By: Tamara Pow
The Secretary of State is revising LLC forms again. Back in May, I wrote that the Secretary of State does not revise its forms often, but when it does, it is critical that business owners are aware of the changes so that they file the correct form because the Secretary of State will reject outdated forms. In May I noted that the California Secretary of State had revised the LLC Statement of Information form which had been in use since January of 2014.
Now the California Secretary of State has revised four more LLC forms:
- Articles of Organization;
- Certificate of Dissolution;
- Certificate of Cancellation; and
- Short Form Certificate of Cancellation.
The new Articles of Organization include a cover sheet for mail submission. However, this does not mean that the Articles must be filed by mail. The instructions make it clear that you will get faster service if you deliver the document in person, and even faster service if you pay a guaranteed expedite drop off fee. I once got a phone call from a client who was in her car on her way to Sacramento to file her LLC in person because she needed proof of filing a soon as possible. A road trip to our state capital is not necessary if you need your documents in a hurry. We have a relationship with a filing agent in Sacramento who will happily receive our forms for filing by email and walk them into the Secretary of State’s office for a small fee (well worth saving the cost of gas and time in the car).
Filing the correct forms, and getting them back quickly, can make or break a business deal. Be sure you know what you are doing, or use an attorney experienced in entity formations to take care of it for you.
Tamara B. Pow is a founding partner of Strategy Law, LLP in downtown San Jose, California where she practices business and real estate law including limited liability company formations, operations, sales, conversions and dissolutions. Her consistent and extensive work with LLCs keeps her up to date when advising owners of LLCs and other business entities of Secretary of State updates and other changes in the legal requirements of maintaining business entity liability protection.
The information appearing in this blog does not constitute legal advice or opinion. Such advice and opinions are provided by the firm only upon engagement with respect to specific factual situations. Specific questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to Strategy Law, LLP.
