What Happens When a California FBN Expires?

Short answer: a California fictitious business name statement expires five years after it was filed. It can expire sooner if the facts on it change or if it is never published. To keep using the name, you file a new statement. If nothing has changed and you refile by the expiration date or within 40 days after, you don't have to publish again (B&P Code §17917(c)). Any change, or a later refiling, means a new filing that must be published.

The Three Ways an FBN Expires

1. Five years pass. Under Business and Professions Code §17920, a statement expires five years from the date it was filed.
2. The facts change. The same section says a statement expires 40 days after any change in the facts it states, except a change in an individual registrant's residence address. A new owner or a new business address are common examples.
3. It is never published. If publication doesn't start within 45 days of filing, the filing expires and you must file again and pay the fee again. The law has no extension process.

A statement also ends when you file a statement of abandonment.

Renewing: Do You Have to Publish Again?

Only sometimes. Under state law (B&P Code §17917(c)), a renewal with no changes doesn't need publication — as long as it's refiled by the expiration date or within 40 days after. San Diego County states the same rule on its FBN page. If anything on the statement changed, or you file too late, treat it as a new filing: it must be published once a week for four weeks, starting within 45 days.

What to Do If Yours Already Expired

1. File a new fictitious business name statement with your county clerk and pay the current fee.
2. Check your new 45-day publication deadline with our deadline calculator.
3. Publish the new statement once a week for four consecutive weeks in an adjudicated newspaper. PublishProof can handle this for one flat price.

Rules on renewals can vary slightly by county. Confirm with your county clerk if you're unsure. PublishProof is not a law firm.