Do I Need to Amend My Articles of Incorporation?

In your Articles of Incorporation (the formation document you used to incorporate your business), you provided certain information about your business to the state. But what if that information changes?

State law (all of them) says that it is the business’s—not the state’s—responsibility to update corporate records as needed. Let’s look at some of the information that can be changed by amending your Articles.

1. Corporate Name

It’s a simple matter to change the name of your corporation. The first section of any Articles of Amendment form from your state will give you the option to include a new corporate name

2. Mailing Address or Physical Address

Corporations move all the time. As long as you update your records with the state and the Corporations Division is able to contact you whenever they need to, there’s no problem.

3. Registered Agent

OK, full disclosure: the Articles of Amendment isn’t always the right way to change your registered agent; most if not all states have a “Registered Agent Change Form” specific to this kind of update. (Anything involving your registered agent is generally a little more involved than simply entering a new address—signatures must often be provided and sometimes even notarized, since the registered agent must be on record of having consented to being so named.)

But regardless of the form used, the fact is that you can change your registered agent any time you wish, and either an individual or another business entity can fill the post. (Note that some states require a business entity to be registered with the state as a “commercial registered agent”—check your state’s requirements.)

Click & Inc can file Articles of Amendment for your corporation or LLC—check out our Article Amendment service!