LLC Name Reservation Requirements in Indiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Applicant and series scope

Section 23-0.5-3-3(a) says “A person may reserve the exclusive right to the use of a name,” so an organizer, existing LLC, or foreign LLC need not fit separate applicant categories. Section 23-0.5-1-2 applies this chapter to LLCs under IC 23-18 and series LLCs under IC 23-18.1. A master LLC name must add “-S” after its corporate ending, while a limited-liability series name ordinarily includes the entire master name and the word “series” under § 23-18.1-6-7. These are name rules, not a separate series-reservation filing route.

Availability and application

The Secretary of State must find the name available before reserving it. Under § 23-0.5-3-1(a), the record comparison reaches existing Indiana filing entities, certain recently dissolved entities, registered foreign entities, reserved names, and registered assumed names. An entity's consent may support a conflicting nonreserved name, but subsection (b) states, “Consent may not be given for the use of a reserved name.” An LLC designator is required for its actual entity name under § 23-0.5-3-2(d), while § 23-0.5-3-3(a) expressly excludes entity-type words from the proposed name stated in the reservation application.

The electronic application goes to the Secretary of State and states the applicant's name and address and the proposed name. The general entity-filing rule in § 23-0.5-2-1(a) requires an authorized signature and the signer's name and capacity, if any. The reservation application costs $10 under § 23-0.5-9-36.

Term, renewal, and transfer

The available name is held for the applicant's exclusive use for renewable 120-day periods under § 23-0.5-3-3(a). The general filing provision, § 23-0.5-2-3, makes an entity filing effective at filing unless a different permitted time applies; the reservation section does not give a separate start-date formula. A renewal application costs $10 under § 23-0.5-9-37. Neither section supplies a renewal window or count limit.

The holder may transfer the reservation only to another person “that is not an individual.” Section 23-0.5-3-3(b) requires an electronic signed notice in a record with the transferee's name and address; § 23-0.5-9-38 charges $10.

What trips people up

Section 23-0.5-9-39 recognizes a cancellation filing and makes it free, but the operative reservation section does not say who must sign a cancellation or prescribe its timing. The general pre-effect withdrawal procedure in § 23-0.5-2-4 concerns a filing before it takes effect; it does not itself describe cancellation of an already effective name hold. The name reservation addresses the state entity record and does not decide trademark, domain, or actual-use priority.

Common questions

Can the holder transfer the reservation to an individual?

No. Section 23-0.5-3-3(b) limits the transferee to another person “that is not an individual.”

Does an electronic name application form the LLC or create a series?

No. Section 23-0.5-3-3 governs only the temporary name hold; the separate LLC and series statutes govern their creation.

Statutes and sources

Indiana's current official 2026 code PDFs supply the quoted general scope, definitions, filing rules, name and reservation rules, series name rule, and fees. All were accessed September 23, 2026.