How to Look Up a Delaware Corporation and Check Status

To perform a Delaware corporation lookup, go to the Delaware Division of Corporations’ free entity search at corp.delaware.gov and select “Search for a Business Entity.” Enter the company’s legal name or its seven-digit file number, and the tool returns the entity’s current status, formation date, entity type, and registered agent. The search is free, runs against the Division’s live database, and takes seconds.¹²

What You Need Before You Search

The search accepts two identifiers: the entity’s legal name or its file number. The legal name is the formal name on file with the Division, which may differ from a company’s trade name or brand. Delaware requires every corporate name to be distinguishable from all other registered entities, so an exact legal name should point to a single result.³

Partial names work too. Typing “Acme” pulls every registered entity with “Acme” in its name, and common words return long lists. The seven-digit file number cuts through that. Every entity receives it at formation, and it points to one record. You can usually find the file number on formation documents, annual franchise tax filings, or by asking the company directly.²

How to Run the Search

From corp.delaware.gov, click “Search for a Business Entity.” The entity search page has two input fields, one for name and one for file number. Enter what you have and submit. If multiple results come back, scan the names and file numbers to identify the right entity, then click the name to open its record.

What the Free Results Show

Each result displays the legal name, entity type (Corporation, Limited Liability Company, Limited Partnership, and so on), the file number, and the incorporation or formation date. The record also indicates whether the entity is domestic to Delaware or a foreign entity registered to do business there.²

The registered agent’s name, street address, and phone number appear as well. Delaware requires every corporation to maintain a registered agent in the state to accept legal documents on the company’s behalf.⁴ For most small and mid-sized companies the agent is a commercial service, so the address you see often belongs to that service rather than to the corporation itself.

The final piece is the entity’s current status, which is the field most people are actually there to check.

What the Free Search Does Not Show

The free record does not list officers, directors, or owners. Delaware does not make that information publicly available through its entity database, which catches many people off guard. Franchise tax status, filing history, and financial details like authorized shares are also absent from the free view.

If the company is publicly traded, officer, director, and ownership information is available through the SEC’s EDGAR system.⁵ For private companies, that information generally is not in any public database.

Reading the Status Labels

Delaware uses specific status terms, and they don’t all mean what you might guess.⁶

Good Standing. The entity’s existence has not been terminated, voluntarily or administratively. This is the status you want to see.
Voided. The corporation’s charter has been declared void, typically for failure to pay franchise taxes. Delaware can void a charter after one year of nonpayment.
Dissolved. The corporation voluntarily filed a certificate of dissolution to end its legal existence.
Cancelled, Failure to Pay Tax. A limited partnership, LLC, or partnership failed to pay annual taxes for three years.
Forfeited, Failure to Appoint a R/A. The registered agent resigned and no replacement was appointed within 30 days.
Merged or Consolidated. The entity no longer exists independently because it was absorbed into another entity.
AR Delinquent, Tax Paid. Taxes have been paid, but the required annual report has not been filed.
AR Filed, Tax Delinquent. The annual report is on file, but taxes are still overdue.

Anything other than “Good Standing” is worth investigating before contracting or transacting with the entity.

Paid Status Checks for More Detail

When the free view is not enough, the Division offers two paid tiers through its online status service.⁷

$10 status check. Returns a printable screen with the entity’s current status. You can email the result to yourself. Useful for a quick confirmation.
$20 detailed status check. Returns status plus the last five filings, the current franchise tax assessment, total authorized shares for corporations, and any tax balance due. This is the more useful tier for due diligence because it reveals whether taxes are current.

Neither paid option produces an official certificate. What you get is a screen printout, which may work for informal purposes but will not satisfy a bank, court, or agency that requires authenticated documentation.

Certified Documents When You Need Legal Weight

For documents that carry legal weight, the Division issues several certified products.⁸

Short Form Certificate of Status, $50. Confirms the entity’s name and its status at the time of issuance. This is the document most people mean when they say “certificate of good standing.”
Long Form Certificate of Good Standing, $175. Lists every document filed with the Division, including filing dates and any name changes, along with current status. Lenders and courts sometimes require this fuller version.
Certified copy of a filed document, $50 per document plus $2 per page. An authenticated copy of a specific filing, such as the original certificate of incorporation or an amendment.
Plain copy of a filed document, $10 for the first page plus $2 per additional page. An uncertified copy for reference only.

Requests go through the Division’s online portal or in writing, and many out-of-state businesses submit them through a Delaware registered agent instead.⁸

Why Entities Lose Good Standing

The most common reason a Delaware corporation falls out of good standing is unpaid franchise taxes. Every domestic corporation must file an annual report and pay its franchise tax by March 1 each year. The minimum tax is $175 under the authorized shares method or $400 under the assumed par value capital method, with a maximum of $200,000 for most corporations. A separate $50 annual report filing fee applies.⁹

Miss March 1 and the state adds a $200 penalty plus interest of 1.5 percent per month on the unpaid balance. After a full year of nonpayment, the state can void the charter, stripping the corporation of its legal authority to conduct business until it is revived. Foreign corporations registered in Delaware have a separate June 30 annual report deadline with a $125 filing fee.⁹

Reviving a Voided Corporation

If your search returns a voided status and you own or need to reactivate the entity, Delaware allows revival by statute. Before the Division will accept a certificate of revival, all back taxes, penalties, and interest owed at the time of voiding must be paid in full, and every delinquent annual report must be filed.¹⁰

The filing fee for the certificate of revival is $189, plus $9 for each page beyond the first. A certified copy of the revival certificate adds $50. Total cost depends heavily on how many years of back taxes are owed, and corporations voided five or more years ago pay a premium: the renewal fee jumps to three times the annual franchise tax amount.

Federal Records That Fill the Gaps

The Delaware search covers state registration. Two federal tools cover what it leaves out.

For tax-exempt organizations incorporated in Delaware, the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search shows whether the entity holds a current exemption, whether it can receive tax-deductible contributions, and whether it has filed its required Form 990 returns. You can search by name or Employer Identification Number.¹¹

For publicly traded corporations, the SEC’s EDGAR database provides financial statements, ownership disclosures, and executive information that Delaware’s records do not contain.⁵ Between the state search and these federal sources, you can build a fairly complete picture of most Delaware entities without paying for a commercial background service.

1
Division of Corporations – State of Delaware. Division of Corporations – State of Delaware
2
Delaware Division of Corporations. Division of Corporations – Filing
3
Justia Law. Delaware Code Title 8 – Contents of Certificate of Incorporation
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Justia Law. Delaware Code Title 8 – Corporations
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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Using EDGAR to Research Investments
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State of Delaware. Division of Corporations – Field Descriptions
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Division of Corporations – State of Delaware. Online Status – Division of Corporations
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Delaware Division of Corporations. Accessing Corporate Information
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Division of Corporations – State of Delaware. Annual Report and Tax Information – Division of Corporations
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Division of Corporations – State of Delaware. Revival of Charter for a Voided Corporation
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Internal Revenue Service. Search for Tax Exempt Organizations