LLC Name Reservation Requirements in Idaho
At a glance
| Governing law and optional reservation scope | Idaho Uniform Business Organizations Code, §§ 30-21-102(11), -303; LLC is an entity and any person may optionally reserve an entity name before separate LLC formation under § 30-25-201(d) |
|---|---|
| Who may apply and for which LLC or series name | Any person may apply; § 30-21-303 does not require organizer/member status or distinguish domestic, foreign, name-change, or series applicants. Foreign unregistered LLC also has distinct name registration under § 30-21-304 |
| Name availability, designator, distinguishability, and consent | Secretary must find name available; LLC names need § 30-21-302(d) designator and distinction from listed entity/reserved/registered names; narrow consent/undertaking or final-judgment paths for use (§§ 30-21-301 to -303) |
| Application, signer, form, and filing office | Application states applicant name/address and proposed name, delivered to Secretary; general signed-record, English, physical/electronic delivery and fee rules apply; state form optional except possible cover sheet (§§ 30-21-201 to -202, -303) |
| Reservation, renewal, transfer, and cancellation fees | $20 reservation application; $20 transfer notice. Separate foreign-name registration/renewal $60 each; conditional $20 manual-entry surcharge (§ 30-21-214(b)(32)-(35), (f)) |
| Term, start date, and statutory exclusive use | Secretary reserves an available name for applicant's exclusive use for 120 days; ordinary entity filing takes effect on filing unless a permitted later time applies (§§ 30-21-203, -303(a)) |
| Renewal, filing window, and repeat limits | Section 30-21-303 states no reservation renewal or repeat-application window/count; § 30-21-304(d)'s successive one-year renewals apply to a separate foreign-name registration |
| Transfer notice, signer, and transferee details | Reservation owner delivers signed transfer notice in a record stating transferee name/address to Secretary; $20 fee (§§ 30-21-303(b), -214(b)(33)) |
| Cancellation, withdrawal, revocation, and scope of name rights | General pre-effective filing withdrawal under § 30-21-204; § 30-21-303 specifies no post-effective cancellation or revocation. Name filing does not settle trade-name/unfair-competition rights (§ 30-21-301(g)) |
Requirements one by one
Applicant and name check
Idaho Code § 30-21-102(11) includes LLCs in the chapter's definition of “entity.” Idaho Code § 30-21-303(a) then lets “a person” reserve the exclusive use of an available entity name. The provision does not require the applicant to be an organizer, member, or existing LLC, and it states no separate registered-series route.
The Secretary checks availability under § 30-21-303(a). Idaho Code § 30-21-301 lists the protected entity, reserved, and registered names, says entity-type words do not establish distinguishability, and supplies two narrowly worded consent paths and a final-judgment path for using a conflicting name. Idaho Code § 30-21-302(d) requires an LLC name to contain one of its listed LLC designators. These provisions do not decide whether a particular proposed name will pass the Secretary's record check.
Application, form, and fee
Section 30-21-303(a) requires the applicant's name and address and the proposed name in an application delivered to the Secretary of State. Idaho Code § 30-21-201 requires an authorized signature, the signer's name and capacity, a permitted delivery medium, and payment of the fee; it permits electronic delivery only to the extent the Secretary allows. Under Idaho Code § 30-21-202, a state-provided form is generally optional, although the Secretary may require a prescribed cover sheet.
Idaho Code § 30-21-214 sets $20 for a reservation application and $20 for a transfer notice in subsection (b)(32)-(33). The same fee list prices the separate foreign-name registration and renewal at $60 each. Idaho Code § 30-21-214(f) adds a conditional $20 manual-entry surcharge for a form not generated by the state system, but exempts a form unavailable for online filing.
Term, transfer, and different foreign-name route
Section 30-21-303(a) gives the applicant exclusive use for “one hundred twenty (120) days.” Idaho Code § 30-21-203 supplies the ordinary filing-effective rule: the entity filing takes effect on the filing date and time unless a permitted later time applies. Under § 30-21-303(b), the reservation owner transfers it by delivering a signed notice in a record stating the transferee's name and address.
Idaho Code § 30-21-304 offers a separate name registration to a foreign filing entity not yet registered to do business in Idaho. That registration lasts one year and may be renewed for successive one-year periods by application no earlier than three months before expiration. Those renewal terms belong to registration, not to the 120-day reservation.
What trips people up
The complete § 30-21-303 states no reservation renewal, repeat-application window, post-effective cancellation, or agency revocation procedure. Idaho Code § 30-21-204 permits a general withdrawal before a filed record takes effect; it does not supply a post-effective cancellation rule. Section 30-21-301(g) preserves unfair-competition and trade-name law, so a state record hold does not settle those rights. Idaho Code § 30-25-201(d) says an LLC forms when its certificate of organization becomes effective, a separate event.
Common questions
Can someone reserve a name before organizing the LLC?
Yes. Section 30-21-303(a) allows “a person” to file the reservation application without stating an existing-entity or organizer condition.
Can a foreign LLC use a reservation instead of name registration?
The two statutes provide different filings. Section 30-21-303 offers any person a 120-day reservation; § 30-21-304 offers an unregistered foreign filing entity a one-year registration that can be renewed. The appropriate filing depends on the applicant and the name sought.
Statutes and sources
The official Idaho Uniform Business Organizations Code, Chapter 21, accessed September 23, 2026, contains the quoted text of §§ 30-21-102, 30-21-201 to -204, 30-21-214, and 30-21-301 to -304. The official Idaho LLC formation section, accessed the same day, supplies § 30-25-201(d). Fee amounts above are transcribed from the Legislature's chapter PDF.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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