Assumed Business Names

Important Notice of Law Change

New Requirements for Filing Certificates of Assumed Business Names

Expiration of Filed Certificates of Assumed Names

North Carolina law requires individuals, limited and general partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, and other persons that engage in business in this state under an assumed name to file a certificate with a register of deeds in a county in which the person or entity will be engaging in business.

Effective December 1, 2017, certificates must comply with content and execution requirements specified in the statutes for a certificate of assumed business name. The requirements are different than they were for a certificate of assumed name recorded under prior law.

Amendments to and withdrawals of certificates of assumed business names also must comply with new content and execution requirements.

Certificates of assumed business names and amendments to and withdrawals of them will be transmitted into a statewide, central database maintained by the NC. Secretary of State, which will be available for searches by the public. A single registration can be effective for multiple counties. The Secretary will maintain a website for this purpose at the North Carolina Secretary of State website.

The Secretary will assign an identification number (SOS ID) to each assumed business name that is recorded, to which amendments and withdrawals must refer.

Compliant blank forms are available from registers of deeds upon request and may be downloaded from Business Link North Carolina at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina website.

Certificates of assumed names filed under the prior law will expire December 1, 2022. Someone desiring to engage in business in NC. under the assumed name after that date must file an assumed business name certificate in the new form.

Additional Information

For details about the filing requirements for assumed business names, amendments, and withdrawals review please see North Carolina Session Laws 2016-100 and 2017-23 (codified at Article 14A of Chapter 66 of the North Carolina General Statutes).

**NEW** File Your Assumed Business Name Electronically 

Assumed Business Names can be electronically filed now through our Get Certificate Now vendor Courthouse Computer Systems. This does not replace eRecording for eRecording submitters. Instead, this is a way for the general public to electronically submit Assumed Business Name Certificates from their bank or from the convenience of their home or business. 

Our vendor charges a $15.00 convenience fee to electronically file an Assumed Business and it costs $26.00 to record an Assumed Business Name Certificate. The total charge would be $41.00 to file an Assumed Business Name electronically through Get Certificate Now. 

A hold is placed on your credit card when the Assumed Business Name is filed and your credit card is charged once the recording is complete. 

Currently, only Assumed Business Names can be filed through Get Certificate Now. Assumed Business Name Withdrawals or Amendments must be presented in person, through the mail, or through an eRecording account. 

Emails confirming the status of a filing are sent to the filer as it moves through the process. Additionally, if the Assumed Business Name filing is rejected, a rejection reason will be sent to the filer in a status update email. The status of an Assumed Business Name filing through Get Certificate Now can also be checked manually on the filing site.