How to Change Your Massachusetts Business Name

How to Change Your Massachusetts Business Name

Below are the steps for how to change a business name in Massachusetts.  

1. Choose a Business Name

The first step in changing your business’ name in Massachusetts is to select a new name that you like. The name you choose for your LLC or Corporation, however, must not be too similar to other business names, and can’t be mistaken for another business name. You can check your selected name against other Massachusetts business names and existing name reservations online. 

Once you have selected a name, you can reserve the name by filing a form with the Corporations Division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You can file the name reservation form, along with a fee, in person or by mail. If the name you want is available, it will be reserved for 60 days.  

We can take the stress out of checking that your chosen name is proper and available through our Business Name Checker.

2. Gather information for filing your amendment

The next step for how to change a business name in Massachusetts is to gather the information you will need to amend your business’s organizational documents. Your organizational documents are those documents you initially filed with the state when you first set up your business. This is the Articles of Organization for Massachusetts corporations, and for a Massachusetts LLC, it’s the Certificate of Organization. To legally and permanently change your business name, you must amend these documents. 

Generally, you will need the following information to prepare your amendment:

• The current name of your business
• Your federal tax identification number
• The parties legally authorized to approve of the amendment (e.g., the directors of a corporation)
• How the amendment was approved
• The name and address of the person or people legally authorized to sign the amendment
• The date of issuance of your original organizing document
• The text of the amendment

Massachusetts provides a form to amend your Corporate Articles of Organization. If you have an LLC, however, the state doesn’t offer a form to amend your Certificate of Organization. Instead, you will need to follow Massachusetts’s regulations for drafting an amendment to the Certificate of Organization for your LLC. 

3. File your Massachusetts amendment

Next, you’ll file your amendment to change a business name in Massachusetts with the Corporations Division of Secretary of the Commonwealth. You can file it in person, by mail, by fax, or online with the appropriate fee.     

We can help you by taking the worry out of navigating the legal requirements for preparing and filing amendments with our Amendment Filing Service.

After You Change Your Business Name

After securing a name change, you may want to change your business materials to reflect your new business name accurately. You may consider changing your name on the following:

• Banking, loan, and other financial documents
• Marketing materials
• The business website and social media accounts

You may also consider branding and logo changes. In addition, you may contact your clients to notify them of the name change to minimize any confusion.

We can help

As you can see, you must closely follow many requirements to change your business name in Massachusetts so that your business name change is compliant with the law. We can help with our Amendment Filing Service, so you don’t have to worry about navigating the Massachusetts amendment process.

Additionally, our Worry-Free Compliance can help with your business’s ongoing compliance issues. Plus, this includes two amendments to your organizational documents each year. 

If you haven’t yet formed your business, we also take the hassle out of this process with our Massachusetts LLC or Massachusetts Corporation Formation Services.  Our customer service team is available to help answer your questions regarding any of these services.