Florida Statute 496.405
“Registration statements by charitable organizations and sponsors”
What it means
A charitable organization or sponsor that intends to solicit contributions in or from Florida — itself or through anyone else, including professional solicitors and commercial co-venturers — must file an initial registration statement before soliciting and a renewal statement annually with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, unless exempt under s. 496.406.
The registration is substantive: prior-year financials or the IRS Form 990, the organization's purpose, officers, professional-solicitor arrangements, and disclosure of past injunctions, convictions, and license revocations. The fee scales with the money: from $10 for organizations that received under $5,000 in contributions up to $400 at $10 million or more, with a $25 late fee for each month a renewal runs past its due date.
- Registration must come before any solicitation in or from Florida — including solicitation done on the charity's behalf by others.
- Renewal is annual, with an attestation statement each cycle.
- Fees scale across seven tiers: $10 (under $5,000 in contributions) to $400 ($10 million or more).
- Late renewals draw $25 per month or part of a month.
- The statement discloses financials (or Form 990), officers, purposes, fund custodians, and prior enforcement history.
- Exemptions live in s. 496.406 — religious institutions among them.
How it plays out
Two probate moments touch this statute. When an estate or trust makes a charitable distribution, we verify the charity's Florida registration — an organization that solicits here but never registered is a fact the fiduciary should know before writing the check. And after an obituary runs, families get solicitation calls. The registration database is public; thirty seconds there separates a real charity from a memorial-donation scheme, which is exactly what the pre-solicitation filing requirement exists to make checkable.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 496.405 does real work:
Questions people ask
