When filing for Limited Liability Company status with a USA state, the Articles of Organization that are filed with the Secretary of State may ask the filer to state a specific purpose for the business — e.g. ” medical supply and device supplier.”
But over time, the focus of a business may change, sometimes completely. Does such a change in business focus affect the validity of the LLC or its filing with the state?
In many states, stating such a purpose on the Articles of Organization is optional.
Also, many persons filing an LLC will simply state, “the LLC will conduct any business with a lawful purpose…” or something to that effect, to generalize the business focus of the filing.
If no specific purpose was stated on the originally filed Articles, any business with a lawful purpose can be operated using the existing LLC structure; no revision to a filing would be needed under this scenario.
However, if a specific purpose was so stated, the Articles can be amended by filing an Amendment to Articles of Organization (such a document is usually available from the Secretary of State) and paying a filing fee. Then the new business venture can continue to be conducted under the name of the current LLC.
In many cases, such a revision to the filing is not legally necessary — most states only use the ‘nature of business’ details for informational purposes. Check with the Secretary of State in the original state of filing to determine the necessity of the revision before proceeding.