Georgia trade name filing guide

Georgia calls this filing a trade name registration — the DeKalb County Clerk of Superior Court describes it on its trade name page as "Registering a Trade Name Also Known As DBA (Doing Business As)."

The governing law, O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490, is quoted on county clerk pages statewide: every "person, firm, or partnership, carrying on in this state any trade or business under any trade name or partnership name or other name" must register the trade name of the business within 30 days of "commencing to do business."

Unlike states that route LLCs and corporations to the Secretary of State, Georgia routes every entity type to the county: the registration is filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where the business is chiefly carried on, or, for a domestic corporation using a name other than its corporate name, in the county of its legal domicile.

The registration statement must give the names and addresses of the owners and state the nature of the business and the trade name used.

Georgia also requires public notice: notice of the filing must be published once a week for two weeks in the newspaper that is the county's legal organ.

County clerks warn that applications are frequently rejected for missing or incorrect information, and filers are responsible for confirming the chosen name is not already registered in that county before filing, because there is no refund for duplicate name filings.

Filing happens at the county level, so the exact process comes from the Clerk of Superior Court in the county where the business is chiefly carried on.

The clerk pages consulted describe a consistent sequence: first search the county's registered trade names and confirm the chosen name is available, then complete the county's trade name application form, sign it, and have it notarized — the Forsyth County and Hall County clerks both state the form must be notarized.

Filing methods vary by county.

The DeKalb County clerk states that trade name applications, amendments, and cancellations are filed electronically through eFileGA only, and that approved applications generate an email confirmation with a file case number.

The Hall County clerk accepts registration forms in person at the courthouse annex deed room or by mail, and requires two separate payments with the form: the $175.00 filing fee payable to the Hall County Clerk of Court and a $60.00 publication fee payable to the Gainesville Times.

The Forsyth County clerk states a $175.00 filing fee payable to the clerk of the county where filed.

After approval, the filer must arrange publication of notice once a week for two weeks in the county's legal organ; DeKalb directs filers to contact the legal organ with a file-stamped copy of the approved application.

Georgia trade name registrations do not work on a fixed renewal cycle the way some states' DBA filings do.

The county clerk pages quoting O.C.G.A. § 10-1-490 state: "No person, firm, or partnership already registered shall be required to re-register except in the event of a change of ownership."

The clerk pages consulted do not state a term or expiration date for a registration.

The one event that does force a new filing is a change of ownership: upon any change of ownership, a new and amended statement of registration must be filed with the Clerk of Superior Court.

To end a registration, the Forsyth County and Hall County clerks describe the same cancellation path: submit a completed Affidavit to Cancel a Trade Name form to the Clerk of Superior Court, and both state that the cost for filing the cancellation is $25.00.

In DeKalb County, amendments and cancellations are filed electronically through eFileGA along with new applications, and DeKalb states that publication fees for trade name applications, amendments, and cancellations are paid directly to the county's legal organ newspaper.

Start with the free official path: locate the trade name page of the Clerk of Superior Court for the county where your business is chiefly carried on — the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority (GSCCCA) maintains a directory of county clerks — and follow that county's posted instructions.

In practice that means searching the county's registered trade names to confirm availability, downloading and completing the county's application form, signing it in front of a notary, and filing it with the clerk, then arranging the required newspaper publication in the county's legal organ.

Budget the filing fee your county states — the clerk pages consulted show $175.00 in Forsyth County and Hall County, plus a separate publication fee paid to the newspaper — and note that a cancellation affidavit is a separate $25.00 filing in those counties.

Verify current amounts on your own county clerk's page, because fees and filing methods differ between counties.

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