Massachusetts Business Corporation Act in Effect July 1, 2004

As of July 1, 2004 the Massachusetts Business Corporation Act will be in effect. This new Act was enacted by the Massachusetts legislature.

Effective July 1, 2004 every Massachusetts corporation including non-profit and professional corporations has to provide the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the name and address of a resident agent even if the corporation has an office in Massachusetts. This is different from the current law where the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office does not require a corporation to appoint a resident agent if the corporation has an office in Massachusetts. 

If you haven't already appointed a resident agent, a resident agent is appointed by adopting Director's Resolutions naming the resident agent and by filing a Certificate of Appointment of Resident Agent with the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office. It is recommended that these filings are done by July 1, 2004 to avoid paying a fee to the Secretary of the commonwealth's Office. The Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office currently does not charge a fee for filing a Certificate of Appointment of Resident Agent. 

The revised forms are not currently available on the state’s web site, the state has informed us that the previous form will be accepted until the new forms are available. The old form can be downloaded at: www.sec.state.ma.us/cor/Functionality/DownloadForm.htm

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