Delaware Business Entity Search (Step-by-Step Guide)

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If you plan to set up a company in Delaware, the first step is to conduct a name search on the Delaware.gov website.

Name searching can help ensure that an existing business does not use your desired name. Various search tools are available on the Division of Corporations‘ website to conduct a name check.

Business search by name

1- Visit the Department of State’s search page

Start by visiting the search page, typing the name you need to look up into the box provided and pressing the search button.

If no results are found, an error message stating “No Records Found” will appear.

2- Review the results

Register your business to appear in search results.

By clicking on a business name, you’ll view specific details about it, including whether the entity is active or inactive and whether its name may be available for reuse in future endeavours.

3- Review business information

By clicking each company name, you’ll gain access to its information listed by state. However, for more detailed data regarding specific businesses, an additional charge will be associated with each request.

Determining a business’s status will cost $10; gaining more detailed knowledge, such as filing history, franchise tax assessment, or any other details about a given Delaware-based firm, will cost $20 more.

4- Determine name availability

Once registered, businesses will appear in search results, allowing you to see whether the desired name is available.

Business Search by file number

1- Refer to the Department of State search page

If you know the file number for an existing Delaware business, return to our search page and type it in before clicking Search.

2- Review the results

Search for a specific file number, and the result will show if there’s an exact match. Click on their company name to view all available info about them.

3- Determine name availability

The name should be available if it doesn’t return any search results.

Business search results

After searching the Delaware Business Registry and discovering matches, if any can be made available, the following will become accessible:

• Entity Name: This term denotes an entity’s legal or registered name.
• Entity File Number (EFN): Delaware issues seven-digit file numbers to each legal entity registered within its database, making identification more accessible for businesses operating within Delaware’s boundaries.
• Business Creation Date (or date of incorporation): This refers to when the company first began operating and established itself legally as an official business.
• Name of Registered Agent: This term refers to an agent appointed for service of process; also called an “official registered agent.”
• Information of their Registered Agent: As public records allow anyone access, many businesses opt to hire an agent service instead.

Information provided through business name searches is generally free; if additional details about any specific entity in a state are desired, these will likely incur an administrative charge.

However, remember that search results could show active and inactive companies in your state database; this does not represent their current state.

Additionally, information is delivered in real-time and displays up-to-date details from the database as of the search date. To confirm or find out an organization’s status, you must contact the Division of Corporations Department directly.

Copies of documents and certificates

As stated above, a search for a business entity name provides general details regarding any given company, corporation, LLC, or business.

Do You Need Information About Business Entities Or Their Current Standing? In that instance, contact the Department of State: Division of Corporations to seek further details and obtain more detailed data on any particular entity type or status.

According to the state department website, businesses have two options for online status verification: paying $10 for current status information or $20 to receive full history and tax details as part of that package.

Importantly, it should also be noted that inquiring online about a company in any given state won’t result in an official Certificate of Good Standing; instead, for $10, the status option shows you an image depicting its current standing – this can then be printed off of your PC, or sent via email as desired.

For $20 fee status option requests, an application will not show actual images of recorded documents. Rather, it will display a page listing status information, franchise tax assessment results, the last five filings with tax due, and total authorized shares (if relevant).

Note that this application doesn’t provide access to all officers and directors; you’ll need to contact the Division of Corporations directly to order copies of annual reports.

When applying for an official Certificate of Good Standing for any business entity, you can easily submit a request through the Division of Corporations document upload service.

Business name availability

If a Delaware LLC or corporation search yields no results, it should still be available. Although even when names may still be available at filing time, the Division will ultimately determine Corporations to ensure your choice is balanced with existing businesses in Delaware.

Notably, most sole proprietorships and partnerships need to register their businesses with the Delaware Secretary of State and thus may not appear on the Delaware Business Registry.

Therefore, trademark registration could help safeguard your corporate or LLC name against misuse by sole proprietorships and partnerships. Therefore, acquiring one should be considered to safeguard it for all future businesses operating using your name.

If your desired business name appears available but you have yet to form it as an actual Delaware company, reserving it for 110 days by paying $75 can help protect it. However, please keep in mind this fee cannot be applied toward Delaware company registration fees.

Remember the name you need on the reservation receipt; therefore, it should always remain close at hand.

Domain name availability

As part of your Delaware business name selection, it’s critical that you think carefully about its viability as an online domain name and selection criteria for potential customers who might use search engines like Google or Bing to look up information. Making such selections will enable a smooth experience—remembering and searching will become much simpler for customers!

One of the easiest ways to verify whether your business name is available as a web domain name is with namechk.com’s domain tool—it helps filter available domains while suggesting alternative ones as well.

Fictitious business name search

If your plan involves conducting business using any name other than what has been registered as your legal business name, registering a Delaware DBA (Doing Business As) could be invaluable.

DBA stands for doing business, often called an assumed or fictitious business name—registration of such names in Delaware state courts.

A filing must be submitted on the Division of Revenue’s One-stop Business Registration and Licensing Website to operate under your fictitious name.

Before filing a Delaware DBA, it’s advisable to use the Delaware Courts Judicial Branch search tool to find potential fictitious names.