A fake name is a Florida DBA (doing business as). Florida fake name registration permits a company to operate under a name other than its legal name.
Your personal assets will not be protected if you register a DBA in Florida. Forming a formal company structure, such as an LLC or corporation, can provide you with liability protection as well as a business name.
In Florida, you may register a fictitious business name.
It is simple to register a Florida trade name, often known as a DBA.
A DBA is solely used for branding purposes. A DBA does not safeguard your personal assets in the event that your company is sued. As a result, we highly advise that a DBA be utilised exclusively by a formal company structure such as an LLC or corporation to add new brands to an existing firm.
If you operate an informal company (sole proprietorship or partnership), we highly advise you to create an LLC to keep your business and personal assets distinct. The name of the LLC might be chosen to serve as the business’s brand name.
Table of Contents
Learn How to File a DBA in Florida in Three Easy Steps:
Begin by doing a Florida Fictitious Name Search.
Use Your Fictitious Florida Name
Register Your DBA in Florida
A DBA is solely used for branding purposes. To keep your company and personal assets distinct, we propose incorporating an LLC.
Step 1: Begin by doing a Florida Fictitious Name Search.
Your Florida fake name must be distinct and comply with the state’s business name criteria.
To begin, go to the Sunbiz Florida Fictitious Name Search and check to see whether your new DBA name is already in use.
Review the Florida naming criteria next. In Florida, your fictional name shall NOT include the following words:
Unless the company is genuinely an LLC, corporation, etc., any business entity suffix, such as LLC, Incorporated, Corp, etc.
Any of the following phrases are used to describe financial institutions: “bank,” “banc,” “banco,” “banque,” “banker,” “trust company,” “savings and loan association,” “savings bank,” “credit union,” or other similar words.
We suggest that you check to see whether your name is accessible as a web domain (URL). You may not want to launch a company website right now, but you may wish to prevent others from gaining your URL.
Step 2: Use Your Fictitious Florida Name
BEFORE your false name is registered, you must publish a “legal notice of intent to file a fictitious name” in a newspaper. The notice must be published once in a publication that distributes in the county of the business’s primary location.
The “legal notification of intent to register a fake name” must include the following information:
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned intends to register the fictitious name of [Your DBA Name Here] with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Tallahassee FL and/or the Clerk of the Circuit Court of [County], FL in order to conduct business under the fictitious name of [Your DBA Name Here]. [Your Business Name, Address, City, State, and Zip Code]
The following are the essential needs for the newspaper:
At least 25% of the words in the publication must be written in English.
At least once a week, the publication must be printed or published.
The magazine must be acceptable as a periodical at the post office of the county in which it is published, as well as accessible and interesting to the general public.
The magazine must have existed for at least one year.
See Chapter 50 of the Florida Statutes if you want to publish in a county without a newspaper.
See Chapter 50 of the Florida Statutes for further information about internet publication.
Evidence of Publication
You are attesting to the following when you sign the Florida Application for Registration of Fictitious Name form:
“I further certify that the intention to register the fictitious name to be registered has been announced at least once in a publication, as defined in Chapter 50 of the Florida Statutes…
I realise that the signature below will have the same legal effect as if it were given under oath, and I am aware that providing false information in a document to the Department of State is a third-degree felony, as defined in s.817.155, F.S.”
DO NOT REGISTER YOUR DBA IN FLORIDA WITHOUT FIRST PUBLICATION.
Step 3: Create a Florida DBA.
Your Florida fake name may be filed with the Secretary of State either online or by mail. You may submit your fictitious name application online using the SunBiz Fictitious Name Portal, or you can fill out the Application for Registration of Fictitious Name.
The following are some critical portions of the form:
Section 1: Enter your new fake name, business address, and primary place of business (county), as well as your FEIN (EIN) if appropriate.
Area 4: Use this section to cancel, alter, or change the name of a registration (this can only be done on the application for registration of fictitious name form, not online).
Bottom of the form: Select whether you want a “Certificate of Status” or a “Certified Copy” for your fake name.
A DBA does not provide legal protection for your personal assets if your company is sued. For more information on forming a limited liability corporation, go here. Manage Your Florida Fake Name
General Concerns
Call the Florida Secretary of State’s office at (850) 245-6059.
Renew Your Fake Name With the State
Your Florida DBA must be renewed by December 31st of the fifth year after registration, and then every five years thereafter. You may renew your fictitious name using the Sunbiz DBA Portal or by filling out and sending the Application for Renewal of Fictitious Name. Send the filled form to the following address:
Renewal of a fictitious name
Corporations Division
P.O. Box 6327
32314 Tallahassee
Change Your False Name
To make modifications to your DBA, just Section 4 of the Registration of a Fictitious Name form must be completed. Send the filled form to the following address:
Registration of a fictitious name
P.O. Box 6327
32314 Tallahassee
Withdraw Your False Name
To cancel or withdraw your fictitious name, complete just Section 4 of the Registration of a Fictitious Name form. If the business address on file is no longer valid, provide an updated address. Send the filled form to the following address:
Registration of a fictitious name
P.O. Box 6327
32314 Tallahassee