Virginia fictitious name filing guide

Virginia calls this filing a certificate of assumed or fictitious name.

The State Corporation Commission explains that a fictitious name is a name a person or business uses instead of a legal name, and that fictitious names are also referred to as assumed names, "t/a" (trading as), "dba" (doing business as), or "aka" (also known as).

Unlike states that split the filing between a state office and county clerks, Virginia now uses a single central filing office: as of January 1, 2020, the Clerk's Office of the State Corporation Commission is the central filing office in Virginia for all certificates of assumed or fictitious name, covering sole proprietorships, general partnerships, trusts, and registered businesses such as LLCs and corporations alike.

Before 2020 these certificates were filed with the circuit court clerk in each county or city where business was conducted; circuit court clerks now handle only releases of names filed with them before that date.

The Commission notes that fictitious names do not have to be unique, carry no wording restrictions, and need no designator such as Corp, LLC, or Inc, and it does not decide who has the right to use a name.

Virginia offers two ways to file with the Office of the Clerk: online through the Clerk's Information System (CIS) at cis.scc.virginia.gov, or by paper form.

Filers must choose the correct form.

Businesses on the records of the Commission — corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and similar entities — use the Certificate of Assumed or Fictitious Name — Business Conducted by an Entity (SCC59.1-70-BE), and when the business is on file CIS links the fictitious name to that business.

Individuals conducting business, such as sole proprietors, use the Certificate of Assumed or Fictitious Name — Business Conducted by an Individual (SCC59.1-70-IN), and the fictitious name is then associated with the applicant for the certificate.

The paper forms can be completed, printed, and mailed to the Office of the Clerk, P.O. Box 1197, Richmond, Virginia 23218, or delivered to the Clerk's Office on the first floor at 1300 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219.

The filing fee stated by the Commission is $10.00, matching Code of Virginia § 59.1-70, which provides that the clerk shall charge a fee of $10.

After filing, you receive a Fictitious Name receipt; the Commission also offers certified copies and a Certificate of Fact of Fictitious Name for a stated $6 fee.

The sources consulted — the Commission's Fictitious Names page, the instructions on forms SCC59.1-70-BE and SCC59.1-70-IN, and Code of Virginia §§ 59.1-69 through 59.1-76 — do not state any term, expiration date, or renewal procedure for a certificate of assumed or fictitious name, and they describe no amendment procedure for changing an existing certificate.

What the statute does provide is a way to end the filing.

Under § 59.1-70.1, when a person is no longer conducting business in the Commonwealth under an assumed or fictitious name on file with the clerk of the Commission, the name may be released by filing a certificate of release of an assumed or fictitious name with the clerk; the form is prescribed by the Commission and the filing fee is $10.

Names filed with a circuit court before January 1, 2020 are instead released through the clerk of that court, also for a $10 fee — the Fairfax Circuit Court Clerk's Office, for example, accepts these certificates of release for names originally filed there.

The Commission warns that using a fictitious name without making the required filing can lead to a misdemeanor conviction and a fine of up to $2,500, and § 59.1-76 bars maintaining a court action until the required certificate has been filed.

Start with the free official source.

Read the State Corporation Commission's Fictitious Names page, then file directly with the Office of the Clerk: online through the Clerk's Information System (CIS), or by printing the correct certificate form — the entity version (SCC59.1-70-BE) if your business is on the Commission's records, or the individual version (SCC59.1-70-IN) if you operate as a sole proprietor — and mailing or delivering it to the Clerk's Office in Richmond with the stated $10.00 fee.

Keep the Fictitious Name receipt you receive after filing, and note that the certificate is a public notice filing: it does not give you exclusive rights to the name, which the Commission treats as a separate legal question.

If you filed with a circuit court before January 1, 2020, contact that court's clerk for releases of those older filings.

Paid help is optional, and this site does not handle filings.