Business owners have legitimate reasons for wanting privacy. Keeping your name off public records can protect you from frivolous lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who search for wealthy targets, shield you from competitors researching your holdings, guard against identity theft, and provide safety for individuals with stalkers or public profiles. Understanding the privacy protections for a LLC in different states helps you make informed decisions about where to form your business entity.
Privacy is distinct from secrecy. Privacy means controlling what appears in public records accessible to casual searchers. It does not mean hiding information from courts, the IRS, or creditors with valid legal claims. That distinction is essential to understanding what LLC privacy can and cannot accomplish.
Why LLC Privacy Matters
The practical benefits of ownership privacy are substantial. Lawsuit-oriented individuals and their attorneys sometimes engage in “target shopping,” searching public records to identify defendants with significant assets before filing claims. When your name does not appear in connection with your assets, you become a less attractive target for this type of litigation.
Competitors may research your business holdings to understand your market position or identify opportunities. Privacy protections limit their ability to connect various business interests to you personally.
Identity theft has become increasingly sophisticated. The less personal information available in public databases, the harder you are to target. For individuals with high public profiles, whether celebrities, physicians, executives, or others, privacy provides a layer of separation between their public persona and their personal financial life.
These are legitimate privacy interests that proper LLC structuring can address.
What Information States Require in LLC Filings
When you form an LLC, you file Articles of Organization with the state. States vary dramatically in what information these documents must contain.
Some states require disclosure of member names and addresses, making ownership a matter of public record. Some require disclosure of managers in manager-managed LLCs. All states require identification of a registered agent with a physical address. Some require the name of the organizer who files the formation paperwork.
Annual reports, which most states require, may also compel updated ownership or management information. This information becomes part of the public record, searchable by anyone with internet access.
Wyoming: The Strongest Privacy Protection
Wyoming offers the most robust privacy protections for a LLC of any state. The Wyoming LLC Act does not require disclosure of members or managers in the Articles of Organization. The only information required is the LLC name, the registered agent name and address, and the organizer name.
Critically, Wyoming annual reports also do not require member or manager disclosure. This means there is no point in the LLC’s existence where ownership becomes public record through state filings.
The organizer listed on the Articles of Organization can be the registered agent rather than the actual owner. Many Wyoming registered agents offer nominee organizer services, meaning the registered agent’s representative signs the formation documents on your behalf.
The result is that Wyoming public records show that an LLC exists and identify its registered agent, but contain no information connecting the LLC to its actual owners. Someone searching public records cannot determine who owns the entity.
Combined with Wyoming’s lack of state income tax and strong charging order protection for LLC membership interests, this privacy makes Wyoming an attractive jurisdiction for LLC formation.
Other States With Privacy Features
Nevada does not require member disclosure in Articles of Organization, but its annual list filing requires identification of officers, directors, or managers depending on the entity type. This creates a partial privacy gap that Wyoming avoids.
New Mexico requires minimal disclosure and has no annual report requirement, which provides privacy by default. However, New Mexico’s LLC statute is less developed than Wyoming’s, and the state lacks some of the asset protection features that make Wyoming attractive.
Delaware has sophisticated LLC law and does not require member disclosure in formation documents. However, manager-managed Delaware LLCs must disclose at least one manager. Delaware also lacks Wyoming’s combination of no income tax and strong single-member LLC charging order protection.
Most other states require some level of member or manager disclosure in formation documents or annual reports.
How Wyoming Privacy Works in Practice
The mechanics of forming a private Wyoming LLC are straightforward. You engage a Wyoming registered agent. The registered agent or their nominee files the Articles of Organization, listing themselves as organizer. The LLC is formed with only the registered agent’s name and address appearing in public records.
You manage the LLC through an Operating Agreement, which is a private document not filed with any state agency. Annual reports are filed with no ownership disclosure. Public records show an LLC exists at a particular registered agent address, with no information about who actually owns or controls it.
For someone searching public databases, the trail ends at the registered agent. Your connection to the LLC remains private.
Layering Privacy With Trust Ownership
Additional privacy can be achieved by having a trust own the LLC membership interest. Trusts are private documents not filed with any government agency. When a trust owns the LLC, even internal company documents reference the trust rather than an individual owner.
This creates multiple layers of privacy. A searcher would need to discover the LLC, then discover that a trust owns it, then obtain the trust document to identify beneficiaries. Each layer adds difficulty for casual investigators.
Wyoming asset protection trusts combine this privacy benefit with creditor protection. Assets held in a properly structured Wyoming trust, which owns interests in Wyoming LLCs, achieve both goals simultaneously.
What Privacy Does Not Protect Against
LLC privacy operates against public record searches. It does not create secrecy from legal process or government reporting requirements.
The IRS requires full reporting of LLC ownership and income regardless of state privacy laws. Your tax returns identify you as the owner of the LLC and report its income. Courts can compel disclosure of ownership through subpoenas and discovery in litigation. If you are sued, the opposing party can obtain ownership information through legal process.
Financial institutions must comply with anti-money laundering regulations, including customer identification requirements. Your bank knows who you are regardless of LLC privacy features.
Criminal investigations can pierce any privacy structure. Law enforcement agencies have tools to identify beneficial ownership when investigating crimes.
Child support enforcement, tax collection, and other legal obligations are not affected by LLC privacy. Privacy protects against casual public searches, not against legitimate legal process.
Corporate Transparency Act Considerations
The Corporate Transparency Act originally required most LLCs to file Beneficial Ownership Information reports with FinCEN starting in 2024. These reports would have identified beneficial owners in a federal database accessible to law enforcement and certain other parties, though not to the general public.
However, in March 2025, FinCEN issued an interim final rule exempting all U.S.-formed entities from BOI reporting requirements. Currently, only foreign entities registered to do business in the United States must file these reports.
This regulatory landscape remains fluid and subject to further changes. The underlying statute remains in effect, and future administrations could reinstate reporting requirements for domestic entities. Business owners should monitor developments in this area and be prepared to comply if requirements change.
Regardless of BOI reporting status, LLC privacy from public state records remains valuable for the reasons discussed above.
Maintaining Privacy Operationally
State formation documents are only one aspect of privacy. Maintaining privacy requires operational discipline as well.
Use the LLC name rather than your personal name on all business dealings. Maintain bank accounts in the LLC name and use the registered agent address rather than your personal address for official correspondence. Be thoughtful about social media and other public statements that might connect you to the LLC.
The Operating Agreement should include confidentiality provisions preventing members and managers from disclosing ownership information unnecessarily. Consider using separate LLCs for different asset classes to further compartmentalize information.
Conclusion
Privacy protections for a LLC vary dramatically by state. Wyoming offers the strongest privacy by not requiring member or manager disclosure in any state filings. This privacy protects against public record searches and target shopping while remaining fully compliant with legal obligations.
Privacy is not secrecy. You still report to the IRS, comply with court orders, and meet all legal obligations. The benefit is controlling what appears in databases accessible to the general public.
For guidance on structuring LLCs for maximum legitimate privacy, consult Mark Pierce and Matt Meuli. Proper structuring can protect your privacy while ensuring full compliance with applicable laws.