How Can I Act As My Registered Agent

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

Not just anyone can fill this role, though. In that location are sure rules you demand to follow when choosing one. Discover out why yous need a registered agent, who yous can engage and how to modify agents.

Who needs a registered agent?

Whatever business that is registered with the land needs to appoint a registered agent, also called a statutory agent or resident agent in some states.

The post-obit types of businesses need to appoint one:

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

If y'all take one of these business organisation types, you'll exist asked to proper noun your registered agent during incorporation or business registration. There's typically a spot to designate your registered agent on your articles of incorporation or articles of organization.

General partnerships and sole proprietorships don't need to designate one because these business concern types are not registered with the country. Of course, all businesses need to keep upwards with business tax obligations and answer in a timely mode to legal papers. However, the authorities doesn't keep registered amanuensis data on file for sole proprietorships and general partnerships.

Why do you need a registered agent?

States accept required businesses to appoint registered agents for decades. The master purpose is to ensure that there's a reliable manner for the public, the courts and the government to contact your company. Once the state has your registered agent information, it's a affair of public record. Anyone searching through a business entity database can find out who serves this role for your visitor.

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

Receive legal process: People with legitimate legal complaints against a business concern take an address to send service of process.
Government can contact you lot: The regime knows how to contact a business that'southward delinquent on taxes or noncompliant with other laws.
Stay in compliance: Official papers notifying you of whatever action you demand to take go to 1 address.

Nearly businesses hire a legal service or an attorney to serve every bit registered agent. Your registered agent volition receive legal, tax and other official mail for you, forward the documents to your business organization address and notify you of any deadlines or actions that you need to have. For urgent documents, such equally notice of a lawsuit, y'all'll likely be notified the very same mean solar day.

Registered agent requirements

In general, registered agents must come across the post-obit requirements:

Age: If you employ an private, they must be at to the lowest degree eighteen years old.
Residency: If yous apply an individual, they must exist a resident of the land of registration. If the registered agent is a company, it can exist a domestic or foreign entity, as long as it'south authorized to practise business organisation in the land.
Physical accost: Must accept a physical address in the state of registration. This location is usually called the "registered office." P.O. boxes don't count, so you can't use a UPS Shop, for example.
Availability: Must be bachelor to receive mail and sign official documents during normal business organization hours, Monday to Friday, 9 a.chiliad. to 5 p.thousand.

Dissimilar states accept slightly different regulations. For example, in Virginia, only licensed attorneys or officers or members of the business organisation can serve as registered agents. And Arizona doesn't mandate that registered agents need to be available during normal concern hours. Your land's business filing agency will exist able to tell you more well-nigh country-specific requirements.

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

Keep in mind that if you're registered to exercise business organisation in multiple states, each state volition require you lot to proper name a registered amanuensis who has a physical address in that state.

Who can serve as your appointed agent?

Every state gives you the selection to engage yourself, someone else inside the company or a third party, equally long every bit the appointed agent meets the requirements mentioned above (plus any boosted state-specific requirements). The only caveat — you can't name your business as its own registered agent. There needs to a split up, responsible party, whether that's an individual or an outside agency.

Any of the following can serve:

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

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

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

"I originally chose myself considering it was the easiest manner to start my LLC. But I've recently chosen my attorney to be my registered agent. The main reason is that my attorney too has her ain real estate business, so she understands the details of mine. She can handle all necessary paperwork and be the 'legal face' of my business. Information technology'due south fairly cheap for the service. I pay about $100 per twelvemonth 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 nosotros are incorporated), a registered agent can exist whatever person, and there is no requirement for them to be available during normal business hours. One of my family unit members living in Arizona is the registered agent for Advancing Science Worldwide. I would advise that those looking to offset a business organisation look into the registered agent requirements for their specific states."

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

Reasons to utilize a legal service

Dozens of legal service websites, including LegalZoom, Rocket Lawyer and IncFile, offer registered agent services for a fee. There are multiple benefits to using one of these services, as 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 charge about $150 per twelvemonth for registered agent services. You can discover even less expensive services, but the nice thing about sites similar LegalZoom is that they also provide other kinds of legal assistance with business setup and maintenance.

As your registered amanuensis, they volition accept all legal and official correspondence on your visitor's behalf, forward you lot the documents and requite you lot timely notifications nearly pending deadlines or actions that y'all need to take.

Saves you time

Nearly i-tertiary of small-business owners work more than 50 hours per calendar week. If you're spending time sorting through official mail service, that adds to your already busy lifestyle.

By using a service, you're complimentary to go on vacation or take fourth dimension off without worrying that you're missing important mail. Y'all also salve time of going through junk mail. Since a registered agent'southward address is a matter of public record, you volition receive a lot of junk mail service if you appoint yourself.

Privacy

Having a registered amanuensis ways that their address is public record, not your own. This protects your business to some extent from spammers. In add-on, when you have an appointed agent, y'all can avert potentially embarrassing moments in front of customers. Imagine being served with a lawsuit while you're helping a customer. A service will send yous important documents via e-mail and postal postal service.

System

If yous have a fast-growing business organisation, information technology can be tough to keep all your important paperwork and deadlines straight. Having a registered agent is one way to ensure that aught gets lost in the shuffle. In addition to accepting official correspondence, LegalZoom and many other legal services volition create a compliance agenda (like the one pictured above) for your business, noting important government deadlines.

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

"Nosotros used LegalZoom to grade our LLC, so we idea it was easiest to stick with them as our registered agent besides… Whenever they receive documents from the land, they immediately snail-mail the states copies. Within the LegalZoom account portal, you can likewise only download PDF copies of the documents equally well. In add-on, there is also a calendar within the LegalZoom account portal that shows you when important deadlines are approaching."

Photograph credit: Texas Secretarial assistant of State

Changing your registered agent

No thing who you select, you'll need to continue the information up to date. Having a registered agent is an ongoing requirement, significant that you lot demand 1 equally long as your business is operating.

If you change your registered amanuensis or their contact information changes, y'all'll need to inform your state's business filing agency. In most states, there is a alter course (example from Texas shown in a higher place) that yous can download and fill out online. Some states allow electronic filing, while others require that you mail in the form. The fee for changing your appointed amanuensis is usually pretty low, $25 to $50 in about states.

Information technology's easy to forget about updating your registered amanuensis, but brand sure you lot fill out the necessary papers. The fines for a lapse can be pretty hefty. And if you become besides long without an appointed agent, the country tin revoke your document of proficient continuing or even deliquesce your company.

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