Forming a New Mexico Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Once you’ve selected a name for your limited liability company (LLC), you must then file what are called “articles of organization” with the New Mexico secretary of state’s office. In some states, the basic documents filed to form an LLC are called “articles of organization” or “certificates of formation.” For questions about forming your business in New Mexico, be sure to contact one of our New Mexico business attorneys. Specifically, in New Mexico, the requirements for filing articles of organization and creating a limited liability company in the state are as follows:

A New Mexico limited liability company comes into being upon the filing of articles of organization with the New Mexico Secretary of State. Included in the articles must be the name and address of the limited liability company, the name and address of a registered agent of the LLC, the date upon which the LLC will dissolve (if any), a specification of whether the LLC will be manager-managed or member-managed, or alternatively whether a specification that the LLC has only one member (commonly referred to a single-member LLC). Along with the articles of organization, a Statement of Acceptance of Appointment by Designated Registered Agent, which is signed by a registered agent, must be submitted. This separate form is included with the basic articles of organization forms. The basic forms can be found on the Secretary of State website here. All the forms are required to be filed by mail, and there is a one-time filing fee of fifty dollars.

New Mexico Business Formation Expedite Fee

Although this information is subject to change, we currently recommend that our clients expedite their business formation; the expedite request costs between $100 and $150, but essentially guarantees a quick turn around time (here is a link to the New Mexico Business Expedite Request Form). The alternative is that you file without an expedite request, like many other businesses we’ve formed; non-expedited business filings can take more than a month to process.

Filing fees in other states

Though New Mexico filing fees are relatively modest at $50, filing fees when forming a limited liability company are regarded by some as a disadvantage of forming a LLC rather than operating a business as a partnership or sole proprietorship, which require no filing. In many states, filing fees hover somewhere around one hundred dollars, while in other states like California, an $800 annual tax is added on to the filing fee.

Information generally required in articles of organization

Typically, articles of organization are short and easily put together. In fact, you can generally prepare your own articles rather quickly by simply filling in the blanks on a pre-made form offered by your state’s filing office (see the above link for New Mexico LLC forms). You must usually provide the name of your business, its address, and in some cases the names and addresses of the business owners. Also, all owners of the LLC should be prepared to sign the articles of organization, though in some cases the business may appoint only one person to do so.

Registered agent

When filing articles of organization and starting up a limited liability company, you will also be required to name a registered agent (who is usually a member of the LLC) who will serve as the LLC’s “registered agent.” The registered agent has to have an address located in the state where the business is formed. The registered agent will receive any legal process in the future, should there be a lawsuit against the LLC down the road. There are services that will perform the task of registered agent and charge on an annual basis; registered agent services are basically just mail forwarding services.