Montana Foreign Registration · Registered agent
Naming and changing a Montana registered agent
The $70 Montana application names the first registered agent of a foreign LLC, and replacing that agent later carries no state fee. The agent is either a listed commercial agent or an unlisted individual or business identified by name and address, located at a street or rural route address inside the state. A departing agent's resignation becomes effective at day 31 or when a replacement is appointed, whichever comes first.
Two kinds of agent
Montana's Model Registered Agents Act distinguishes a commercial registered agent from a noncommercial one. A commercial agent is a person or business, from Montana or elsewhere, that appears on the Secretary of State's list. A noncommercial agent is anyone not listed who serves an LLC as its agent. The LLC's filing names the commercial agent or, where there is none, gives the noncommercial agent's name and address.
The address
What goes in the filing is a street or rural route address in Montana, with a Montana mailing address too when it differs. A mailbox alone will not do. Naming the agent is the LLC's representation that the agent has agreed to act. The Secretary of State informs agents of filings naming them, on a list kept for at least 14 calendar days.
What the agent does
The act limits an agent's duties. The agent forwards to the LLC any process, notice or demand served on it, at the address most recently supplied. It gives the notices the act requires. A noncommercial agent keeps its own filing current, and a commercial agent keeps its listing current. Service on the agent is service on the LLC, and it must be in writing. Appointing an agent in Montana does not by itself make the LLC answerable in Montana courts.
Replacing the agent
A statement of change from the LLC names the entity and sets out the information that will apply from then on. It is effective on filing, the LLC's governors need not approve it, and naming a new agent again represents that the agent agreed. In the portal the route is: sign in, search for the business, open the record, click Filing Actions in the right-hand bar, and complete Registered Agent/Office Change by Entity. There is no state fee.
If your agent steps down
To step down, an agent files a statement naming the entity and itself, with an address for the notice it must send. A resignation becomes effective 31 days after it is filed unless a new agent is appointed sooner. The agent promptly tells the LLC in writing when the statement was filed, and may leave whether or not the LLC is in good standing. The LLC then needs a replacement, since two months or more without an agent or office can lead to revocation, as can an unreported change or resignation after 60 days.
If no agent can be reached
When an LLC that filed an agent no longer has one, or the agent cannot be served with reasonable diligence, the LLC can be served under whatever judicial rules apply. After a revocation, the Secretary of State receives claims from the authorized period and forwards the papers to the principal office on file.
Using our agent service
To use us as your Montana registered agent, say so when you order. In either case, give the agent a person to forward papers to.
Choosing between the two kinds
A commercial agent is set up to receive papers and to maintain its listing. An LLC with a Montana office can use an individual or the LLC's own manager if the manager lives there and has a qualifying address. The cost of an agent is the agent's own fee, not a state fee.
Questions for a candidate agent
Find out whether the agent is a commercial agent on the Secretary of State's list, which address it will use, how fast and by what means papers are passed on, its charges, and the notice it gives before resigning.
Agent questions
Is a mailbox acceptable as the agent address?
No. Montana wants a street or rural route address.
Does changing the agent cost anything?
No state fee.
When is a resignation effective?
At the 31-day mark, unless a successor is appointed before then.
Our fee and Montana's
Get authority in Montana
+ $70 Montana fee
- The Montana certificate of authority application, written from your replies
- A compliance statement about your home-state law, ready to sign
- A registered agent in Montana, whether ours or one you pick
- Montana's issued certificate, forwarded to you
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
$199
Montana
Get Montana authorityMontana charges $70, and $50 more for each series named in a series LLC. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Montana Secretary of State, business filing fees
- Montana Secretary of State, filing fee schedule (PDF)
- Montana Code 35-8-1002, consequences of transacting business without authority
- MCA 35-7-105, appointment of a registered agent
- MCA 35-7-102, definitions in the Model Registered Agents Act
- MCA 35-7-104, addresses in registered agent filings
- MCA 35-7-114, duties of a registered agent
- MCA 35-7-113, service of process on entities
- MCA 35-7-115, jurisdiction
- MCA 35-7-108, change of registered agent by the entity
- Montana Secretary of State help center, find or change a registered agent
- MCA 35-7-111, resignation of a registered agent
- MCA 35-8-1011, grounds for revocation
- MCA 35-8-1012, procedure for and effect of revocation
Need to be authorized in Montana?
Order now and the application is prepared from your answers.