California fictitious business name filing guide

California calls this filing a fictitious business name statement, and businesses commonly shorten it to "FBN" or "DBA" for "doing business as."

The governing rules sit in Chapter 5 of Part 3 of Division 7 of the California Business and Professions Code, sections 17900 through 17930, published on the state's official legislative information site.

Unlike states that split filings between a secretary of state and local offices, California routes every entity type — individuals, married couples, general and limited partnerships, limited liability companies, corporations, trusts, and unincorporated associations — to the county clerk.

The statement is filed with the clerk of the county where the registrant has its principal place of business in California; a registrant with no California place of business files with the Clerk of Sacramento County.

Under section 17910, every person who regularly transacts business in this state for profit under a fictitious business name must file not later than 40 days after commencing to transact business under that name.

Nonprofit corporations and associations — including churches, labor unions, and fraternal and charitable organizations — are expressly excluded from the chapter.

The statute states the filing's purpose is to make available to the public the identities of persons doing business under the fictitious name; it does not confer any exclusive right to the name.

The statement itself is prescribed by Business and Professions Code section 17913: it lists the fictitious business name, the principal place of business, the registrant's name and business mailing address, the type of business organization, and the date business under the name commenced, and the registrant declares under penalty of a misdemeanor fine up to $1,000 that the information is true.

Each county clerk must furnish a form satisfying these requirements without charge.

Filers present government-issued identification, and the county clerk may require a completed and notarized affidavit of identity; corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and limited liability partnerships may also need Secretary of State documentary evidence of current existence and good standing.

Filing paths vary by county.

In Los Angeles County, for example, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk offers complete online filing with a $10.75 service fee, in-person filing by appointment after completing the online application, and mail filing to its Norwalk headquarters with a notarized affidavit of identity.

The statute sets the base fee at ten dollars for the first name and owner plus two dollars for each additional name or owner, subject to Government Code section 54985, so counties charge their actual cost — Los Angeles County's posted fee is $26 for one business name and one registrant.

A fictitious business name statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the office of the county clerk, and it expires earlier — 40 days after any change in the facts set forth in the statement — so the statute requires filing a new statement after any change in the facts rather than amending the old one.

County clerks advise that a renewal must be filed before the expiration date if the registrant intends to keep using the name and nothing has changed from the original filing.

If a refiling is required only because the prior statement expired, it need not be published again, provided the refiling is filed within 40 days of the expiration date and no information has changed; Los Angeles County likewise states a renewal does not require newspaper publication.

A registrant who stops transacting business under a name filed within the previous five years must file a statement of abandonment of use of fictitious business name with the same county clerk, and that statement must be published in the same manner as the original, with an affidavit of publication filed afterward.

The statutory fee for a statement of abandonment is five dollars, again subject to county fee-setting.

A general partner who withdraws may file a statement of withdrawal, which is also published.

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Get the fictitious business name statement form from the county clerk of the county where your principal place of business is located — the county clerk is required by Business and Professions Code section 17924 to furnish the form without charge — or use your county clerk's online system where one exists, such as Los Angeles County's online FBN filing portal.

File the statement within 40 days of first transacting business under the name, pay the county's posted filing fee, then arrange publication in a newspaper of general circulation in that county once a week for four successive weeks, starting within 45 days of filing, and make sure the affidavit of publication reaches the county clerk within 45 days after publication finishes.

Your county clerk's website lists the current fee, accepted payment methods, and local newspapers of general circulation.

Filing does not give you exclusive rights to the name — the statement form itself warns that it does not authorize use of a name in violation of another's rights — so brand protection is a separate trademark question.

Paid filing or publication services are optional conveniences, never required, and this site does not file anything for you.