The Delaware Form 50 Certificate of Representation lets a corporation, LLC, partnership, trust, estate, registered trade-name firm, or public body send a non-lawyer officer or qualifying employee to appear for it in Justice of the Peace Court civil cases. You fill out one notarized form per representative, pay a $20 fee, and file it with the Chief Magistrate’s Office at 5 East Pine Street, Georgetown, DE 19947. The certificate is good through January 15 of the year after it’s approved, and it only works in the Justice of the Peace Court. Any case in the Court of Common Pleas, Superior Court, or elsewhere in Delaware still requires a licensed attorney.1Delaware Courts. Civil Court Proceedings – Justice of the Peace Court
Check Eligibility Before You Fill Anything Out
Form 50 is built on Delaware Supreme Court Rule 57, which lists the organizations that can use it: Delaware corporations and foreign corporations registered to do business in Delaware, Delaware LLCs, general and limited partnerships, trusts, estates, firms and associations with a registered trade name, and public bodies.2Delaware Courts. Rule 57 – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Courts of the Justices of the Peace If your organization doesn’t fit one of those categories, the form won’t help you and you’ll need to retain counsel.
The person you want to send to court has to fit one of two tracks. The first is officers, defined broadly under Rule 57 to include the president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer and their assistants, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of an estate, a general partner of a partnership, and a manager or member of an LLC. An entity can also designate someone as an officer for the specific purpose of representing it.2Delaware Courts. Rule 57 – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Courts of the Justices of the Peace
The second track is employees, and it’s narrower. The representative has to be a full-time employee with experience in the entity’s operations and knowledge of the facts and law relevant to the case. Part-time workers and independent contractors don’t qualify. Two specific employee categories are also authorized: property managers responsible for a rental property at issue in a landlord-tenant case, and uniformed officers bringing civil-penalty actions for a public entity.2Delaware Courts. Rule 57 – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Courts of the Justices of the Peace
Completing the Form
Download Form 50 (CF50) from the Justice of the Peace Court’s Form 50 page on the Delaware Courts website.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50) You need one form per representative. Two people authorized means two forms and two fees.
Entity Section
Print the entity’s full legal name exactly as it appears in its formation documents, then check the single box that matches the entity type: Delaware corporation, Delaware LLC, Delaware partnership, Delaware trust, Delaware estate, Delaware association, entity with a registered trade name, public body, or foreign entity registered in Delaware. Enter the mailing address. The form does not ask for a federal tax identification number; the entity-type box and address are what the court uses to confirm eligibility.4Delaware Courts. Delaware Justice of the Peace Court Form 50
Representative Section
Write the representative’s full name and check the box that matches their role. The choices mirror Rule 57: chief executive, president, or chair; vice-president or vice-chair; secretary or assistant secretary; treasurer or assistant treasurer; trustee; executor or administrator; general partner; manager or member of an LLC; other officer (with a space to specify the title); full-time employee with operational experience and knowledge of the relevant facts and law; or property manager responsible for the rental property at issue.4Delaware Courts. Delaware Justice of the Peace Court Form 50 Pick the one that actually matches the person’s role. If you check the full-time employee box, the court expects that person to be able to speak knowledgeably about the dispute.
Signatures and Notarization
An officer of the entity signs the form to certify that the representative is authorized to appear on its behalf. If the representative is also the officer signing, that’s fine; otherwise two different people sign. Both the officer and the representative must sign in the presence of a notary public, who then applies the seal and completes the notarial certificate.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50) Delaware caps notary fees at $5 for a tangible paper document.5Justia. Delaware Code Title 29 – 4311 – Fees for Services A form signed before you reach the notary will be rejected.
Where to File and What to Pay
If you’re already registered as an e-filer in the Delaware courts’ eFlex system, you are required to submit Form 50 electronically through eFlex using the Chief Magistrate’s Office filing location.6Delaware Courts. Delaware eFlex Registered e-filers who try to send it by mail or walk it in will likely have the filing kicked back.
Everyone else mails or hand-delivers the original notarized form to the Chief Magistrate’s Office, 5 East Pine Street, Georgetown, DE 19947.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50) Include a check or money order for $20.00 made payable to the State of Delaware. Those are the only payment methods the court lists; cash and credit cards aren’t mentioned.4Delaware Courts. Delaware Justice of the Peace Court Form 50
Keep a clocked-in copy. The court’s instructions say to bring one with you every time the representative appears.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50) Showing up without proof of certification risks a postponement or dismissal.
Keeping the Certificate Valid
A Form 50 takes effect when the Chief Magistrate’s Office approves it and stays valid through January 15 of the following year, not December 31.7Delaware Courts. Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware – Rule 57 File a renewal with another $20 fee by January 15 each year to avoid a lapse.
The renewal window has a quirk. A new Form 50 submitted on or after December 15 counts as both a valid certificate for the rest of the current term and a renewal for the full year that follows January 15. File before December 15 and you only cover the current period. One filing covering both periods means timing your renewal for the December 15 to January 15 window.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50)
Let the certificate lapse and your representative cannot appear in court until a new form is approved and paid for. Any hearing scheduled during the gap leaves the entity with no one authorized to speak for it.
When Something Changes
The officer who signed the form has a continuing duty to notify the Chief Magistrate’s Office and any Justice of the Peace Court where the entity has a pending case about material changes. That includes shifts in the representative’s job title or employment status and changes to the entity’s address or legal structure. The notice has to go in within a reasonable time and no later than one week before the representative’s next court appearance.3Delaware Courts. Justice of the Peace Court – Artificial Entity and Public Body Pro Se Representation in Civil Actions in the Justice of the Peace Court (Form 50) For a material change, you file an amended, notarized certificate; the Chief Magistrate reviews it and decides whether the representative still qualifies under Rule 57.7Delaware Courts. Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware – Rule 57
If the representative leaves the entity (fired, resigned, contract ended), notify the Chief Magistrate’s Office and the court where any case is pending immediately and in writing. The former employee loses authorization the moment that notice is filed. There is no grace period, and the entity will need a new Form 50 with a different representative or a lawyer before its next court date.7Delaware Courts. Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware – Rule 57
Mistakes That Delay Approval
Most rejections come down to the same handful of errors. The notarization trips people up most often: both signers have to appear in front of the notary, not sign in advance and bring the form in later. A form with signatures but no seal starts over.
Other common problems are checking the wrong entity-type box (confusing a foreign entity registered in Delaware with a Delaware-formed corporation is a frequent one), forgetting the $20 check, and naming a representative who doesn’t fit any qualifying category. A part-time bookkeeper or an outside consultant will be rejected no matter how neatly the rest of the form is completed.
Timing matters when you have active litigation. The Chief Magistrate’s Office processes these filings separately from the courtrooms, so approval isn’t instant. Mailed filings in particular can take several business days to arrive and process. File early enough that the certificate is in hand before the next hearing.