Delaware is making one of the most significant changes in decades to its Trade, Business & Fictitious Name (DBA) registration system—and legal departments need to prepare now.
What was once a decentralized, court-driven process is becoming a fully online, statewide system administered by the Delaware Division of Revenue. While the change is designed to simplify filings, it also introduces new compliance requirements and operational implications for legal, tax, finance, compliance, and branding teams.
This guide covers:
What is changing and when
How the new DBA registration and maintenance process will work
Strategic implications for general counsel and legal operations
Concrete next steps for your organization
How Filejet can help you navigate—and capitalize on—this change
The most important date: February 2, 2026.
On that day, Delaware officially transitions administration of its DBA registry from the Superior Court and county Prothonotary’s Offices to the Delaware Division of Revenue. The new statewide registry will be hosted online through the Delaware One Stop system.
Until February 1, 2026, all registrations and updates must still be completed with the Prothonotary’s Office under the current rules.
In effect, legal teams face an 18-month transition window during which two systems will coexist—one legacy and one future-facing. Understanding how they differ is essential for planning internal processes and records.
For decades, Delaware required DBA filings at the county court level, forcing organizations to register names separately in each county where they operated. This created redundancy and inconsistencies, especially for companies with multi-county operations or multiple brands.
DBA filings handled by county-level Prothonotary’s Offices
County-specific registrations required multiple filings
Paper-based or in-person filings
Notarization required
DBAs maintained separately from licensing and tax systems
Centralized DBA management by the Delaware Division of Revenue
Single statewide registration
Fully online management through Delaware One Stop
No notarization required
DBAs integrated with Delaware business licensing
Improved search tools and public visibility
While this shift streamlines filings, it also ties DBA management more closely to tax and business license compliance—an important consideration for legal departments.
Existing DBAs registered with the Superior Court will remain valid and will be carried into the new system. Re-registration is not required for continued validity.
That said, there are practical reasons legal teams may want to proactively re-register DBAs in the new statewide registry.
Under the new system:
Tradename Certificates required for banking, contracting, or procurement will only be issued for DBAs in the Division of Revenue registry
Updates such as address, ownership, or responsible parties require the DBA to exist in the new system
DBA integration with business licenses introduces new renewal and alignment expectations
Re-registering an existing DBA is no-cost if you provide the corresponding Superior Court file number.
Organizations with multiple DBAs—especially those tied to financial or customer-facing activity—should develop a deliberate migration strategy ahead of the transition.
Under the new system, a DBA cannot be registered unless the underlying entity holds a Delaware business license.
To accommodate organizations that want a Delaware DBA without operating in the state, the Division of Revenue is introducing a Trade Name Only License.
Designed for entities that do not conduct business in Delaware
Allows DBA registration for branding or structural purposes
Costs $2
No Gross Receipts or Business Income Tax obligations
Requires annual renewal
For legal teams, this introduces two new responsibilities:
Ensuring the proper license exists for each DBA
Tracking annual renewals even when no active Delaware operations exist
This marks a shift from “set it and forget it” DBA filings to ongoing compliance oversight.
No. DBAs themselves do not expire. However, because they are tied to business licenses, missed license renewals can limit your ability to update or maintain the DBA.
Updates such as:
Business address
Ownership
Key staff or responsible officers
must be completed online through the Update Trade Name workflow in Delaware One Stop. Court-originated DBAs must first be added to the new registry.
Completed online
No fee required
Immediate public effect
This significantly simplifies portfolio cleanup and brand retirement.
The new statewide searchable registry replaces fragmented county databases. A static archive of Superior Court DBAs will remain available for reference.
While the system flags duplicative names, the state emphasizes:
DBA registration does not grant exclusive rights
It does not prevent others from using the same name
DBAs do not replace trademark protection
General counsel should align DBA filings with trademark clearance and brand protection workflows.
Legal teams should ensure:
A current inventory of Delaware business licenses
Clear mapping of DBAs to licenses
Visibility into renewal dates and ownership
Because Tradename Certificates will only be issued for DBAs in the new registry:
DBAs tied to banking or payment activity should be prioritized for re-registration
Existing banking and vendor relationships should be audited
The Delaware change is an opportunity to:
Inventory DBAs nationally
Consolidate naming conventions
Eliminate duplicative or inactive names
Centralizing DBAs in a public statewide registry:
Improves transparency
Reduces internal inconsistency
Helps identify naming conflicts earlier
Capture:
Entity names
DBA names
Superior Court file numbers
Counties of registration
Associated business licenses
Contracts or financial accounts using each DBA
Determine:
Which entities already hold Delaware business licenses
Which entities require a Trade Name Only license
Renewal cycles and ownership
Classify each as:
Critical
Operational
Legacy or retiring
Gather file numbers
Align stakeholders
Build a filing timeline
Modernize documentation to reflect:
New registration requirements
License linkages
Update and termination processes
Ensure:
Trademark screening for new DBAs
Alignment with brand protection strategy
Delaware’s DBA overhaul is a structural shift that requires tighter integration between DBAs, licensing, and compliance. Filejet is built to support exactly this kind of transition.
Filejet centralizes DBAs, licenses, entities, renewal cycles, and supporting documents across all jurisdictions—eliminating spreadsheets and siloed records.
Filejet helps identify DBAs requiring re-registration, match court file numbers, flag Trade Name Only license needs, and build a clean transition plan well ahead of February 2026.
Automated tracking for license renewals, DBA updates, and filing approvals ensures sustained compliance—even during growth or personnel changes.
View and rationalize DBAs nationwide to align branding, governance, and compliance strategies.
Instant access to DBA certificates, license histories, filings, and entity-level summaries for auditors, regulators, banks, and leadership.
Delaware’s DBA overhaul is more than an administrative update—it’s an opportunity to modernize entity governance.
Filejet enables legal teams to move beyond reactive compliance and toward a scalable, defensible, and future-ready approach to DBA management.