CERTIFIED COPIES
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.