West Virginia Corporation

Learn more about each Articles of Incorporation requirement below. Note that the information you provide becomes part of the public record—permanently.

Better yet, skip the form entirely and hire us to incorporate your West Virginia business. We provide a free business address to list whenever possible throughout the filing to better keep your personal address private.

1. Corporate Name

Your name must include “Corporation,” “Company,” “Incorporated,” “Limited” or an abbreviation for one of these words. Tip: Most corporations keep it short and sweet with “Corp” or “Inc.”

2. Principal Office

List the street address of your principal place of business. This address will be part of the permanent public record of your West Virginia corporation. Tip: Hire us as your registered agent and you can use our West Virginia address as your principal office address.

3. Principal Place of Business

If you have a physical location in West Virginia, include this address here.

4. Registered Agent and Address

For your West Virginia registered agent, you can list an individual state resident (like someone in your West Virginia corporation) or a business that provides registered agent service (like Northwest). Tip: We recommend Northwest.

5. Email Address

The state will send your Annual Report notices to this email address. Like all the information in your articles, your email will become part of your public corporate record. Tip: Rather not end up with an inbox full of spam? At Northwest, we allow our clients to list our email address here.

6. Website Address

If you have a website, you can include it here, but this is optional.

7. Number of West Virginia Businesses

The state wants to know if you have any other West Virginia businesses (and if so, how many and in which counties). You can answer if you want, or you can tick the box that says “Decline to answer.”

8. Authorized Shares

Unless you’re a non-profit corporation, you’ll need to authorize shares. List the number of shares and their par value. (Par value is the “face value” of a share that’s listed on stock certificates—typically it’s the lowest value at which a share can be traded.) Multiply the number of shares by the par value per share to get the total value of all authorized capital stock.

9. Corporation Type

You’ll need to select either “non-profit/non-stock” or “for profit.” Most corporations are for profit.

10. Purpose

While your purpose is probably “making money,” don’t write that here—what the state wants to know is what kind of activity your business will engage in (like “motorcycle repair and maintenance”). Professional corporations (think doctors and lawyers) must attach a Verification of Eligibility form signed by their profession’s state licensing board.

In this same section, there are a few specific questions here related to what type of business you’re creating. You’ll need to note if your company will do business as a consumer litigation financier, and provide an additional application if so. For-profit corporations have to indicate if they’re a benefit corporation or a scrap metal dealer (if you’re the latter, you’ll need to fill out additional paperwork). Non-profit corporations have to note whether or not they’ll have members.

11. Nonprofit Members

Fill this section out only if you’re forming a nonprofit. If your nonprofit will have members, you’ll list the number of members as well as the classes of members you wish to include.

12. West Virginia Incorporator

Your incorporator signs your Articles of Incorporation. Besides signatures, incorporators must include their names and addresses. Your incorporator can be a director, officer, or someone outside the business that you authorize to submit your Articles. Tip: We’ll be your incorporator when you hire Northwest to form your West Virginia corporation.

13. Veteran Status

If meet the qualifications listed on the form to be considered a veteran-owned business, your registration fee will be waived, as well as your first four Annual Report fees.

14. West Virginia Land

The state wants to know how many acres of land your corporation holds or expects to hold in West Virginia. Seriously. While it may initially seem like a bizarrely random question, it’s related to an unusual West Virginia fee requirement. If your corporation holds more than 10,000 acres, you have to pay $0.05 for each acre over the first 10K.

15. Contact Person

You have the option of including a contact person’s name and number in case there’s a question or problem with your filing. Again, consider carefully before including personal information.

Professionals in West Virginia hire registered agent services like Northwest Registered Agent for incorporation—but why?

Logistics

Standard filing companies don’t have employees or offices in every state. But as a national registered agent, it’s a requirement for us, which is a benefit for our clients. Our offices are in Hinton, WV. We’re on a first name basis with the people who work in the Business Division.

Privacy

As your registered agent, we list our Hinton registered office address on your corporation’s formation documents. Why? If you’re starting a business from your apartment in Huntington, do you really want your apartment address as your business address? (Hint: the answer is no.) We’ll list our address, so you don’t have to list yours. Plus, we never sell your data. We don’t list your personal information on filings if we don’t have to. It’s all standard and part of our commitment to Privacy by Default®.

Free Mail Forwarding & Business Address

At Northwest, we do everything a registered agent should do and more. You can list our address as your business address on your state filings. We include limited digital mail forwarding with registered agent service (up to 5 pieces of regular mail per year; $15 a doc after that).

Local Expertise

We know the in’s and out’s of each state—and we use this knowledge to help you when you need it most. Our team of Corporate Guides® has over 200 local business experts. You can call or email us for answers to all your questions about your corporation in West Virginia. Our Corporate Guides are dedicated solely to helping you with your business—not selling you services or meeting quotas.

After your West Virginia Articles of Incorporation are approved, you still have a few more important steps to take, including getting an EIN, drafting bylaws, holding your first meeting, opening a bank account, and learning about state reporting and tax requirements.