Kentucky Foreign Registration›Leaving Kentucky
Kentucky Form WFE: leaving Kentucky properly
Certificate of Withdrawal (Foreign Business Entity) is Form WFE, and it costs $40 to file. A foreign entity authorized in Kentucky may not withdraw from the Commonwealth until it has filed it. The form has 6 numbered statements and takes effect on filing.
Form WFE in brief
- Title
- Certificate of Withdrawal (Foreign Business Entity)
- Fee
- $40
- Statute
- KRS 14A.9-060
- Effective
- On filing
- Signs
- an officer, chairman of the board, member, manager, trustee or partner
- Mail to
- Michael Adams, Secretary of State, P.O. Box 718, Frankfort, KY 40602-0718
- Revision
- 7/25
The six statements
| Item | What it says | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The name of the entity | Identical to the name on record with the Secretary of State |
| 2 | The place that formed the entity | Its home state or country |
| 3 | A street address where process may be forwarded | No PO box; the company agrees to report changes |
| 4 | The entity has stopped transacting business here and gives up its authority | Or it is a foreign insurer holding a Department of Insurance certificate |
| 5 | The agent's authority ends, and the Secretary of State becomes the contact for process | For claims that arose during the authorized period |
| 6 | The application is effective on filing | No delayed effective date |
A signature block follows, with a declaration under penalty of perjury.
What the withdrawal does
Only a filed certificate lets the entity withdraw, and the statute lists six contents, among them a statement that business has stopped and a promise to report later mailing address changes to the state. Once the withdrawal is effective, process served on the Secretary of State binds the entity, and the office forwards a copy to the address in item 3.
Why the service address matters
The address in item 3 is how a lawsuit about Kentucky-era claims reaches you after you leave. Use a street address where someone reads mail, not a former office. If you later move, file a change of mailing address: the statute treats that filing as an amendment of the withdrawal certificate.
Before you file
File any annual report that is due so the entity is in good order. Make sure there is no Kentucky work left to finish, because item 4 says there is none. Tell the registered agent, and consider whether you need the agent for claims in the transition. Under item 5 the agent's authority to take service ends.
Filing the form
The instructions describe a mailed filing: one exact or conformed copy and a check for $40, payable to the Kentucky State Treasurer, sent to the Division of Business Filings. The FastTrack index lists online filings for annual reports, agent and office changes, agent resignation and reinstatement, and we handle Form WFE as a paper filing. A copy of the withdrawal is also among the documents Kentucky law sends to the county clerk of the registered office.
Withdrawing compared with revocation
A company that simply stops filing annual reports is not withdrawn. The state may begin revoking its certificate, and revocation does not end the agent's authority or the company's exposure to claims from its Kentucky years. A withdrawal is the orderly route when you are sure Kentucky is finished.
Who should sign the withdrawal
The signer must be an officer, chairman of the board, member, manager, partner or trustee, and the signature carries a declaration under penalty of perjury. Choose someone who knows that Kentucky work has really ended, since item 4 says so. The signer reads all 6 statements before signing, because the signature block carries the declaration.
Withdrawing and the annual report
If the withdrawal falls between January 1 and June 30, file the year's report first. It costs $15 and removes any doubt, and a company that missed a report and withdraws anyway may still receive a revocation notice at its principal office address.
If the company returns later
Item 4 of the form surrenders the authority to transact business in Kentucky. A company that later starts work in the state again would need a new certificate, with a new $90 filing, and the daily penalty would apply to any period it worked here before obtaining it.
Filing Form WFE
Finish the Kentucky work
Item 4 says the entity no longer transacts business here.
Pick the service address
A street address that will receive process.
Complete the six statements
Name, home jurisdiction, address and the two declarations.
Sign and pay
$40 by check to the Kentucky State Treasurer.
Keep the file-stamped record
It proves when authority ended.
Form WFE questions
What does it cost to withdraw?
$40.
Can I withdraw online?
We handle Form WFE as a mailed form, with a check for the fee.
Will Kentucky stop sending me papers after withdrawal?
It forwards any process served on it to the address you gave, so keep that address current.
Our fee and Kentucky's
Start my Kentucky filing
KY+ $90 Kentucky fee
$199
- Form FBE, the Certificate of Authority (Foreign Business Entity), completed from your answers
- The signed statements Kentucky wants from your agent and your authorized signer, collected for you
- A Kentucky registered office and agent: ours, or the ones you already use
- Online submission through FastTrack, the file-stamped record, and the county clerk copy prepared
- Renewal: after the first year, the agent service renews at $149 a year
Kentucky's $90 is its own line at checkout. The county clerk bills separately for its copy. $199 plus the state fee, including your first year of registered agent service; after that the agent service renews at $149 a year.
Sources
- Kentucky Secretary of State, business filing fees
- Kentucky FastTrack, apply for a certificate of authority
- KRS 14A.6-010, annual report
- Kentucky Form FBE, certificate of authority for a foreign business entity
- Kentucky Form WFE, certificate of withdrawal of a foreign business entity
- KRS 14A.9-060, withdrawal of a foreign entity
- KRS 14A.9-080, procedure for revocation
- Kentucky FastTrack online filings index
- KRS 14A.2-040, copies filed with the county clerk
- KRS 14A.9-020, consequences of transacting business without authority
Working in Kentucky already?
Every day without a certificate adds to the penalty meter. Start the filing today.