Can The Registered Agent Be A Person

A registered agent is an individual or visitor that receives service of process, legal documents and official notices on your business organization's behalf. When registering a concern entity, you'll be required to engage a registered amanuensis who has a physical address in the state of registration.

Non only anyone can make full this role, though. There are certain rules y'all need to follow when choosing one. Find out why you need a registered amanuensis, who you can appoint and how to change agents.

Who needs a registered agent?

Whatsoever business that is registered with the country needs to appoint a registered agent, as well called a statutory agent or resident agent in some states.

The following types of businesses need to engage ane:

Corporations
Limited liability companies
Limited partnerships
Limited liability partnerships
Limited liability limited partnerships (non recognized in every country).

If yous have one of these business organization types, you'll exist asked to name your registered agent during incorporation or business registration. There'south typically a spot to designate your registered agent on your manufactures of incorporation or manufactures of arrangement.

General partnerships and sole proprietorships don't need to designate one considering these business types are not registered with the land. Of course, all businesses demand to keep up with business tax obligations and respond in a timely style to legal papers. Yet, the government doesn't keep registered agent information on file for sole proprietorships and general partnerships.

Why exercise y'all need a registered agent?

States take required businesses to engage registered agents for decades. The primary purpose is to ensure that there'due south a reliable way for the public, the courts and the government to contact your company. One time the land has your registered agent data, it's a matter of public record. Anyone searching through a concern entity database tin find out who serves this role for your company.

More specifically, hither are the iii main reasons why registered agents are important:

Receive legal procedure: People with legitimate legal complaints against a business organisation have an accost to send service of procedure.
Government can contact you: The regime knows how to contact a business that's delinquent on taxes or noncompliant with other laws.
Stay in compliance: Official papers notifying you of whatsoever action you need to take get to one address.

Almost businesses hire a legal service or an attorney to serve equally registered agent. Your registered amanuensis will receive legal, tax and other official mail for you, forward the documents to your business concern address and notify you of any deadlines or deportment that you lot need to take. For urgent documents, such as notice of a lawsuit, you'll probable exist notified the very same twenty-four hour period.

Registered amanuensis requirements

In full general, registered agents must meet the following requirements:

Age: If you utilise an private, they must be at least eighteen years old.
Residency: If y'all employ an individual, they must be a resident of the country of registration. If the registered agent is a company, it can be a domestic or foreign entity, as long as it's authorized to do business in the land.
Physical address: Must have a concrete address in the country of registration. This location is ordinarily chosen the "registered office." P.O. boxes don't count, and so you lot can't use a UPS Store, for example.
Availability: Must exist available to receive mail and sign official documents during normal business concern hours, Mon to Friday, nine a.m. to 5 p.m.

Different states have slightly different regulations. For example, in Virginia, only licensed attorneys or officers or members of the business tin can serve as registered agents. And Arizona doesn't mandate that registered agents demand to be available during normal business hours. Your land'south business organization filing agency will be able to tell you more virtually state-specific requirements.

In some states, the registered agent must submit a consent grade indicating that they've agreed to be your company's registered agent.

Keep in mind that if you're registered to practise business concern in multiple states, each state volition require you to name a registered agent who has a physical address in that state.

Who can serve as your appointed agent?

Every state gives y'all the choice to appoint yourself, someone else within the company or a third party, equally long equally the appointed agent meets the requirements mentioned above (plus whatsoever boosted land-specific requirements). The only caveat — you can't proper name your business concern as its own registered amanuensis. In that location needs to a separate, responsible party, whether that'southward an individual or an outside agency.

Any of the following tin can serve:

Yourself
A business partner, officeholder, director or member of the business organization
A business organization lawyer
A company that provides this specific service, such equally LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer.

Often, the quickest, least expensive way is to just appoint yourself or another person in the company as the registered agent. But concern owners ofttimes find that this is too time-consuming or inconvenient and end up appointing either a lawyer or a service.

