Do You Have To Have A Registered Agent

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

Not simply anyone tin fill this role, though. There are certain rules you need to follow when choosing one. Find out why yous need a registered agent, who you can appoint and how to change agents.

Who needs a registered amanuensis?

Any business that is registered with the state needs to appoint a registered amanuensis, as well chosen a statutory amanuensis or resident agent in some states.

The following types of businesses demand to appoint ane:

Corporations
Limited liability companies
Limited partnerships
Limited liability partnerships
Express liability limited partnerships (not recognized in every state).

If you have 1 of these business concern types, you'll be asked to name your registered agent during incorporation or business concern registration. There's typically a spot to designate your registered agent on your articles of incorporation or manufactures of organization.

Full general partnerships and sole proprietorships don't need to designate i considering these concern types are not registered with the country. Of form, all businesses demand to keep up with business taxation obligations and respond in a timely way to legal papers. However, the regime doesn't proceed registered agent data on file for sole proprietorships and general partnerships.

Why practice you need a registered agent?

States take required businesses to appoint registered agents for decades. The chief purpose is to ensure that there's a reliable way for the public, the courts and the government to contact your company. Once the land has your registered amanuensis data, it's a thing of public record. Anyone searching through a business concern entity database tin find out who serves this part for your company.

More specifically, here are the three master reasons why registered agents are important:

Receive legal process: People with legitimate legal complaints against a business have an accost to send service of process.
Authorities can contact you: The government knows how to contact a business that'southward delinquent on taxes or noncompliant with other laws.
Stay in compliance: Official papers notifying you of any activity yous need to have get to one address.

About businesses hire a legal service or an attorney to serve as registered agent. Your registered agent will receive legal, tax and other official mail for y'all, forrad the documents to your business address and notify you of any deadlines or deportment that you demand to take. For urgent documents, such equally notice of a lawsuit, you'll likely be notified the very same day.

Registered agent requirements

In general, registered agents must meet the following requirements:

Age: If you lot use an private, they must be at least 18 years one-time.
Residency: If you lot utilize an individual, they must be a resident of the state of registration. If the registered amanuensis is a company, information technology can be a domestic or strange entity, as long as it's authorized to practice business in the state.
Physical accost: Must have a concrete address in the state of registration. This location is usually called the "registered office." P.O. boxes don't count, so you lot can't apply a UPS Store, for example.
Availability: Must be available to receive mail and sign official documents during normal business hours, Monday to Friday, 9 a.1000. to 5 p.m.

Dissimilar states accept slightly unlike regulations. For example, in Virginia, simply licensed attorneys or officers or members of the concern tin serve as registered agents. And Arizona doesn't mandate that registered agents need to exist available during normal concern hours. Your state's business concern filing agency will be able to tell you more than about state-specific requirements.

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

Continue in listen that if you're registered to do business organization in multiple states, each state volition require you to name a registered amanuensis who has a physical address in that state.

Who can serve every bit your appointed agent?

Every state gives y'all the choice to appoint yourself, someone else inside the company or a 3rd party, as long as the appointed agent meets the requirements mentioned above (plus whatever additional state-specific requirements). The only caveat — you tin't name your business organisation equally its own registered agent. At that place needs to a separate, responsible political party, whether that's an individual or an outside agency.

Whatever of the following can serve:

Yourself
A business partner, officer, manager or member of the business
A business lawyer
A company that provides this specific service, such as LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer.

Frequently, the quickest, least expensive style is to just engage yourself or another person in the visitor as the registered agent. But concern owners often detect that this is too time-consuming or inconvenient and terminate 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 because it was the easiest style to start my LLC. Only I've recently chosen my attorney to exist my registered agent. The main reason is that my attorney also has her ain real estate business concern, and then she understands the details of mine. She can handle all necessary paperwork and be the 'legal face up' of my business. Information technology's fairly cheap for the service. I pay almost $100 per yr for my attorney to be the registered agent for my business."

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

"In Arizona (where we are incorporated), a registered agent can be any person, and at that place is no requirement for them to be available during normal business hours. 1 of my family members living in Arizona is the registered agent for Advancing Scientific discipline Worldwide. I would suggest that those looking to start a business look into the registered agent requirements for their specific states."

Ultimately, the state doesn't care so much near who y'all cull, equally long as they're doing what'southward required of them, so make sure your pick is convenient for you.

Reasons to utilise a legal service

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

These are the benefits of using a legal service:

Cheap

LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and IncFile accuse most $150 per yr for registered agent services. You tin can detect fifty-fifty less expensive services, only the squeamish thing about sites like LegalZoom is that they also provide other kinds of legal assistance with business organisation setup and maintenance.

As your registered agent, they will accept all legal and official correspondence on your company'due south behalf, forward yous the documents and give you timely notifications about awaiting deadlines or actions that you lot need to have.

Saves you fourth dimension

Nearly i-third of pocket-sized-business owners piece of work more than than 50 hours per week. If yous're spending time sorting through official mail, that adds to your already decorated lifestyle.

Past using a service, you're gratis to go along holiday or take time off without worrying that you lot're missing important mail. You likewise salvage fourth dimension of going through junk postal service. Since a registered amanuensis's accost is a matter of public record, you will receive a lot of junk mail if yous appoint yourself.

Privacy

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

Organization

If you lot have a fast-growing business organization, it can be tough to keep all your important paperwork and deadlines straight. Having a registered agent is one fashion to ensure that nix gets lost in the shuffle. In addition to accepting official correspondence, LegalZoom and many other legal services volition create a compliance calendar (similar the i pictured higher up) for your business, noting important government deadlines.

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

"We used LegalZoom to grade our LLC, then nosotros thought it was easiest to stick with them as our registered agent as well… Whenever they receive documents from the land, they immediately snail-post us copies. Within the LegalZoom account portal, you can also just download PDF copies of the documents as well. In improver, there is also a calendar within the LegalZoom account portal that shows you when important deadlines are approaching."

Photograph credit: Texas Secretary of Country

Changing your registered amanuensis

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

If you change your registered agent or their contact information changes, y'all'll need to inform your state's business filing agency. In most states, there is a modify form (case from Texas shown above) that you lot can download and fill out online. Some states let electronic filing, while others require that you mail service in the form. The fee for changing your appointed agent is usually pretty depression, $25 to $50 in almost states.

It's easy to forget most updating your registered agent, but make certain yous fill out the necessary papers. The fines for a lapse can exist pretty hefty. And if you go likewise long without an appointed agent, the state can revoke your document of good standing or fifty-fifty dissolve your visitor.

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