Registered Agent Service

A registered agent (or statutory agent in some states) is a third-party person or business designated by a corporation or LLC to receive legal and official correspondence on behalf of the company. These correspondences include service of process, state paperwork, tax information, and court summons. Registered agents are the designated official point of contact for your business. The registered agent must reside in the state in which the corporation or LLC is located or doing business in, and have a physical address (not a P.O. Box) in those states. Registered agents can be a member of your company or a third-party such as a law firm.

A registered agent is required for any business that wants to incorporate or become a limited liability company. Your company will need a registered agent for each state where the company is registered and does business. You can designate yourself as a registered agent for your business, but you may only act as the registered agent for the state you reside and have a physical address in. For other states where your company exists, you must find a registered agent in that state.

A registered agent’s address is not the same as a companies address. Your business must also have its own address which can be a physical address, a P.O. box or, virtual mailbox. If you need a company address or wish to further your privacy, you should look at our Virtual Mail Box Service as well.

The registered agent should exist in the proper state and have a stable physical address there.

Since a registered agent is a designated representative of your business, it is important that they be a responsible party. If they are negligent in their duties as registered agent, it could negatively impact your company in business and law. For example, if they fail to send you timely notices on litigation, you and your business could receive a default judgment that could become very costly to address.

Your registered agent should be available at all business hours. A registered agent who is always on vacation or not present at the address is likely to hinder timely delivery of documents to you or worse, they may not be able to receive documents that require a signature.

Other considerations in choosing a registered agent are their policies and business practices. How easy is it to contact them? How do they agree to handle your company’s documents? Do they perform additional services for you? Do they use a third-party to process documents received by them?

Finally and most importantly, if your registered agent is an attorney, some of your communications may fall under attorney-client privilege giving you greater privacy if that is important to you.

The Law 4 Small Business Registered Agent service fee is $129 + state fees when we are hired to submit the Registered Agent change documents. Every year thereafter is a flat fee of $129 to keep your Registered Agent Service active.

If your company is not in “Good Standing,” it will take us some work to research why, coordinate with you and the State to resolve, and there may be additional costs to you to resolve any outstanding state fees. This fee starts at $99.