An association is obliged to have a registered office, but even if the choice of head office is free, it is important to be aware of the various procedures and regulations before carrying out the formalities for domiciliation and creation of the association. Like company domiciliation, association domiciliation enables you to outsource a wide range of services.
5 points to understand everything about domiciling an association!
DEFINITION AND SUMMARY
An " association " is defined as a group of people (at least 2) pooling their knowledge and skills to carry out a collective non-profit project. Although 2 people are enough to create an association, a minimum of 3 is recommended to enable decision-making by vote.
A constituent general meeting sets out all the association's internal and legal regulations. These include the association's articles of association (contract of association) governing the general meeting, organization and operation. While the members of the association make up the general meeting, the members of the board constitute the committee.
Examples of formalities required to set up an association
- Drafting by-laws
- Organization of theconstituent assembly
- Declaration and filing with the prefecture
- Publication in the Journal Officiel
- Drafting internal regulations
One of the most important steps in setting up an association is choosing its registered office. This enables the association to receive and send out official correspondence, legislative documents and other institutional and administrative communications.
The registered office also determines the legislation applicable to the association. In addition, it is through the registered office that the association can find out which authorities are responsible for it: prefecture or sub-prefecture.
The latter will issue the legal and judicial documents required for an appeal to public generosity or the organization of an event.
The head office can be the address of one of its members, a rented or made-available premises, a building belonging to it, a collective building or a domiciliation company.
The possibilities for choosing thephysical address of an association are therefore numerous, and regulations vary from one choice to another. Domiciliation of the association in a private home, the home of one of its members, does not require the agreement of the lessor or the co-ownership, except in the case of frequent meetings.
However, this type of domiciliation must not exceed 5 years. In the case of domiciliation of an association in premises made available by a local authority, authorization must be obtained from the local council, which may charge for the request.
Use the services of a domiciliation company
Choosing a company specialized in commercial domiciliation is a strategic choice for an association.
In addition to a head office address, a business address service provider offers a host of other services: secretarial services, meeting room and office rental, mail management, telephone answering service, etc. It's also a quick and easy way to obtain a prestigious business address in just a few minutes, all 100% online!
The choice of address is crucial, as it appears on all theassociation's official documents. While the name of the commune is compulsory, the name of the street is not, to avoid additional formalities if the registered office is simply transferred to another street, for example.
As for the address itself, the options are diverse and depend solely on the members of theassociation and the decisions taken at the general meeting.
There are a number of reasons why an association may need to transfer its registered office, such as the end of the 5-year period during which the association must be domiciled at the individualaddress of a member. When drafting the articles of association, provisions for transferring the registered office must be established.
If not, the organization of a meeting (extraordinary or during an ordinary session) is self-evident. It is then up to the members to vote and adopt the change of address. Legislation requires that the change be declared to the prefecture.
Written by our expert Simon Segura
May 29, 2017
