Montana Code Annotated 2023

TITLE 35. CORPORATIONS, PARTNERSHIPS, AND ASSOCIATIONS

CHAPTER 8. MONTANA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY ACT

Part 1. General Provisions

Definitions

35-8-102. Definitions. As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply:

(1) "Articles of organization" means articles filed pursuant to 35-8-201 and those articles as amended or restated. In the case of a foreign limited liability company, the term includes all records serving a similar function required to be filed under the laws of the state, tribe, or country where it is organized.

(2) "At-will company" means a limited liability company other than a term company.

(3) "Authorized agent" means any individual granted permission by an entity to execute a document on behalf of the entity. The entity is responsible for maintaining a record of the permission granted to an authorized agent.

(4) "Business" includes every trade, occupation, profession, or other lawful purpose, whether or not carried on for profit.

(5) "Corporation" means a corporation formed under the laws of this state or a foreign corporation.

(6) "Court" includes every court having jurisdiction in the case.

(7) "Debtor in bankruptcy" means a person who is the subject of an order for relief under Title 11 of the United States Code or a comparable order under federal, state, or foreign law governing insolvency.

(8) "Disqualified person" means any person or entity that for any reason is or becomes ineligible under this chapter to become a member in a professional limited liability company.

(9) "Distribution" means a transfer of money, property, or other benefit to a member in that member's capacity as a member of a limited liability company or to a transferee of a member's distributional interest.

(10) "Distributional interest" means all of a member's interest in the distributions of a limited liability company.

(11) "Event of dissociation" means an event that causes a person to cease to be a member.

(12) "Foreign corporation" means a corporation that is organized under a law other than the law of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

(13) "Foreign limited liability company" means an entity that is:

(a) an unincorporated entity;

(b) organized under a law other than the law of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe;

(c) organized under a statute pursuant to which an entity may be formed that affords to each of its members limited liability with respect to the liabilities of the entity; and

(d) not required to be registered or organized under any statute of this state other than this chapter.

(14) "Foreign limited partnership" means a limited partnership formed under a law other than the law of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

(15) "Foreign professional limited liability company" means a limited liability company organized for the purpose of rendering professional services under a law other than the law of this state, including the laws of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

(16) "Licensing authority" means an officer, board, agency, court, or other authority in this state that has the power to issue a license or other legal authorization to render a professional service.

(17) "Limited liability company" or "domestic limited liability company" means an organization that is formed under this chapter.

(18) "Limited partnership" means a limited partnership formed under the laws of this state or a foreign limited partnership.

(19) "Manager" means a person who, whether or not a member of a manager-managed company, is vested with authority under 35-8-301.

(20) "Manager-managed company" means a limited liability company that is so designated in its articles of organization.

(21) "Member" means a person who has been admitted to membership in a limited liability company, as provided in 35-8-703, and who has not dissociated from the limited liability company.

(22) "Member-managed company" means a limited liability company other than a manager-managed company.

(23) "Operating agreement" means an agreement, including amendments, as to the conduct of the business and affairs of a limited liability company and the relations among the members, managers, and the company that is binding upon all of the members.

(24) "Person" means an individual, a general partnership, a limited partnership, a domestic or foreign limited liability company, a trust, an estate, an association, a corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity.

(25) "Professional limited liability company" means a limited liability company designating itself as a professional limited liability company in its articles of organization.

(26) "Professional service" means a service that may lawfully be rendered only by persons licensed under a licensing law of this state and that may not be lawfully rendered by a limited liability company that is not a professional limited liability company.

(27) "Qualified person" means a natural person, limited liability company, general partnership, or professional corporation eligible under this chapter to own shares issued by a professional limited liability company.

(28) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is recoverable in a perceivable form.

(29) "Series of members" means a group or collection of members of a limited liability company who share interests and have separate rights, powers, or duties with respect to property, obligations, or profits and losses associated with property or obligations and who are specified in the articles of organization or operating agreement of the limited liability company or are specified by one or more members or managers of the limited liability company or other persons as provided in the articles of organization or operating agreement.

(30) "Sign" means to identify a record by means of a signature, mark, or other symbol with the intent to authenticate it.

(31) "State" means a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

(32) "Surviving limited liability company" means the constituent entity surviving the merger, as identified in the articles of merger provided for in 35-8-1201.

(33) "Term company" means a limited liability company designated as a term company in its articles of organization.

History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 120, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 302, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 33, L. 2007; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 183, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 18, Ch. 280, L. 2015.