Register a Business Name in Clinton County, MI

What to bring

• The certificate form, which the county clerk furnishes — MCL 445.1(1) requires the filing to be made "on a form furnished by the county clerk", so use this county's own rather than another's.
• Your true full name and address, and the name the business will trade under (MCL 445.1(1)).
• Photo identification. The certificate must be "executed and duly acknowledged" (MCL 445.1(1)), and a notary taking an acknowledgment has to establish who you are — MCL 55.285(6)(c) accepts "a current license, identification card, or record issued by a federal or state government that contains the individual's photograph and signature", unless the notary knows you personally.
• An unsigned form. Do not sign it in advance: the acknowledgment has to happen in front of the notary, so sign it there, or at the counter if this office has a notary on staff.
• Everyone named on the certificate, if more than one person is. Each signature has to be acknowledged separately.
• The filing fee. MCL 445.1(1) sets $6.00 and every county we have checked publishes more — confirm the amount, and what this office takes, before you go. A notary may charge up to $10.00 for the acknowledgment itself (MCL 55.285(7)).

This filing covers this county only; it is not shared with other counties or with the State of Michigan, and it is for sole proprietors and co-partnerships — corporations and limited partnerships are excluded by MCL 445.1(4)(a) and file with the state instead.