A certified copy is a duplicate of an original document that is certified as a true copy by the officer having custody of the original. Keeping the original of your formation documents or any other state-filed document with your company records records is important. If the original(s) are ever lost or misplaced, requesting a certified copy from the state of formation or qualification is advisable.

Additionally, a certified copy of your company's formation documents is often needed in order to open a bank account or to foreign qualify your company to transact business in another state. Often, Corporations and Limited Liability Companies are required to provide certified documents. For examples:

A Secretary of State may request certified copies when an entity intends to foreign qualify In the event that an individual or entity loses original documents and needs to have copies on file for their internal company records Certified copies are useful for internal record-keeping purposes The most common request is Certified Copies of Articles of Incorporation and All Amendments. Other types of documents for which requests for certification are frequently received include:

    * Formations
    * Amendments
    * Certificates of authority (qualification documents); and
    * Dissolutions.

NOTE: Because many states charge fees per page of the documents to be certified -- which cannot be determined in advance Infotax Square representative will contact you to discuss State filing Fees.