Form and manner of consent.

72-03-02-09. Form and manner of consent. 1. The secretary of state may determine an indistinguishable name or proposed name to be available for use with written consent of the owner of the name from which the proposed name has been determined to be indistinguishable or a court judgment. Proof of consent must be submitted to the secretary of state on a form provided by the secretary of state or on a self- drafted form or letter containing the following: a. The exact name in the secretary of state's records from which the proposed name has been determined to be indistinguishable; b. The name of the owner of the name provided in subdivision a; c. The proposed name to which consent is being granted; d. Express consent to the use of the proposed name; e. The name of the party to whom consent is given; f. The signature of a person authorized to grant consent; and g. If there are limitations to the consent, a commitment that the consenting party will monitor and enforce those limitations. 2. The secretary of state shall determine the sufficiency of the consent form or letter provided under subsection 1. 3. In the event there is more than one name existing in the secretary of state's records that is indistinguishable from a proposed name, the proposed name may not be used unless consent is obtained from the owners of all of the indistinguishable existing names. 4. Consent to use a proposed name that is indistinguishable from a name existing in the secretary of state's records must be obtained regardless of the number of times an owner previously may have consented to other names that are indistinguishable or the number of other existing names that are indistinguishable. Consent by the owner of a name to the use of a proposed name may not be construed as consent to the use of any other proposed name that is indistinguishable. 5. When consent to use a proposed name is required of multiple related or subsidiary parties, all parties may be included in a single consent form or letter with a single consent filing fee if one party is authorized to sign the consent for all of the parties. 6. If an owner of a name cannot be contacted for consent, an indistinguishable proposed name may not be filed. 6 7. If an entity existing in the secretary of state's records is changing its name, dissolving, converting to another form of organization, or merging out of existence, a proposed name that is indistinguishable from the name of the existing entity may not be filed until the change of name, dissolution, conversion, or merger is filed with the secretary of state, unless the document including the proposed name is accompanied by consent to use the name. History: Effective January 1, 2026. General Authority: NDCC 10-15-08.1(3), 10-19.1-13(2), 10-32.1-11(2), 10-33-10(2), 10-34-04(3)(a), 45-10.2-10(2), 45-11-01(4), 45-13-04.1(2), 45-22-04(2), 45-23-03(2), 47-25-03(2) Law Implemented: NDCC 10-15-08.1(2), 10-15-08.1(5), 10-19.1-13(3), 10-19.1-13(8), 10-32.1-11(3), 10-32.1-11(7), 10-33-10(3), 10-33-10(8), 10-34-04(3)(a), 45-10.2-10(3)(a), 45-10.2-10(8), 45-11-01(3)(c), 45-13-04.1(3)(a), 45-13-04.1(8), 45-22-04(3)(a), 45-22-04(7), 45-22-04(7)(a), 45-23-03(3)(a), 45-23-03(7), 45-23-03(7)(a), 47-25-03(1)(c), 47-25-03(1)(d)