Florida: Assumed-Name (DBA) Registration Requirements

Requirements one by one

Who must register

The Fictitious Name Act covers anyone who does business under "any name … other
than the person's legal name" (§ 865.09(2)(c)). "Person" includes individuals
and entities. Two exemptions matter (§ 865.09(7)):

• A licensed attorney or a professional licensed by the Department of Business
  and Professional Regulation or the Department of Health, doing business under
  the licensed name.
• A corporation, LLC, partnership, or other entity "organized or registered and
  in active status with the division" operating under its legal name.

Both exemptions vanish "unless the name under which business is to be conducted
differs from the name as licensed or registered." So an LLC operating under its
exact registered name files nothing; the same LLC using a different brand name
must register that brand.

Where and when to file

Florida is a statewide-filing state. You register with "the division" — the
Division of Corporations of the Department of State (§ 865.09(2)(b)) — not with a
county clerk. The timing is up front: a person "may not engage in business under
a fictitious name unless the person first registers the name" (§ 865.09(3)(a)).

The newspaper advertisement

Before you register, you must advertise the name. The registration includes a
"certification by at least one registrant that the intention to register such
fictitious name has been advertised at least once in a newspaper … in the county
in which the principal place of business of the registrant is or will be
located" (§ 865.09(3)(a)5). Unlike California's four-week run, Florida requires a
single advertisement, and it is a precondition of the filing rather than a
follow-up step.

Fee, term, and renewal

Registration costs "$50," as do cancellation/reregistration and renewal
(§ 865.09(12)). A registration is valid "expiring on December 31 of the 5th
calendar year" after it is filed (§ 865.09(5)(a)). To keep it, you file a renewal
"on or after January 1 and on or before December 31 of the expiration year,"
which continues it for another five years (§ 865.09(6)(a)).

What happens if you skip it

A noncomplying business "may [not] maintain any action, suit, or proceeding in
any court of this state with respect to or on behalf of such business until this
section is complied with" (§ 865.09(9)(a)). The bar is curable and does not void
the business's contracts, and the business may still defend a lawsuit
(§ 865.09(9)(b)). But there is a sting the other way: "a party aggrieved by a
noncomplying business may be awarded reasonable attorney fees and court costs."

What trips people up

• Registering does not protect the name. Florida says so directly:
  registration "is for public notice only," creates no "presumption of the
  registrant's rights to own or use the name," "does not reserve a fictitious
  name against future use," and does not override anyone's prior trademark
  (§ 865.09(8)). Two businesses can register the same fictitious name.
• An entity using its exact registered name files nothing. The most common
  error is a Florida LLC registering a DBA identical to its LLC name. The
  exemption in § 865.09(7) already covers that; you only register a name that
  "differs."
• Advertise first, then file. The newspaper ad is a precondition of the
  registration, not a later step (§ 865.09(3)(a)5). Filing before you can certify
  the ad will not comply.
• Watch the calendar, not the anniversary. The term runs to December 31 of
  the fifth calendar year, and the renewal window is that whole final year
  (§ 865.09(5)–(6)) — a fixed-date scheme, unlike states that count five years
  from the filing date.

Common questions

Do I have to publish the name every year like some states? No. Florida
requires a single newspaper advertisement before the initial registration
(§ 865.09(3)(a)5); there is no recurring publication.

I'm a Florida LLC — do I need a fictitious name registration? Only if you do
business under a name different from your registered LLC name. Operating under
the exact registered name is exempt (§ 865.09(7)).

Does registering stop a competitor from using the same name? No. Registration
is public notice only and reserves nothing (§ 865.09(8)). For exclusive rights,
look to trademark law.

What happens to a contract I signed before registering? It stays valid
(§ 865.09(9)(b)). But you cannot sue to enforce it on the business's behalf until
you register, and you may owe the other side's attorney fees, so register first.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 865.09 — the Fictitious Name Act: definition, statewide
  registration and newspaper-advertisement requirement, five-year term and
  renewal, exemptions, public-notice-only effect, the suit-bar and attorney-fee
  exposure, and the $50 fee. Official text (accessed 2026-07-23).