Do I need to buy a corporate seal when I incorporate my business?

You do not need to buy a corporate seal when you incorporate your business. Historically, documents were authenticated by the use of a seal due to widespread illiteracy. Traditionally, a seal consisted of a piece of wax, a wafer, or some other substance affixed to the document. Modern corporate seals are stamps that emboss the corporate name and state and date of formation on a document. State corporation statutes continue to authorize corporations to adopt and use corporate seals. But you don’t really need one for your company because most states, including California and New York, have adopted statutes abolishing the historical distinction between sealed and unsealed instruments. As a result, a corporate seal is a permissible but unnecessary relic. So when you incorporate your business, you can skip the seal with confidence, just like you forego the corporate binder to hold paper copies of your meeting minutes. We discussed everything you would ever want to know about corporate seals in our article What Is A Corporate Seal And Do I Need One For My Company?