Cheyenne · Laramie County · Wyoming · (307) 333-7539
A Wyoming LLC costs $100 to form and $60 a year to keep. Anyone charging you a great deal more is selling you something other than the LLC, and you should know what it is before you pay for it.
Deep Waters Law forms and advises companies for Wyoming owners, and for out-of-state owners who form here, and it takes their disputes to court when a deal goes wrong. Francis H. McVay is a trial and appellate lawyer who also forms companies. The documents we write are written by someone who has litigated what happens when documents fail.
Forming a Wyoming LLC: what the State actually requires
Under the Wyoming Limited Liability Company Act (Wyo. Stat. § 17-29-101 and following), an LLC is formed by filing articles of organization with the Secretary of State. The name must include “LLC” or an approved variant (§ 17-29-108). The articles must name a registered agent with a physical Wyoming street address, who consents in writing (§ 17-29-201). The filing fee is $100, and the company exists when the articles are filed.
Every year after that, the company files an annual report and pays a license tax of $60 or two-tenths of a mill on its Wyoming assets, whichever is greater (§ 17-29-209). Miss it by sixty days and the company faces administrative dissolution. Amendments cost $60. A foreign LLC registering here pays $150.
Two things the formation websites do not say plainly. First, everything you file is a public record. Wyoming does not require members or managers to be named in the articles, which is the real source of its privacy reputation, but whatever you do put on the form is public the moment it is filed. Second, the registered agent must have a physical Wyoming address, not a drop box. That requirement has to be kept up every year without fail. Losing your registered agent costs $350 to reinstate.
Wyoming also offers a close LLC for family and closely held companies, and a series LLC, for owners who want separate liability compartments under one filing. Neither is right for most businesses. Both are right for some.
Holding companies
Wyoming is a common home for a parent company that owns other companies, real estate, or equipment, because Wyo. Stat. § 17-29-503 makes a charging order the exclusive remedy of a member’s personal creditor and bars foreclosure on a membership interest. That is stronger protection than most states offer. It does not move your business out of the state where you actually operate, and the privacy is narrower than the filing services suggest. Full detail: Wyoming Holding Companies.
The S-corp question
An “S-corp” is not a kind of Wyoming entity. It is a federal tax election, made on IRS Form 2553, available to an LLC or a corporation. Whether it saves you money depends on self-employment tax, reasonable compensation, and your numbers. That is a question for your accountant first and your lawyer second. The lawyer’s job is to make sure the entity documents permit the election, the ownership qualifies, and the operating agreement does not accidentally break it.
Registered agent service
Every Wyoming entity must keep a registered agent with a physical address in the state to accept lawsuits and official notices. The difference between a law firm and a commercial agent shows when a lawsuit arrives: a law firm reads it, calendars the answer deadline, and calls you the same day. A default judgment because a summons sat in a mail scanner is the most expensive $60 a company ever saved.
Contracts that hold up
Most contract disputes are not about what the contract says. They are about what it does not say: the term nobody defined, the deadline nobody set, the remedy nobody specified, the “reasonable efforts” clause that meant different things to each side. We draft operating agreements, buy-sell agreements, service and vendor contracts, leases, non-competes, and independent contractor agreements, and we review the ones other people send you. The review is often the more valuable service. A contract you did not write was written to protect someone else.
When a deal goes wrong
A fight over an unpaid invoice, a collapsed deal, or an agreement that turned out to mean something else is a contract claim. Wyoming gives you ten years to bring it on a written agreement and eight on an oral one. A fight over how a company you partly own is being run is an owner dispute, where the first question is whether the claim belongs to you or to the company. See Breach of Contract and Business Litigation. [links]
Why this firm
Francis H. McVay is a trial and appellate lawyer. He has prosecuted cases, defended them, and argued before the Wyoming Supreme Court. That is not what people expect from an LLC lawyer, and it is the credential that matters when a contract dispute reaches a courtroom. Formation is the easy part. We do it correctly, at the State’s cost plus a fee quoted up front. What you are buying is the lawyer who will be there if it goes wrong.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to form an LLC in Wyoming?
The State charges $100 to file and a $60 minimum license tax with each annual report. Non-residents also pay for a registered agent. Legal fees for an operating agreement and structuring advice are separate and quoted in advance.
Is a Wyoming LLC really anonymous?
Members and managers need not appear in the articles, so they do not show up in the State’s public database. But every filing is public, the registered agent is public, and banks, the IRS, and courts can learn who owns the company. “Private” is accurate. “Anonymous” is a sales word.
Do I need a registered agent?
Yes. Every LLC and corporation must keep one with a physical Wyoming street address.
Should my LLC elect S-corp status?
Possibly, once the business earns enough that the tax savings exceed the cost of payroll and a separate return. That is an accounting question; the legal work is making sure the entity supports the election.
Why use a lawyer instead of an online service?
Because the filing is the easy part and the operating agreement is not. A lawyer decides how the company is governed, how members get in and out, what happens on death or divorce, and whether the structure will survive the first dispute.
Can you form an LLC for someone who does not live in Wyoming?
Yes. If the company actually operates in another state, it will usually have to register there as a foreign LLC and pay that state’s fees and taxes too.
What are the disadvantages of a Wyoming LLC?
It does not move your business to Wyoming. If you operate elsewhere, you carry two sets of filings. Wyoming’s privacy is real but not absolute. The structure works best when there is a real reason for it, such as a holding company or Wyoming property, and one conversation will tell you whether that reason exists.
Talk to a lawyer today
Bring your operating agreement, or tell us you do not have one. Both are useful answers.
Call (307) 333-7539. Answered 24/7, including weekends. Or request a free consultation.
Related
The law is not settled until it is just.
This page describes Wyoming law in general terms as of September 2026 and is not legal or tax advice. Fees and statutes change; confirm current amounts with the Wyoming Secretary of State. Contacting Deep Waters Law does not create an attorney-client relationship.