LLC Name Reservation Requirements in South Dakota

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Applicant and name check

Under § 47-34A-106, four groups may seek a reservation: a person intending to organize a domestic LLC, a domestic or registered foreign LLC intending to adopt a name, a foreign LLC intending to register, or a person intending to organize a foreign LLC and register it in South Dakota. The provision does not list a registered-series route. The distinct foreign-LLC name registration under § 47-34A-107 has its own application and annual renewal rules; those are not a renewal option for this 120-day reservation.

The Secretary must find the proposed name available before reserving it. Under § 47-34A-105, an LLC name needs a permitted designator and record distinguishability from protected entity, reserved, registered, and specified fictitious names. Its consent-and-undertaking or court-judgment routes concern authorization to use a nondistinguishable name, not an express right to reserve it over an existing hold.

Application, fee, and term

Under § 47-34A-106, the applicant executes an application and files it with the Secretary of State. The currently linked agency form asks for the applicant's name, principal-office address, proposed name, the qualifying applicant route, and an authorized-person signature. It lists a $25 filing fee; the office's LLC forms page still links that form. The fee list in § 47-34A-212 states no separate reservation, transfer, or cancellation charge; verify any transfer charge with the office before filing.

If the Secretary finds the name available, § 47-34A-106 reserves it for the applicant's exclusive use for 120 days. The section supplies no separate first-day calculation. The same applicant may not again reserve the same name until more than 60 days after the last 120-day period expired. This creates a gap rather than continuous renewal.

Transfer and end of hold

Under § 47-34A-106, the applicant may transfer the hold to another person through a notice filed with the Secretary. The applicant for whom the name was reserved must execute it, and the notice must specify the transferee's name and address. The section gives no applicant cancellation or agency revocation procedure; the stated hold lasts 120 days.

What trips people up

A foreign LLC may register its name under § 47-34A-107 and renew that registration for successive years in an October 1–December 31 window. Those terms belong to a different procedure and cannot erase § 47-34A-106's more-than-60-day wait before the same applicant reserves the same name again. A reservation is an entity-record hold, not a decision on trademark rights, actual name use, domains, or LLC formation.

Common questions

May another person receive the hold before it expires?

Yes. Section 47-34A-106 permits transfer by a notice executed by the original applicant and filed with the Secretary, naming and addressing the transferee.

Does the $25 shown on the form cover a transfer?

The current reservation application lists $25 for that application. Section 47-34A-212 does not price a reservation transfer; the current filing office should confirm any charge for the separate notice.

Statutes and sources

The current official § 47-34A-105, § 47-34A-106, § 47-34A-107, and § 47-34A-212 supply the name, reservation, registration, and fee context. The Secretary's reservation form and LLC forms page supply current published administrative details. All were accessed September 23, 2026; the operative passages are quoted in the source records above.