The Utah professional LLC
What creates it in Utah
Utah Code Title 48, ch. 3a (Utah Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act), Part 11, Professional Services Companies, §§ 48-3a-1101 to 48-3a-1112. Renumbered and amended by ch. 92, Laws of Utah 2026 (2026 General Session), effective 1 October 2026, to Utah Code Title 16, ch. 20, Part 9, Professional Services Companies, §§ 16-20-901 to 16-20-912.
What the name must contain
§ 48-3a-1104, and from 1 October 2026 § 16-20-904, Name limitations. In lieu of the ordinary limited liability company designator the name must contain the words "professional limited liability company" or the abbreviations "P.L.L.C." or "PLLC", both in its certificate of organization and in a report or document filed with the division. The name must also conform with any rule made by the regulating board having jurisdiction over the profession described in the certificate of organization, and may not state or imply a purpose other than the one authorized. There is a release valve most summaries miss: the company may hold itself out to the public under a name that carries only the ordinary LLC designator.
Does a licensing board have to approve the filing?
Neither act makes a regulating board's approval a condition of filing. Both preserve board authority instead: § 16-11-11 (professional corporations) and § 48-3a-1108, from 1 October 2026 § 16-20-908 (professional services companies), each provide that the act does not restrict or limit the authority and duty of the regulating board over the individual or the practice. What the Division does require is on paper at filing and again each year: a professional services company's certificate of organization must describe the profession to be practiced and give the name and street address of each member or manager (§ 48-3a-1103, from 1 October 2026 § 16-20-903), a professional corporation is incorporated by one or more individuals each of whom is licensed to render the professional service (§ 16-11-4), and the corporation files an annual report certifying that all of its shareholders are duly licensed to render the same specific professional services for which it was organized or otherwise qualify under the applicable licensing act (§ 16-11-14).
Which occupations Utah says must use it
Enumerated, twice over, and each entity is limited to one profession. "Professional services" for a professional services company is a closed list at § 48-3a-1101 (from 1 October 2026 § 16-20-901), naming public accountants, architects, attorneys, chiropractors, dentists, professional engineers, naturopaths, nurses, optometrists, osteopathic physicians and surgeons, pharmacists, physicians and surgeons, physician assistants, physical therapists, podiatric physicians, psychologists and real estate principal brokers, associate brokers and sales agents, among others, each tied to its own licensing act. "Professional service" for a professional corporation is a parallel list at § 16-11-2(3). A professional corporation may be organized only to render one specific type of professional service plus ancillary services (§ 16-11-6), and a professional services company likewise may provide only one specific type of professional service plus ancillary services (§ 48-3a-1106, from 1 October 2026 § 16-20-906).
Utah also offers a corporation under a professional statute
A practice choosing between the two forms is choosing between these rules and the ones above.
What creates it in Utah
Utah Code Title 16, ch. 11, Professional Corporation Act, §§ 16-11-1 to 16-11-17. From 1 October 2026 the chapter's name section is repealed and replaced by Utah Code § 16-1a-303(7), and § 16-11-17 applies the new Provisions Applicable to All Business Entities (Title 16, ch. 1a).
What the name must contain
§ 16-11-16, Corporate name, and from 1 October 2026 § 16-1a-303(7). The name of each professional corporation as set forth in its articles of incorporation shall contain the terms "professional corporation" or "P.C.", may not contain the words "incorporated" or "inc.", and may not state or imply a purpose other than the one permitted by § 16-11-6 and its articles. A person other than a professional corporation formed or registered under the chapter may not use "professional corporation" or "P.C." in its name in Utah.
Does the agent requirement differ from an ordinary Utah LLC’s?
No. Utah sets no separate agent requirement for a professional entity — it is the same requirement an ordinary Utah LLC files under.
Part 11 of the LLC act and the Professional Corporation Act add requirements about the name, the stated profession and who may hold an interest, but neither adds or varies a registered agent requirement. The general provisions apply, which from 1 October 2026 are Utah Code Title 16, ch. 1a, Part 4, Registered Agent of an Entity.
What else Utah requires
Utah calls its professional LLC a "professional services company", and a reader searching the Utah Code for "professional limited liability company" will mostly find the phrase in the name rule rather than in the title of the form. The general entity-name statute reinforces the trap: Utah Code § 16-1a-303, effective 1 October 2026, enumerates nonprofit corporations, corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, limited liability companies, limited cooperative associations, professional corporations, benefit limited liability companies and limited liability decentralized autonomous organizations, and never mentions a professional limited liability company, because the PLLC name rule sits in the professional services company part instead. The bigger point for anyone using this record after 30 September 2026: ch. 92 and ch. 93 of the 2026 General Session recodify Utah entity law, moving the LLC act from Title 48, ch. 3a to Title 16, ch. 20, moving the professional services company provisions from Part 11 to Part 9, and repealing § 16-11-16 in favour of § 16-1a-303(7). Both versions are cited above. Read from the Utah Code in September 2026.
Verified against the Utah Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, publisher of the Utah Code; filings are made with the Utah Division of Corporations and Commercial Code, the office named in Utah Code § 16-11-4 (le.utah.gov/xcode/Title48/Chapter3a/48-3a-P11.html) · Statute text: le.utah.gov/xcode/Title16/Chapter20/16-20-P9.html · Last updated September 2026. Utah only — the rules in this cluster differ by jurisdiction, and this page speaks for no other.