How to File an Assumed Name Certificate in Texas

To file an Assumed Name Certificate in Texas, sole proprietorships and general partnerships file with the county clerk in every county where they do business, and corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, and other registered entities file Form 503 with the Texas Secretary of State for a $25 fee.¹ The certificate is good for up to 10 years. Skip it and you lose the right to sue in Texas courts on any contract made under that name.

Who Files Where

Your business structure decides the office.

Unincorporated businesses file at the county level. That includes sole proprietorships, general partnerships, joint ventures, estates, and real estate investment trusts. File with the county clerk in every county where you maintain a business office. If you have no physical office in Texas, file in each county where you actually conduct business.² A certificate in Harris County does not cover work you do in Travis County.

Registered entities file once with the state. That includes for-profit and nonprofit corporations, professional corporations, LLCs, limited partnerships, limited liability partnerships, professional associations, and foreign filing entities. A single Form 503 filing with the Secretary of State is all you need; there is no separate county filing requirement for these entities.³

Filing with the County Clerk

There is no single statewide form for county filings. Get the form from the clerk’s office in the county where you’ll file.

A sole proprietor’s certificate must include the assumed business name, the owner’s full legal name and home address, how long you plan to use the name (up to 10 years), and a statement identifying the business type. Partnerships and joint ventures add the partnership’s name and office address plus the full name and home address of every general partner.⁴

Every person named on the certificate has to sign it, and those signatures must be acknowledged before a notary public.⁵ Some clerks will acknowledge signatures in-office through a deputy clerk if all owners appear together with valid ID.

Filing fees vary by county. Dallas County, for reference, charges $23 for the first signature and $0.50 for each additional signature.⁶ Call your county clerk for exact numbers before you go. Some counties waive fees for veterans presenting valid ID.

Filing with the Secretary of State (Form 503)

Form 503 is available as a Word document or PDF on the Secretary of State’s site. You’ll enter:

The assumed name you want to use.
Your entity’s exact legal name as shown on its certificate of formation.
Your SOS file number, assigned when the entity was formed or registered.
The state or country where the entity was organized.
The entity’s principal office address.
The counties where you plan to use the assumed name.
The duration, up to 10 years, or a specific end date.

These items are required under Chapter 71 of the Business and Commerce Code.³

Notarization is not required for filings with the Secretary of State. Faxed copies and photocopies of signed certificates are accepted.¹ Submit the form in duplicate with the $25 filing fee. Mail goes to P.O. Box 13697, Austin, Texas 78711-3697; in-person delivery goes to the James Earl Rudder Office Building at 1019 Brazos, Austin. Fax is also accepted. You can pay by check, money order, or credit card (American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa), with a 2.7% convenience fee on card payments.⁷

Standard filings usually take at least one business day to show up as received in the system.⁸ Expedited service processes filings within two to three business days, with same-day and next-day options for in-person delivery before noon. Expedited service costs extra on top of the $25.⁹

How Long the Certificate Lasts and How to Renew

The certificate is effective for whatever duration you picked at filing, capped at 10 years from the filing date.¹ Track the expiration yourself. The state does not send reminders.

To renew, file a new Assumed Name Certificate within the six months before your current one expires.³ Once your filing is processed, you get a file-stamped copy back. Keep it with your business records; banks routinely ask for it when you open an account under a trade name.

What the Certificate Does Not Give You

An assumed name filing is a public-notice record, nothing more. Neither the county clerk nor the Secretary of State screens for name conflicts, so another Texas business can file the same assumed name.

It is not a trademark. If you want to stop competitors from using a similar name, register a trademark with the Texas Secretary of State or with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; federal registration can establish nationwide priority over later users of a confusingly similar name.¹⁰

It also does not create a separate legal entity. A sole proprietor who files a DBA is still personally liable for business debts. Liability protection requires forming an LLC, corporation, or similar entity, which is a separate filing.

Penalties for Skipping the Filing

Operating under an unfiled assumed name creates a practical trap and a criminal one.

The practical trap: you cannot bring a lawsuit in Texas court on any contract or transaction conducted under that assumed name until you go back and file a proper certificate. Existing contracts stay valid, and you can still defend yourself if you’re sued, but you cannot be the plaintiff. If a party has to sue you and has trouble identifying or serving you because nothing was on file, the court can make you pay their attorney’s fees and service costs.⁴

The criminal side is rarer but real. Intentionally operating under an assumed name without filing is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both.¹¹ Filing a certificate with a forged signature or materially false information is treated as tampering with a governmental record, itself a Class A misdemeanor that escalates to a state jail felony if the intent was to defraud or harm someone.¹²

Prosecutions for missing filings are uncommon. The lawsuit bar is the real risk, and finding out about it mid-litigation is an expensive way to save $25.

Abandoning an Assumed Name

When you stop using a name, whether from closing, selling, or rebranding, file an abandonment. Entities that filed with the Secretary of State use Form 504, which asks for the assumed name being abandoned, the date the original certificate was filed, the entity’s legal name, and the SOS file number. The state fee is $10.¹

Unincorporated businesses that filed at the county level file the abandonment with the same county clerk. County-level abandonments require original signatures and notarization, the same as the original certificate.⁷

1
Texas Secretary of State. Name Filings FAQs
2
State of Texas. Texas Code BC 71.054 – Place of Filing
3
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 503 — Instructions for Assumed Name Certificate
4
State of Texas. Business and Commerce Code Chapter 71 – Assumed Business or Professional Name
5
State of Texas. Texas Code BC 71.053 – Execution of Certificate
6
Dallas County. County Clerk Recording Division – Filing Fees and Payment Information
7
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 504 — Instructions for Abandonment of Assumed Name Certificate
8
Texas Secretary of State. Business Filings – Status
9
Office of the Secretary of State. Introducing Texas Express Expedited Business Filings
10
United States Patent and Trademark Office. Trademark Applications – Intent-to-Use (ITU) Basis
11
State of Texas. Texas Code PE 12.21 – Class A Misdemeanor
12
State of Texas. Texas Code PE 37.10 – Tampering with Governmental Record