LLC Name Reservation Requirements in Wyoming
At a glance
| Governing law and optional reservation scope | Optional Wyoming LLC name reservation under W.S. § 17-29-109; LLC formation uses separate articles (§ 17-29-201) |
|---|---|
| Who may apply and for which LLC or series name | Any person; includes unavailable foreign-LLC assumed/fictitious name. § 17-29-109 lists no separate name-change or series applicant route |
| Name availability, designator, distinguishability, and consent | Secretary must find name available; LLC designator and records-distinguishability rules apply (§§ 17-29-108, -109; 17-16-401(b), (f)); § 17-16-401(c) addresses corporate consent |
| Application, signer, form, and filing office | Applicant name/address and proposed name; deliver to Secretary for filing (§ 17-29-109(a)); general signed-record and permitted-medium rules (§§ 17-29-203, -205) |
| Reservation, renewal, transfer, and cancellation fees | § 17-29-210(a)(iv) authorizes cost-based fees where no fee is fixed; current Secretary of State LLC schedule lists $60 for 'Any Other Filing'; no separate reservation/transfer line |
| Term, start date, and statutory exclusive use | Secretary reserves available name for applicant's exclusive use for 120 days; § 17-29-109(a) gives no separate start-date formula |
| Renewal, filing window, and repeat limits | § 17-29-109 states no renewal method, filing window, or repeat limit; do not import the corporate name rule in § 17-16-402 |
| Transfer notice, signer, and transferee details | Owner transfers by signed notice filed with Secretary, stating transferee name/address (§ 17-29-109(b)) |
| Cancellation, withdrawal, revocation, and scope of name rights | § 17-29-109 states no applicant cancellation or agency revocation route; entity-name reservation alone does not settle formation, trademark, trade-name, or domain rights |
Requirements one by one
Applicant and proposed name
W.S. § 17-29-109(a) lets a person apply to reserve an LLC name. That includes a fictitious or assumed name for a foreign LLC whose own name is unavailable. The section asks for the applicant's name and address and the proposed name, delivered to the Secretary of State for filing. It does not list a separate applicant category for an LLC changing its name or for a series.
The Secretary reserves the name only after finding it available. Under § 17-29-108(a), an ordinary LLC name needs a listed LLC designator and must be distinguishable in the Secretary's records under § 17-16-401(b). The test in § 17-16-401(f) looks to letters and numerals, not punctuation, capitalization, singular/plural changes, or entity designators. The consent exception in § 17-16-401(c) is expressly written for a corporation; it is not a stated shortcut for this LLC reservation.
Filing and fee
The general filing rules in § 17-29-203 and § 17-29-205 require an appropriately signed, captioned record in a medium the Secretary permits. § 17-29-210(b) also addresses who signs LLC documents other than articles. For this application by a person, § 17-29-203(a)(vii) provides the general signer rule; an agent may sign under subsection (b).
§ 17-29-210(a)(iv) authorizes a cost-based fee for filing services without a separately fixed fee. The current Secretary of State fee schedule, effective July 1, 2026, lists $60 for LLC “Amendment/Dissolution/Any Other Filing.” It has no separate LLC reservation or transfer line. Its $30 trade-name reservation line belongs to a different filing category.
Hold and transfer
If the name is available, § 17-29-109(a) reserves it for the applicant's exclusive use for 120 days. The section does not supply a separate first-day calculation, renewal procedure, renewal window, or repeat-application limit. The owner can transfer the reservation by filing a signed notice with the Secretary that states the transferee's name and address (§ 17-29-109(b)).
What trips people up
The similarly placed corporate name rule in § 17-16-402 calls its 120-day period “nonrenewable”; Wyoming's LLC reservation section does not use that word. A separate trade-name filing also has a different schedule line. Use the LLC provision and the LLC fee classification for this reservation.
Common questions
Must the LLC already be formed?
Section 17-29-109(a) says a person may apply. Forming an LLC requires separate articles under § 17-29-201(a); the reservation itself is not those articles.
Does a reservation establish trademark or domain rights?
No such right is stated in § 17-29-109. It grants exclusive use of the reserved entity name for the statutory hold. Section 17-29-108(b) treats trade names separately, and the reservation does not itself decide ownership or use of a mark or domain.
Statutes and sources
Wyoming's current official Title 17 PDF supplies §§ 17-29-108, -109, -201, -203, -205, -210, and 17-16-401 to -402; the Secretary of State's July 2026 fee schedule supplies the published LLC filing category. Both were accessed September 23, 2026. The operative text is quoted in the source records above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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