How to Amend a Kentucky Articles of Organization

Starting a business is exciting. But beyond formation, there are many tasks that a Kentucky limited liability company (LLC) needs to be aware of to keep their business in state compliance. One of the most important things to stay on top of is keeping your Articles of Organization up to date after certain aspects of your LLC change. Few things stay the same, and your business is no exception. Knowing how and when to file an amendment can be overwhelming, but we’re here to help. Let’s have a closer look at how to file an amendment to your Kentucky Articles of Organization and how we can make it easier.

What are Kentucky Articles of Organization?

Your Kentucky Articles of Organization tell the state you’re ready to conduct business as an LLC. Generally, the required contents of Articles of Organization include:

• The LLC name
• The LLC’s registered office
• The LLC’s initial registered agent
• A statement about whether managers or members will manage the LLC

If you’re running a professional or nonprofit LLC, you may be required to provide additional information. If you don’t want your LLC to exist in perpetuity, you can include an LLC dissolution date. While not required, you can also include information in your Articles of Organization that you would normally include in an Operating Agreement. 

If your LLC hasn’t made any changes because you’re still trying to form one, head over to our Kentucky LLC formation service page to get started today.

Step 1: Determine if you need to change your Kentucky Articles of Organization

Running an LLC can bring you lots of financial benefits and protect you from personal liabilities if you have a business issue. You don’t want to lose these perks by failing to comply with legal requirements. You need to amend your Articles of Organization not only to stay compliant with state law, but to also keep your business up to date and visible to the public. 

If you don’t update your information, your customers or clients might not know how to reach you. Also, a failure to update your registered agent or registered office information could cause you to miss deadlines for important legal and government documents and notices. If you need help finding a registered agent, our Kentucky registered agent service can help you find a registered agent that’s a good fit for your company. 

People do their research before they give their money to a business. A solid way to show potential investors and patrons that your business is legitimate is with a Kentucky Certificate of Existence from the Secretary of State. (This is called a Certificate of Good Standing in other states.) If you don’t update the information in your Articles of Organization, the Secretary of State can deny you a Certificate of Existence and jeopardize your ability to get financing or new customers. 

Step 2: Identify what to change in your Kentucky Articles of Organization 

So now that you understand how important it is to file a Kentucky LLC amendment, how do you keep your information updated? Read on to learn when you need to amend and how.

Kentucky law requires that you amend your Articles of Organization when:

• Your LLC name changes
• Your dissolution date changes
• Your LLC management changes from members to managers, or vice versa
• Your LLC makes changes to any other information you’re legally required to provide in your Articles of Organization

Unless something different is written in your Articles of Organization or Operating Agreement, all members must agree to an amendment. After you agree to an amendment, you have to file the Articles of Amendment with the Secretary of State.

Step 3: Gather information for filing your Kentucky amendment 

Your Articles of Amendment must include:

• Your LLC name
• The text of each amendment your LLC adopted
• The date(s) you adopted each amendment
• A statement that your amendments were properly adopted by members or managers
• Signature of a member, manager, or authorized party

Step 4: File your Kentucky LLC amendment

If you deliver your Articles of Amendment by hand delivery or mail, you need to make a copy of the signed form. You can find Articles of Amendment forms, instructions for filing, and corresponding fees at sos.ky.gov. You don’t want confusion about the changes you’re making, so it’s important to be as specific as possible when filing your amendments.

If your LLC changes its registered office, registered agent, or principal office, you need to file separate Statement of Change forms instead of filing Articles of Amendment. You can find forms and fees for Statements of Change on the same website where you find Articles of Amendment forms. 

You can deliver your Articles of Amendment by mail or hand delivery, and you can deliver Statements of Change by mail, hand delivery, or the Secretary of State’s online portal.

Does this sound like a lot of work? It can be if you do it alone. We make this process easier with our Worry-Free Compliance service. Our service tracks your ongoing compliance needs, handles two amendments for you per year, and helps you get back into good standing if you miss a deadline. 

Kentucky Articles of Amendment vs. Restated Articles of Organization

When running a business, you quickly learn that consolidating your documents can be a lifesaver. The less paperwork to track, the better. Filing a Restated Articles of Organization consolidates all your Articles of Amendments into one document. Basically, Restated Articles of Organization allows you to rewrite and refile your Articles of Organization.

You must include the LLC’s name, the text of the restated Articles of Organization, certificates stating if there are amendments that require approval, and the information you include in Articles of Amendment (if there are amendments). You can find fees for Restated Articles of Organization on the Secretary of State’s fee page.

Kentucky Articles of Amendment vs. Statement of Correction

Mistakes happen. If you’ve made a clerical error in your Articles of Organization, you don’t have to file a Kentucky LLC amendment to fix it. You simply file signed Articles of Correction with the Secretary of State. The Articles of Correction need to set forth what sections need to be corrected and how. You can file the Articles of Correction by mail or hand delivery, and their fee is on the form. You can use our Worry-Free Compliance service to complete this task with ease. 

We can keep your Kentucky LLC compliant

You juggle a lot of responsibilities as a business owner, but you don’t have to juggle everything. If you need to correct or amend your official business documents, we can help you complete the updates. Our Worry-Free Compliance service can help you keep up with your filing requirements, and our Amendment Filing service files changes and amendments for you.