Articles of Amendment
Any time you want to update the articles for your Corporation or LLC – such as by changing your company name, changing your contact information, or adding new shareholders or members – you’ll have to file a document called, depending on your state, either “Articles of Amendment,” “Certificate of Change,” or “Certificate of Correction,” with the appropriate state agency.
Bank Notices
Certificates of Authority
A Certificate of Authority, also known in some states as a Foreign Qualification are legal documents when filed with the Secretary of State to give “Authority” for your Corporation of Limited Liability Company to lawfully do business in that state.
Change of Name Notices
A Name Change Notification Letter provides notice to personal and business contacts that you’ve changed your name. If you’ve gotten married, divorced, or just decided you wanted to go by another name a Name Change Notification Letter can help you inform everyone you need to.
Civil Action Complaint
Corporation Notices
Dissolution Notices
Closing a business involves forms. If you were granted permission to do business by your state, you will probably have to send the state some form of notification that you are dissolving and that you have followed whatever state statutes there are regarding paying creditors and distributing profits. This can be accomplished with Articles of Dissolution and/or a Notice of Intent to Dissolve. Some states also require that you notify creditors and notify the public of your dissolution. Even if your state statutes do not require it, it is a good idea to notify creditors and debtors of your imminent dissolution.
Divorce Notices
Although no law can force you to stay married to your spouse, he can make it difficult to divorce him if you can’t find him. The court can’t claim jurisdiction over your spouse and grant you a divorce unless and until he knows you’ve filed. All states allow you to use use “alternate service” to notify him when this happens. One method is to post notice of your divorce in the newspaper.
Estate Notices
Probate laws require certain facts be made public through publication. States vary as to what must be made public, where to publish and for how long, but every state has some type of publication requirements. Once made aware of probate through publication, beneficiaries and creditors have the opportunity to contest decisions of the personal representative or file claims against the estate.
Fictitious Names
Any name used for business (also sometimes called a trade name) that doesn’t contain the legal name of the owner/sole proprietor is called a fictitious business name (FBN). Fictitious business names are sometimes called assumed names, or “DBAs,” for “doing business as”—as in, “Spikey Andrews, doing business as Coffee Corner,” or “Alibi Corporation, doing business as Ferryville Bait and Tackle.”
Foundation Notices
LP’s, LLP’s, LLC’s, PLLC’s
Mortgage Foreclousures
In most states, in addition to mailing you this notice by certified or first-class mail, the foreclosing entity must publish a notice in the “legal notices” section of a local newspaper of general circulation. (This is an admittedly weird concept that assumes you read the legal notices section.
Nonprofit Corporations
If you want to improve your community or meet a social need that no other local organization is pursuing, you might consider starting a nonprofit foundation. But make sure your foundation meets the requirements set forth by the IRS first. Rather than operating for profit, your organization’s purpose should be for a social good.
Professional Corporations
Professional corporations (PC) are corporations that provide professional services. State law and the regulating board determine what constitutes professional services and when you are required to be a professional corporation. This varies from state to state.
Public Notices
Public Notices are advertisements placed in newspapers by the government, businesses, and individuals.
Quiet Titles
An action to quiet title is a lawsuit brought in a court having jurisdiction over property disputes, in order to establish a party’s title to real property, or personal property having a title, of against anyone and everyone, and thus “quiet” any challenges or claims to the title.
