Forming a Corporation

The way you form a corporation in Minnesota is dictated by state law and the process is pretty straightforward.

Start by filing articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State and paying the filing fee. You can file online or download and submit a ready-made articles of incorporation form, or you may draft and submit your own articles of incorporation (advice of an attorney is advised here).The articles of incorporation contain these elements:

Corporate Name
By state law, the name of a corporation must:

• Be in English
• Contain the words “corporation”, “incorporated”, “limited”, “company”, “professional association” or “chartered” (or abbreviations thereof)
• Not contain a word or phrase indicating that the corporation conducts a business that is not a legal business purpose
• Be distinguishable from the other company names, reserved names, assumed names, trademarks or servicemarks on file with the Secretary of State.

Search the Secretary of State’s business database to determine whether your chosen name is available. Download the name availability guidelines.

Registered Office
A corporation must maintain a registered office located in the state of Minnesota. The address may not be a post-office box. It may be a street address, a rural route and rural route box or fire number, or directions from a landmark. If directions are given, a mailing address in the same town or in an adjacent area must also be given. All addresses musthave a zip code.

Registered Agent
The corporation is not required to name a registered agent in the articles of incorporation, but if it does name an agent, the articles must list the name of the agent and the agent must be located at the registered office.

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