number in Montana with a Montana mailing address if different (§ 35-7-104).

What else Montana requires

Montana has no separate PLLC form: the Business Filing Portal lists only the Articles of Organization for Domestic Limited Liability Company, and the PLLC status comes from the designation and service statement required in the articles (§ 35-8-202(1)(g)). The annual report is due between January 1 and April 15 (§ 35-8-208(3)); the separate annual statement of qualification goes to the licensing authority, not the Secretary of State (§ 35-8-208(6)).