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LLC UnpackedEvery filing, unpacked: the fee, the form, the catch.

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Articles of organization, unpacked

The document that turns a plan into a company. File it, pay the fee, and the LLC exists the moment the state approves it. Names, agent and filer all go inside, and the result is public.
Unpacked by the LLC Unpacked editorial team

Inside the term

Also labeled
Certificate of formation, certificate of organization
Sits next to
Organizer stacked with Registered agent stacked with Operating agreement

What to do with it

It is a public record, so assume anyone can read what is inside.

Where states differ

Opened up, filing fees run from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts. See your state's fee.

Where it turns up

You will meet it in these pages: Forming an LLC, unpacked by state, What is inside the agent rule in each state, Second-state registration, unpacked by state.

What the page rests on

  1. Under Mont sits mca.legmt.gov, dated August 2026, as the original document
  2. Under Montana formation fee: Filing fee sits sosmt.gov, dated October 2026, as the original document
  3. Under Montana formation fee: Filing fee sits sosmt.gov, dated October 2026, as the original document
  4. Under M.G.L. c. 156C, sec. 12 sits sec.state.ma.us, dated August 2026, as the original document
  5. Under Massachusetts formation fee: Filing fee sits sec.state.ma.us, dated October 2026, as the original document
  6. Under Massachusetts formation fee: Filing fee sits sec.state.ma.us, dated October 2026, as the original document