LLC reinstatement · Alabama

How to Reinstate an Alabama LLC

The short answer. Alabama's LLC law lists the events that dissolve an LLC, and a missed filing is not one of them. A dissolved Alabama LLC is restored by filing a certificate of reinstatement with the Alabama Secretary of State. The reinstatement fee is $100.

Alabama LLC Reinstatement at a Glance

What Alabama calls the statusNo administrative dissolution in the LLC law (see Why)
What you fileCertificate of Reinstatement
Filed withAlabama Secretary of State
How to filePaper
Reinstatement fee$100
Time limit to reinstateNot confirmed
Tax clearanceNot confirmed
RetroactiveYes (see What reinstatement does)

Read from the government sources listed at the foot of this page, last checked September 29, 2026. See the sources.

Some of Alabama's sources could not be read directly, so several answers here are marked not confirmed. Confirm them with the Alabama Secretary of State before you file.

How an LLC Is Dissolved in Alabama

Alabama's LLC law lists the events that dissolve an LLC, and a missed filing is not one of them.

How Long You Have to Reinstate

We have not confirmed whether Alabama sets a deadline for reinstatement, so do not assume there is time to wait; check with the Alabama Secretary of State as soon as you can.

How to File

You file a certificate of reinstatement with the Alabama Secretary of State. It is filed on paper. Go to Alabama's filing page.

What It Costs

The reinstatement fee is $100.

We have not confirmed whether Alabama requires a tax clearance to reinstate; check with the Alabama Secretary of State.

Registered Agent Options

If your LLC's registered agent has changed, resigned or lapsed, ask the filing office named above whether Alabamawants that updated as part of reinstatement. You do not have to buy a service for it: in most states the LLC's owner, or another individual who qualifies, may serve as its registered agent themselves, generally subject to that state's rules on keeping a street address in the state and being available there during normal business hours. A paid service is one option and not the only one. The Alabama registered agent requirements set out what Alabama itself asks.

Registered agent services for Alabama LLCs

Affiliate disclosure: Northwest Registered Agent, Bizee, ZenBusiness and LegalZoom pay us a commission if you sign up through our link, at no extra cost to you. We list only the registered agent services we have an affiliate relationship with, so this is not a survey of the whole market.

This list is not scored. The four are listed cheapest annual renewal first, and every claim below is about the services listed here rather than the whole market.

  • Best for: Privacy-focused owners and anyone who just needs an agent, not a formation bundle

  • Bizee$149/yr renewal

    Best for: A free first year on every plan, renewing at $149/yr, if you're comfortable with the BBB caveat

  • ZenBusiness$199/yr renewal

    Best for: First-time founders forming a new LLC who want phone, email and chat support

  • LegalZoom$249/yr renewal

    Best for: Complex structures that want attorney consultations, which come with LegalZoom's Pro and Premium formation plans rather than this renewal price

Note: Bizee holds a C rating from the BBB and is not accredited. BBB's profile carries a live alert describing a pattern of complaints about unexpected charges, difficulty canceling and filing delays, and Bizee has posted a response to it. We flag this so you can make an informed choice.

Annual renewal is each provider's own standard published rate. Check the current terms at each provider before you buy. The scored ranking, and the formula behind it, is in our full formation services review →

What Reinstatement Does

Under Alabama's law, a reinstated LLC continues as if it had never been dissolved. Reinstatement does not adversely affect the rights of people who acted in reliance on the dissolution before they had notice of the reinstatement.

The LLC keeps its name if the name still complies with Alabama's name rules at the time of reinstatement; if it does not, the name becomes the old name followed by the word "reinstated".

Worth Knowing in Alabama

Alabama's reinstatement route applies to an LLC that has been dissolved, for example by its members. It needs the members' consent and a certified copy of the LLC's certificate of formation filed with the certificate of reinstatement.

More for Alabama LLCs

Frequently Asked Questions

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state's law and filing office say about bringing back an LLC the state has dissolved, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you where your own LLC stands: that turns on why and when it was dissolved, what it still owes, and whether anyone has since taken its name, and fees and deadlines change between our reviews. Confirm your LLC's status and the current requirements with the filing office or tax agency named on this page, and ask a lawyer about anything the LLC did while it was dissolved. In many states a missed deadline ends the right to reinstate, so do not wait.

Related guides

LLC late fees by stateWhat a late annual report costs before it comes to dissolution →Annual report complianceDeadlines and fees for all 50 states, so it does not happen again →Annual report deadline finderEnter your formation date for your next due date →Certificate of good standingProve the LLC is active again once it is reinstated →Dissolving an LLCIf you would rather close the LLC properly than bring it back →
← All LLC guides

Sources

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Alabama sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.

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Edmond Hui

Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC

Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.