How do I collect an unpaid invoice from a company that has been dissolved?
How to collect from a dissolved or inactive company
Short answer
A dissolved company may still have assets being wound up through a formal dissolution process — filing a creditor claim in that process is your primary option. If the dissolution was improper (skipping formal creditor notification), shareholders or officers may have personal liability. If a personal guarantee exists, pursue the guarantor directly. Not legal advice — consult an attorney for the specific facts.
Dissolution is supposed to include notifying creditors and paying outstanding debts before distributing remaining assets to owners. A company following proper procedures should have published or sent a notice of dissolution to known creditors, giving them a window to file claims, typically 60 to 180 days depending on state law. If your invoice was unpaid at the time of dissolution and nobody told you, you may still be able to file a claim against the winding-up process, depending on timing and state law.
Informal dissolution looks different. The company simply stops operating without filing proper paperwork, so the legal entity technically still exists in name while being inactive. In that case you may be able to get a judgment against the entity and then enforce it against whatever assets remain, including assets transferred out before dissolution. Fraudulent transfer law can apply if assets were moved to dodge creditors. This is genuinely complex territory that needs an attorney. Not legal advice.
Personal guarantees are the most reliable path when a company dissolves with unpaid invoices. If an officer, owner, or principal personally guaranteed the company's debt to you in writing, you can pursue the guarantor directly regardless of what happened to the company. Review your original contract and any credit applications on file for personal guarantee language.
For smaller invoices where legal fees are prohibitive, the practical answer is usually to document it thoroughly for the tax write-off and move on. The time and cost of pursuing a dissolved company legally often exceeds what you can actually recover, unless the invoice is large or a personal guarantee exists. Talk to an attorney about the specific facts before deciding how much to invest in recovery.