Joe Horan, the owner of Wrightwood Homes, an Indianapolis-based property heir-apparent, says:

"I originally chose myself considering it was the easiest way to start my LLC. But I've recently chosen my attorney to be my registered agent. The main reason is that my attorney likewise has her own existent estate business, and then she understands the details of mine. She can handle all necessary paperwork and be the 'legal face' of my business. It'south fairly cheap for the service. I pay near $100 per yr for my attorney to be the registered amanuensis for my business."

Rithvik Musuku, the president and CEO of Advancing Science Worldwide, went with an even less expensive pick:

"In Arizona (where we are incorporated), a registered agent tin be any person, and in that location is no requirement for them to be bachelor during normal business hours. One of my family unit members living in Arizona is the registered agent for Advancing Scientific discipline Worldwide. I would suggest that those looking to first a business look into the registered agent requirements for their specific states."

Ultimately, the state doesn't care and then much about who you lot choose, as long equally they're doing what's required of them, so make sure your choice is convenient for you.

Reasons to use a legal service

Dozens of legal service websites, including LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and IncFile, offering registered agent services for a fee. In that location are multiple benefits to using one of these services, every bit opposed to appointing yourself or someone else within the company.

These are the benefits of using a legal service:

Inexpensive

LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and IncFile accuse about $150 per year for registered agent services. You can discover even less expensive services, but the overnice affair about sites like LegalZoom is that they as well provide other kinds of legal assistance with business organization setup and maintenance.

As your registered amanuensis, they will accept all legal and official correspondence on your company's behalf, forward yous the documents and give yous timely notifications well-nigh awaiting deadlines or actions that y'all demand to take.

Saves you time

Nearly 1-third of small-business organisation owners work more than l hours per calendar week. If yous're spending time sorting through official post, that adds to your already decorated lifestyle.

By using a service, you lot're complimentary to go on vacation or take time off without worrying that you're missing important mail. You also save fourth dimension of going through junk mail. Since a registered agent'southward accost is a matter of public record, you will receive a lot of junk mail if you engage yourself.

Privacy

Having a registered agent means that their address is public tape, not your own. This protects your business to some extent from spammers. In addition, when y'all have an appointed agent, yous tin avoid potentially embarrassing moments in front of customers. Imagine beingness served with a lawsuit while you're helping a customer. A service will transport you important documents via email and postal mail.

Organization

If you take a fast-growing concern, it tin be tough to proceed all your important paperwork and deadlines straight. Having a registered amanuensis is i style to ensure that nix gets lost in the shuffle. In addition to accepting official correspondence, LegalZoom and many other legal services will create a compliance calendar (similar the ane pictured above) for your business, noting important government deadlines.

Matt Ross, co-owner of RIZKNOWS and The Slumber Yard, which operate multiple internet properties, chose LegalZoom later on using the website for LLC setup.

"Nosotros used LegalZoom to form our LLC, so we thought it was easiest to stick with them as our registered agent every bit well… Whenever they receive documents from the land, they immediately snail-post u.s.a. copies. Within the LegalZoom account portal, y'all can also just download PDF copies of the documents too. In addition, at that place is also a calendar within the LegalZoom business relationship portal that shows you when important deadlines are approaching."

Changing your registered agent

No matter who you select, you lot'll demand to keep the data up to date. Having a registered agent is an ongoing requirement, meaning that y'all need one as long as your business organization is operating.

If y'all change your registered agent or their contact data changes, you'll need to inform your state's business filing agency. In most states, at that place is a change form (example from Texas shown in a higher place) that you can download and fill up out online. Some states allow electronic filing, while others crave that you post in the form. The fee for changing your appointed agent is ordinarily pretty low, $25 to $50 in virtually states.

It'south easy to forget about updating your registered agent, only brand sure you fill out the necessary papers. The fines for a lapse can exist pretty hefty. And if you go too long without an appointed amanuensis, the state tin revoke your certificate of expert standing or even dissolve your company.

A version of this article was kickoff published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet