LLC Name Reservation Requirements in Vermont
At a glance
| Governing law and optional reservation scope | Optional LLC name hold under 11 V.S.A. § 4006, which sends applicants to the general business-name rule in § 1652 |
|---|---|
| Who may apply and for which LLC or series name | Any person may apply; §§ 4006 and 1652 do not distinguish domestic, foreign, preformation, name-change, or registered-series applicants |
| Name availability, designator, distinguishability, and consent | Secretary must find name available; ordinary LLC name needs a listed designator and must differ from existing entities and listed reserved names. Consent plus undertaking or final judgment can authorize conflicting name use (§§ 4005, 1652) |
| Application, signer, form, and filing office | Deliver application to Secretary of State stating applicant name/address and proposed name; § 1652 states no application signature or medium requirement |
| Reservation, renewal, transfer, and cancellation fees | $25 application; $20 transfer notice; $20 withdrawal notice (§ 4012(a)(5), (6), (21)); no separate renewal fee listed |
| Term, start date, and statutory exclusive use | Exclusive use for 120 days if Secretary finds name available; § 1652 states no separate start-date formula |
| Renewal, filing window, and repeat limits | § 1652 states no renewal, filing window, additional term, or same-applicant repeat limit; it does not expressly forbid a later new application |
| Transfer notice, signer, and transferee details | Owner files transfer notice with Secretary stating transferee name/address; $20 fee (§§ 1652(b), 4012(a)(6)); check the office’s signing requirements |
| Cancellation, withdrawal, revocation, and scope of name rights | § 4012(a)(21) prices a withdrawal notice at $20; § 1652 gives no contents, timing, cancellation, or revocation process. Hold alone does not form an LLC or settle mark, domain, or actual-use rights |
Requirements one by one
Who may apply, and what name qualifies
Section 4006 makes a reservation available to “a person” and directs the filing to § 1652. Neither section lists separate domestic, foreign, name-change, or series applicants. The name still must be available in the Secretary of State's records before the hold is granted. An ordinary Vermont LLC name must carry one of the designators listed in § 4005(a)(1), and § 4005(b)-(d) tests distinguishability against existing entities and listed reservations, permits limited conflicting-name use, and covers authorized or applying foreign LLCs. Its subsection (c)'s consent-and-undertaking or final-judgment route authorizes a conflicting name use; the reservation section does not say that either route replaces its availability check.
Application and fee
The § 1652(a) application states the applicant's name and address and the name sought. It is delivered to the Secretary of State for filing. The LLC fee list in § 4012(a)(5) charges $25 for the application. Section 1652 names the applicant and proposed-name fields; confirm the current filing form and signing method with the Secretary of State.
Term and transfer
If the Secretary finds the name available, § 1652(a) requires a 120-day exclusive-use reservation for the applicant. The section gives no separate start-date formula or renewal procedure. The owner may transfer the hold by filing a notice that identifies the transferee's name and address; The transfer notice costs $20 under § 4012(a)(6). Confirm the filing office’s signing method.
What trips people up
The current short reservation provision is a 2025 rewrite: § 4006 now points to the general business-name procedure in § 1652. A pre-2025 account of § 4006 may give the wrong filing steps. The fee schedule also lists a $20 notice of withdrawal of reserved name in § 4012(a)(21), while § 1652 supplies no withdrawal contents, signer, or timing. Confirm the Secretary of State's current filing process before using that route.
A reservation is an exclusive state entity-name hold for its stated term. It does not itself form or qualify an LLC, establish a registered series, or decide trademark, trade-name, domain, actual-use, or infringement rights.
Common questions
Does the statute promise an automatic renewal?
Section 1652 states a 120-day term but no renewal filing, window, extra term, or repeat limit. A later application would have to pass the Secretary's availability finding again.
Does the reservation itself create an LLC?
No. Section 4006 authorizes a preliminary name reservation. Under § 4022(a)-(b), a person must deliver articles of organization to organize an LLC; the company ordinarily comes into existence when they are filed.
Statutes and sources
The current official 11 V.S.A. §§ 4005-4006 and 4012 set the LLC name standard, cross-reference the general reservation procedure, and price the application, transfer, and withdrawal. Section 1652 states the application, hold, and transfer terms. Both compiled chapters were accessed September 23, 2026. The Legislature's 2026 acts-affecting-statutes publication, checked the same day, disclosed no 2026 act changing these sections.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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