§ 12300 Corporation Formation Requirements

• •You can form a corporation by filing articles of incorporation.
• •If the articles name directors, those directors must sign; if not, the people who sign become the incorporators.
• •The corporation starts when the articles are filed and lasts forever unless the law or the articles say otherwise.

Three friends want to start a small bakery as a company. They write the articles of incorporation, each friend signs the document, and they file it with the state. Once filed, the bakery becomes a legal corporation that can own property and sue or be sued.

Because they filed the articles and signed them, the bakery is now a corporation that continues to exist forever unless it is dissolved or the articles say otherwise.