West Virginia Code 31D-1-128 – Certificate of existence
(a) Any person may request a certificate of existence for a domestic corporation or a certificate of authorization for a foreign corporation from the Secretary of State.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 31D-1-128
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- domestic corporation: means a corporation for profit, which is not a foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the provisions of this chapter. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Foreign corporation: means a corporation for profit incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- Person: includes , but is not limited to, an individual and an entity. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- Secretary: means the corporate officer to whom the board of directors has delegated responsibility under subsection (c), section eight hundred forty, article eight of this chapter for custody of the minutes of the meetings of the board of directors and the meetings of the shareholders and for authenticating records of the corporation. See West Virginia Code 31D-1-150
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) A certificate of existence or authorization provides the following information:
(1) The domestic corporation's corporate name or the foreign corporation's corporate name used in this state;
(2) If the corporation is a domestic corporation, that the corporation is duly incorporated under the laws of this state, the date of its incorporation and the period of its duration if it is less than perpetual;
(3) If the corporation is a foreign corporation, that the corporation is authorized to transact business in this state; and
(4) If payment is reflected in the records of the Secretary of State and if nonpayment affects the existence or authorization of the domestic or foreign corporation, whether all fees, taxes and penalties owed to this state have been paid.
(c) Subject to any qualification stated in the certificate, a certificate of existence or authorization issued by the Secretary of State may be relied upon as conclusive evidence that the domestic or foreign corporation is in existence or is authorized to transact business in this state.