A Maine Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Maine Secretary of State and is often required for loans, to renew business licenses, or for tax or other business purposes in the state of Maine or in any other state. A Maine Certificate of Good Standing is evidence that your Maine business franchise - your Maine Corporation, LLC or LP - is in Existence, is authorized to transact business in the state of Maine, and complies with all state of Maine business requirements and therefore is in "Good Standing" in the state of Maine.

Also known as a Maine Certificate of Existence, a Maine Certificate of Status or a Maine Certificate of Authority, a Maine Good Standing Certificate is a one page document which looks like a letter and bears the seal of the state of Maine Secretary of State. A Maine Good Standing Certificate is provided by the Maine Secretary of State and is conclusive evidence of the existence of your Maine business franchise. In most cases a Maine Certificate of Good Standing can be valid up to a year depending on the requirements of the Good Standing Certificate requester.

To obtain a Maine Good Standing Certificate, your company must be registered as a legal entity with the Maine Secretary of State, i.e., your company is in existence in the state of Maine, and cannot be in default of Maine corporate rules, or suspended by the state of Maine.

Total cost for a Maine Good Standing Certificate depends on the type of company - Corporation, LLC, LLP, LP - and how fast you need the Certificate. Choose your options in the Good Standing Certificate Cost Calculator below to determine exactly how much your Maine Good Standing Certificate will cost.

• The Maine company must be registered as a legal entity with the Maine Secretary of State as a Corporation, LLC or LP.
• The Maine company cannot be in default or suspended as defined by the laws of the state of Maine.
• The Maine company must have filed all reports required by the Maine Secretary of State or any other state of Maine agency.

Some states verify that all taxes have been paid and all required reports have been filed. Other states include bare minimum language that confirms only that a company is in existence and has not been dissolved.

Along with the issuance date and signature of the Maine Secretary of State, a Maine Good Standing Certificate includes the following information:

A Corporation, LP or LLC that is registered in the state of Maine may require a Maine Good Standing Certificate to qualify as a "Foreign Corporation" in a state other than Maine.  A Foreign Corporation is a Corporation that is registered with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in one state and has the Authority to do business in another state. 

For example, a Corporation registered in the state of California that plans to do business in the state of Maine is a "Domestic Corporation" in California and a "Foreign Corporation" in the state of Maine.

All states require you to register as a Foreign Corporation with a state agency, usually the Secretary of State, in order to do business in their state.  In order to register as a Foreign Corporation in any state you must provide evidence that you are registered and are in Good Standing in another state as a Domestic Corporation or LLC.  This evidence is a Certificate of Good Standing from the state in which your Corporation or LLC was originally formed.

A Maine Good Standing Certificate is legal and official proof of Good Standing from the Maine Secretary of State.

If your Corporation, LLC or LP falls out of Good Standing with the ME Secretary of State it is technically illegal for your company to do business in the state of Maine or any other state. This could lead to the piercing of the corporate veil and make the owners of the Maine business liable for penalties and law suits.

In order to get back into Good Standing you will have to pay a Reinstatement Fee.

The cost to Reinstate a Maine Company depends on the exactly why the Corporation, LLC or LP is not in Good Standing. In some cases the fees for reinstatement of a Maine Company may be more expensive that those for walking away from the business and then creating an entirely new company.

A Maine Good Standing Certificate is issued by the Maine Secretary of State for business entities that have registered with the state of Maine.  A Sole Proprietorship or DBA is not normally registered with the Maine Secretary of State so a Maine Certificate of Good Standing cannot be issued for them.

If you own a Maine business and have not registered as a Corporation, LLC, LP or other legal entity with the Maine Secretary of State, then you are a Sole Proprietor by default.  Nothing needs to be filed with the Maine Secretary of State to create a Sole Proprietorship.  If you plan to use a name different from your first and last name then you would register in the Maine county in which you do business with your first and last name "Doing Business As" (DBA) the name of your business (for example: Sue Smith, DBA Sue's Maine Business).

A Maine Good Standing Certificate may be referred to by another name.

Yes. Each Maine Good Standing Certificate includes a unique Authentication Number which may be used to verify the Certificate with the Maine Secretary of State.

Yes.  A Maine Good Standing Certificate includes the Date of Incorporation for a Maine Corporation or the Date of Organization for a Maine LLC.

If you place your order for a Maine Good Standing Certificate before 1 PM Maine time we can get your Maine Good Standing Certificate as fast as 2-3 hours. We will send you a scanned copy of your Maine Good Standing Certificate by email and put a paper copy of your Certificate in the mail as soon as we get it from the ME Secretary of State.

The Maine Secretary of State reserves the right to extend expedite periods in time of extreme volume, staff shortage or equipment malfunction.  We are dependent on, and have no control over, the staff and systems of the Maine Secretary of State.  In our experience the time specified is the time it usually takes the Maine Secretary of State to process Good Standing Certificate orders.  We get your Maine Good Standing Certificate request to the ME Secretary of State ASAP.  Once it is at the state we have very little or no control over the Maine Good Standing Certificate process.

A valid expiration date is not written on a Maine Good Standing Certificate.  The validity of a Maine Certificate of Good Standing is usually determined by the intended recipient of the Good Standing Certificate.

Some institutions may request that a Maine Good Standing Certificate be less than a certain number of days old.  Generally the information included on a Maine Certificate of Good Standing is implied to be valid for 60-90 days but it really depends on the nature of the business for which the Maine Good Standing Certificate is being used.

If you need to verify that all outstanding tax liabilities for a Maine Corporation or Maine LLC have been paid then you need a Maine Tax Status Compliance Certificate.

In Maine a Tax Status Compliance Certificate is called a . A Maine is issued by the Maine Department of Revenue and is sometimes called a Tax Clearance Certificate or an Entity Status Letter or a Certificate of Account Status.

If you need a Good Standing Certificate from the highest Court in the state of Maine for a Maine Attorney we can help.

If you are ready to order a Maine Good Standing Certificate now, simply fill in the Good Standing Certificate Order Form below and press the Place Order button. If you have any questions you can call us at 855-771-2477 or email us at CorpServices@AllBizDocs.com.