How to Fill Out and File the Dallas County Assumed Name Certificate

To file a Dallas County assumed name certificate, a sole proprietor, general partnership, or joint venture completes the county’s notarized Assumed Name Certificate form and submits it to the Dallas County Clerk with a $23 filing fee. You can file in person or by mail at the Dallas County Records Building, 500 Elm Street, Suite 2100, Dallas, TX 75202. Each additional owner or partner listed adds $0.50 to the fee.¹

Who Files With the County

The county-level filing is for unincorporated businesses: sole proprietors, general partnerships, joint ventures, estates, and real estate investment trusts operating under a name other than the owner’s legal name.²

If you formed an LLC, corporation, limited partnership, LLP, or a foreign filing entity, you file assumed names only with the Texas Secretary of State using Form 503; the fee there is $25. Since September 1, 2019, those entities no longer file at the county level at all.³⁴

What Goes on the Form

Download the Assumed Name Certificate from the Dallas County Clerk’s online forms page, pick one up at the Recording Division, or complete it online through the Clerk’s website.⁵¹ You will need:

The assumed name exactly as it will appear on signage, invoices, advertising, and bank accounts.
Your business type (sole proprietorship, general partnership, joint venture, estate, real estate investment trust, or another unincorporated entity).
Owner or partner information. Each individual owner gives full legal name and home address. For a partnership, list the partnership name, its office address, and every general partner’s full legal name and residence address. A business address cannot substitute for an individual owner’s residence.
The physical street address where the business operates. A P.O. Box alone is not sufficient without a street address.
The duration of use, up to ten years from the filing date.⁶

Every owner or partner listed has to sign. If only one partner is authorized to sign for the partnership, make sure that authority is settled before you file.

Notarization

The Clerk will not record the certificate without notarization. After all required parties sign, bring the form to any notary public. Every signer needs a current, unexpired government-issued photo ID. Banks, shipping stores, and the Clerk’s office itself offer notary services; fees vary.

Submitting the Certificate

You have two options for the notarized form:

In person. Take the form and payment to 500 Elm Street, Suite 2100, Dallas, TX 75202. The Recording Division is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding court-approved holidays. In-person filings are typically processed the same day.⁷
By mail. Send the notarized form, payment, and a self-addressed stamped envelope to the same address. The envelope is not optional. Without a properly sized SASE, the office will not record the application. Mail filings generally take several business days.¹

Fee and Payment Methods

The fee is $23.00 for one owner, plus $0.50 for each additional partner or owner named on the certificate. The Clerk accepts money orders, cashier’s checks, business checks, and credit cards. Personal checks are not accepted.⁸ For mail filings, make the check or money order payable to the Dallas County Clerk.

What You Get Back

Once processed, the certificate is scanned into county records, and you receive a certified copy stamped with the filing date and a unique instrument number. Keep the certified copy. Most banks will not open a business checking account or let you deposit checks payable to your business name until they see it. The filing also becomes searchable in Dallas County’s public records, so anyone can look up who operates behind the name.

How Long It Lasts and How to Renew

The certificate stays effective for the term you selected, up to a maximum of ten years from the filing date. To keep the name, file a new certificate within six months before the original expires.⁶ The renewal uses the same form, notarization, and fee. If you let it lapse, you lose the legal protections tied to a registered assumed name and may have to start over.

Ending the Name Before It Expires

If you close the business or stop using the name before the certificate expires, file a Statement of Abandonment of Use of a Business or Professional Name with the Dallas County Clerk. The form asks for:⁹

The assumed name being abandoned.
The original filing date of the assumed name certificate.
Any other county offices where the original certificate was filed.
The name and current address of each registrant.

Every withdrawing party must sign, and signatures must be either notarized or signed in the presence of the Dallas County Clerk or a deputy clerk. Filing the abandonment removes the public link between you and the name, which matters if someone else later wants to use it in the county.

Penalties for Not Filing

Operating under an unregistered assumed name is not a paperwork technicality. Texas Business and Commerce Code sections 71.201 and 71.202 impose both civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance.³ The practical fallout usually comes first: banks refuse to open an account without a certified copy of the certificate, and enforcing contracts signed under an unregistered name gets harder. The filing costs $23 and can be done in under an hour in person.

1
Dallas County. Dallas County Clerk – Recording Division – Assumed Names/DBA Procedures
2
State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code BUS and COM 71.052
3
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Name Filings FAQs
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Form 503 – Instructions for Assumed Name Certificate
5
Dallas County. Dallas County Clerk – Online Forms
6
State of Texas. Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 71 – Assumed Business or Professional Name
7
Dallas County. Dallas County Clerk – Recording Division
8
Dallas County. Assumed Names Frequently Asked Questions
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Dallas County Clerk. Statement of Abandonment of Use of a Business or Professional Name