Assumed Name Certification

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Who Must File? Illinois law requires that individuals conducting or transacting a business under any name other than the real names of the owners must file an Assumed Name Certificate with the County Clerk in the county in which the business is located. If the business will be incorporated or a corporation, file with the Illinois Secretary of State (217/782-7880), not the County Clerk. What Is The Procedure? 1.The Assumed Name Certificate form is available at the County Clerk's office and must be completed with the name and physical address (not P.O. Box) of the business, the type of product or service you're offering, and the names and physical home addresses of all owners/partners in the business. All business owners/partners must sign the form in front of a Notary Public. The certificate is then filed in the County Clerk's office along with a $5.00 filing fee. At that time publication requirements will be explained to you and forms issued. 2.The Assumed Name Publication Notice must be taken to a general circulation Montgomery County newspaper where the Publication Notice is published once a week for three consecutive weeks. The first of the three notices must be published within 15 days of the initial filing of the Assumed Name Certificate. 3. After publishing, the newspaper completes the Publisher's Certificate and attaches the original publication. The Publisher's Certificate must be received in the County Clerk's office in order for the filing requirements to be complete. It is the responsibility of the business owner to make sure the Publisher's Certificate is returned to the County Clerk's office within 50 days from the date of filing. Certification of registration will be considered VOID if proof of publication is not provided within the 50 days. 4. After receipt of the Publisher's Certificate, the business will be sent a Certificate of Ownership of Business, which completes all the Assumed Name filing requirements. What If There Are Changes In The Business Information? If there is any change in the address, name of owner(s) or address, it is necessary to file a Supplemental Assumed Name Certificate with the County Clerk's office indicating the change. The filing fee for this is $1.50. Publication is again required if the change involves: adding owner(s) names to the business, closing the business, withdrawingowner(s) names when withdrawal involves 25% or more of the total ownership, or change of business address. Most of these procedures can be accomplished by mail to the County Clerk's office. If you have any questions, please call the Clerk's office at (217) 532-9530, or email us at sandyleitheiser@hotmail.com. Publishing In A Montgomery County General Circulation Weekly Newspaper - Assumed Name ad must be published in a general circulation newspaper that is in Montgomery County. - Assumed Name ad is published in the Legal Notice section of the newspaper. - ad is published in the paper one time per week for a total of three weeks. - after publication, the newspaper will return the Publisher's Certificate to the business owner or send it to the County Clerk's office at the business owner's request. - it is the business owner's responsibility to send the Publisher's Certificate back to the Montgomery County Clerk's office. - once the Publisher's Certificate is received in this office, the Certificate of Ownership will be given out and the Assumed Name business will be recorded with the County at that time. Please note: The County can not register the business name until the Publisher's Certificate has been completed and returned to this office no later than 50 days after the filing date of the Assumed Name application. For a listing of all registered business corporations in the State of Illinois, searchable by business name, authorized agent, others, go to Illinois Secretary of State and look under Departments, then Business Services.