XAVIER BECERRA                                           State of California 
  Attorney General                                         California Department of Justice 
 
               General Guide for Initial Registration with the 
           Attorney General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts 

 All charitable corporations, unincorporated associations, trustees, or other persons 
 holding assets in trust for charitable purposes must register with the Attorney 
 General’s Registry of Charitable Trusts within 30 days of initially receiving assets 
 (funds, property, etc.) in/from California. 
 
 To complete initial registration, submit the following documents and information to  the 
 Registry: 
 
 1.  Form CT-1, available for download at: http://oag.ca.gov/charities/forms. 
                                                                                   
 2.  Founding documents, as follows: 
  • Corporations: endorsed articles of incorporation, all amendments, 
    and current bylaws. 
  • Associations: instrument creating the organization (bylaws, constitution, 
    and/or articles of association). 
  • Trusts: trust instrument or will and decree of final distribution. 
  • Trustees for charitable purposes: statement describing your operations 
    and charitable purpose. 
 
 3.  IRS Form 1023 or IRS Form 1024, if submitted to the IRS. 
 
 4.  IRS determination letter, if received from the IRS. 
 
 5.  $25.00 initial registration fee (check or money order-payable to the Department 
  of Justice). 
 
 Once the organization is registered and has been assigned a state charity 
 registration number (CT#), the Registration Renewal Fee report (RRF-1), and  IRS 
 Form 990 report (if applicable) must be filed annually. If the organization has been 
 operating as an unregistered entity in California in previous fiscal years, past RRF-1 
 reports (plus fees if applicable) must be filed to clear the delinquent status.  
  
 Please wait until the organization is registered and provided a CT# before 
 submitting any RRF-1 reports. 
 
                               MAILING ADDRESS 
                   California Attorney General’s Office 
                        Registry of Charitable Trusts 
                   P.O. Box 903447 Sacramento,  CA 
                                     94203-4470 
                                                                                  Revised 4/2017