How to get a Washington State LLC in 9 steps

Washington State LLC registration is fairly straightforward, whether you’re a solo entrepreneur or planning to build a business with multiple partners.

Step 1: Name your Washington LLC

Names must comply with Washington’s naming requirements. The following are the most important requirements to keep in mind:

• Your business name must include the words limited liability company, limited liability co., LLC, or L.L.C.
• Your name must not contain “cooperative,” “partnership,” “corporation,” “incorporated,” or abbreviations of those words.
• The business name cannot contain certain restricted words without proper licensing or permits, including “bank,” “banking,” “banker,” “trust,” or combinations of “industrial,” “loan,” “building,” “savings,” “home,” “association,” or “society.”
• The name must be different from existing businesses in the state. You can conduct a Washington State LLC search on the Washington Secretary of State's website to determine if a particular business name is in use.

If you aren’t ready to register your limited liability company but are concerned your name might be taken by someone else, you can reserve it for a small fee. In Washington, names may be reserved for up to 180 days by paying a $30 fee and submitting a name reservation form with the Secretary of State.

Step 2: Choose your registered agent

A registered agent is someone who will receive legal documents, government correspondence, tax forms, as well as notice of lawsuits on behalf of the LLC. Washington requires you to appoint a registered agent for your LLC. You can appoint yourself or an employee of your LLC, or use a registered agent service.

Many business owners choose a professional registered agent to avoid having their home or office address listed publicly. The registered agent must have an address in Washington and must be on-site and available to accept documents during regular business hours.

If you decide to change your registered agent, you can file a Change of Registered Agent form with the Washington Secretary of State. There is no fee. Keeping your registered agent information up to date is important to stay compliant with state regulations.

LegalZoom’s Registered Agent Services can also handle this administrative duty while shielding your privacy and saving you from unexpected visits from legal servers at work or home. 

Step 3: Prepare and file a certificate of formation

The certificate of formation officially establishes your LLC by laying out basic information about it. In other states, this is known as the articles of organization. To prepare your certificate, you usually need the following information:

• Your LLC name and principal office address (can’t be a P.O. box).
• The name, address, phone number, email address, and signature of your registered agent.
• The duration or time period over which the LLC will exist, which may be “perpetual”—that is, ongoing until the business is dissolved. If your LLC exists for a purpose that will end at a specified date, you can enter that date, and the business will be administratively dissolved.
• An effective date of formation—either the “date of filing” or a later date not more than 90 days after the date of filing.
• A return address, in addition to the registered agent’s address, is where you want the certificate to be sent.
• The name, address, and signature of the person forming the LLC, called the executor.

To properly register your Washington LLC, you’ll file the certificate of formation with the Washington Secretary of State Corporate Commission. You can file online for $200, which is the fastest option, or submit your paperwork by mail for $180. Once you file your certificate, the Washington Secretary of State will review the filing. If the certificate is approved, the LLC becomes a legal business entity.