Connecticut trade name filing guide

Connecticut calls the DBA record a “trade name,” but the filing does not go to the Secretary of the State. The current Connecticut business guide directs it to the local town clerk where the business is primarily transacted. That geographic rule is the central decision on this page. An individual uses the town tied to the address on the application; a Connecticut entity uses the business address in its state record; and a foreign entity uses its principal Connecticut location or, if it has none, the town of its resident agent. The official guide says individuals, groups of individuals, and business organizations registered with the Secretary may use this record. It also cautions that a trade name is not a business organization, supplies no liability protection, and does not stop another person from using the name. Those limits make the town-clerk certificate a public-notice record, not an entity formation or statewide exclusivity product. The action link therefore begins with Connecticut’s routing guide rather than sending every reader to Hartford.

Choose the correct town before preparing the filing. The official Trade Names guide says the destination is the clerk for the town where the business is primarily transacted, then gives entity-specific location rules. Natural-person filers should use the business address placed on the application. A domestic organization should compare the application with the business address shown in its Secretary of the State record. A foreign organization uses its principal Connecticut location, or the resident agent’s town when there is no Connecticut principal location. After that routing check, select the official Trade Name Application for natural persons or the business-organization version identified on the state guide. Connecticut says the forms used for filings on or after January 1, 2025 must be hand signed and notarized by the town clerk or another notary. Deliver the completed application to the selected town clerk with the stated $20 fee. Because clerks receive the filing locally, confirm that clerk’s accepted delivery and payment methods before presenting the document.

The reviewed statewide Trade Names guide provides current application, amendment, and cancellation forms, but it does not publish one statewide renewal interval for every town-clerk certificate. The natural-person form includes clerk-only spaces for an expiration date, which is not the same thing as an official statewide duration rule. This guide therefore leaves renewal status explicit rather than manufacturing a calendar date. A filer should retain the certified copy and ask the receiving clerk what expiration or maintenance entry was placed on that particular record. If an address, associated person, organization detail, or trade name changes, return to Connecticut’s current guide: it distinguishes an amendment from a cancellation and supplies forms for each filer type. Do not replace the local record merely by changing an entity address in the statewide business system. Conversely, a statewide entity update does not prove the clerk’s certificate changed. Keeping the two records separate is especially important for organizations whose business address determines the filing town.

Start on Connecticut’s official Trade Names page and identify the location rule that matches the filer. Check the statewide business record when the filer is a domestic or foreign organization, because the address shown there can control which clerk receives the certificate. Download the current form linked by the state, complete only the requested information, arrange the required signature and notarization, and contact the selected town clerk about delivery and payment. The state guide fixes the filing fee at $20, but a clerk is the best source for office hours, copy charges, and locally supported payment methods. Keep the filed copy with the business records and record any expiration information actually supplied by that clerk. If the business stops using the name, use the official cancellation path instead of assuming inactivity removes the public record. This site neither collects the application nor forwards personal information; the free government form and the responsible clerk remain the filing route.