If I want to open a business but do not wish to use my real name, can I obtain a legal alias while also keeping my birth name?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
If I want to open a business but do not wish to use my real name, can I obtain a legal alias while also keeping my birth name?
I don’t want to use my given name due to the content of my business but would like to be able to use an alias for business documents and business accounts. Is this possible? If so, how?
Asked on November 3, 2010 under Business Law, Washington
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 13 years ago | Contributor
There is no such thing as a "legal alias." You can, of course, informally go by any name you choose; for example, someone starting a pornography business could go by the name "Lance Goodthrust" (apologies to "Night Court" and prosecutor Dan Fielding). However, legal documents, such as articles of incorporation or an operating agreement, need to be signed with your legal name. Your website, your business cards, your correspondence and email, etc. can all use your fictitious name, and you can tell everyone associated with your business to call you that--but at any given time, a person can only have one legal name, which is what you would have to use on certain legal and tax documents.
Also note that you can set up the business to use any name you like--it does not have to have any relationship to your name.
Of course, you can change your legal name...so you could in theory--thought it's alot of work for what it gets you--change your name, create and run your business, then change it again when you retire from it or sell it or etc.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.