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How to Get a Certificate of Good Standing in Montana

Montana calls it the Certificate of Existence and charges $5. Here is how to order it and what must be current first.

At a glance

Document name
Certificate of Existence
State fee
$5
Online ordering
Yes
Typical turnaround
Ordered online through the Secretary of State business portal at biz.sosmt.gov. Montana publishes no turnaround for this certificate in any channel. The fee schedule offers 24 Hour Priority handling at $20 and a 1 Hour Expedite at $100, both charged for all documents rather than for this certificate specifically
Issuing office
Montana SOS ↗

How to order it

  1. Clear any past-due filings first. The Montana SOS will not issue a certificate while you have unpaid tax or an unfiled report. The state-specific requirements are in the points below.
  2. Order it online. Search your LLC in the Montana portal, request the certificate, and download it. Link in the table above.
  3. Pay the $5 fee. Pay by card at checkout. A small card surcharge usually applies.
  4. Use it inside the recipient's window. The certificate has no state expiration, but banks and other states usually want one dated within the last 30 to 90 days. Order it close to when you need it.

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$69 service fee, plus the Montana state fee shown above · A filing service, not a registered agent. Ordering it yourself is cheaper and the steps above are the whole process.
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Full ordering details for Montana

Montana issues a Certificate of Existence to a domestic LLC and a Certificate of AUTHORITY to a foreign one, under MCA 35-8-216. Order through the Business Filing Portal at biz.sosmt.gov; you sign in with an ePass Montana account, which is the state's single sign-on rather than the name of the portal itself. The domestic certificate is $5 standard or $20 expedited. Montana's fee schedule does not carry a separate price for the foreign certificate in its LLC section, so a foreign filer should expect either $5 or the $15 catch-all for a certificate not otherwise provided for, and should confirm at the counter. A Certificate of Fact, for a specific requested fact, is $15.

Processing and expedited tiers: Ordered online through the Secretary of State business portal at biz.sosmt.gov. Montana publishes no turnaround for this certificate in any channel. The fee schedule offers 24 Hour Priority handling at $20 and a 1 Hour Expedite at $100, both charged for all documents rather than for this certificate specifically

Important to know about Montana

  • The Montana annual report is free when filed on or before April 15 and costs $35 after that date. It must be current or the LLC loses good standing. The $20 figure published by most guides is the pre-waiver rate.
  • The Montana SOS Certificate of Existence explicitly states it cannot certify whether state taxes are current. For tax compliance, contact the Montana Department of Revenue separately.
  • Montana has one of the cheapest certificate fees in the country, but no physical certified paper copy option - only the online PDF.

Ordering this to register in another state?

A certificate of good standing from Montana is what the new state asks for when your Montana LLC registers to do business there. Pick the state you are expanding into to see its exact filing, fee, and process.

Find your state-to-state guide · Registering an out-of-state LLC into Montana instead?

Related guides

This page provides general information based on publicly available Montana Secretary of State requirements. It is not legal advice. Names, fees, and procedures can change. Verify with the Montana SOS before ordering.