Hire a Registered Agent in Delaware

A registered agent is the person or company named to receive legal papers and official state mail for a Delaware entity, at a physical Delaware street address called the registered office. It is required by 6 Del. C. § 18-104(a).

Yes. Every Delaware LLC, corporation and limited partnership must appoint and continuously maintain a registered agent under § 18-104(a), from the day it files its formation document.

A Delaware LLC can act as its own registered agent, or an individual Delaware resident can serve, as long as there is a Delaware street address where deliveries can be accepted during normal business hours (§ 18-104(a)). Many owners hire a commercial service instead.

No. § 18-104(k) requires the registered office address to include a street, number, city and postal code; a P.O. box does not qualify.

LLC Register charges $99 a year. Commercial registered agent services generally range from about $99 to $249 a year, based on published pricing checked 9/30/2026.

File the Certificate of Amendment Changing Only the Registered Office/Agent with the Delaware Division of Corporations for a $50 fee, under §§ 18-202 and 18-1105(a)(11).

If a registered agent resigns and the LLC does not designate a successor within 30 days after the resignation certificate is filed, the state cancels the LLC's certificate of formation under § 18-104(d).

Delaware's LLC Act does not require a separately filed consent form. The agent's agreement to serve is established by accepting the appointment, and the agent can end it at any time by filing a certificate of resignation under § 18-104(d).

Yes, as long as they are a Delaware resident with a Delaware street address and are available during business hours, under § 18-104(a). If they serve as agent for more than 50 entities, the stricter commercial registered agent rules in § 18-104(f) apply to them.

Only if that company is itself a domestic or foreign entity authorized to do business in Delaware and maintains a Delaware business office; an unregistered out-of-state entity cannot serve as agent under § 18-104(a).

A registered agent must accept and forward any process, notice or demand directed to the LLC under § 18-104(e); LLC Register scans and emails it to you the same day we receive it.

Yes. The registered agent's name and registered office address are part of the entity's public filing with the Delaware Division of Corporations, available through the state's entity search.

Yes. A registered agent can file a certificate of resignation with the Division of Corporations, which starts the 30-day period for the LLC to name a replacement before the certificate of formation is canceled under § 18-104(d).

Delaware LLCs do not file a traditional annual report; they pay a flat $400 LLC Annual Tax by June 1 each year instead. Your registered agent must still be kept current with the Division of Corporations at all times, not just at tax time.

Yes, for every filing entity: LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships and most other entities registered with the Delaware Division of Corporations must appoint one, under statutes including § 18-104 for LLCs.

Yes. A foreign LLC must maintain a Delaware registered agent with a Delaware business office before the Division of Corporations will file its Certificate of Registration, which carries a $200 filing fee under § 18-1105(a)(6).

Not for an ordinary "protected series" — under § 18-215, the parent LLC's registered agent automatically covers every protected series it creates. Delaware also lets an LLC form a "registered series" under § 18-218, which must file its own certificate of registered series with the Secretary of State and is individually named in state records, even though it still relies on the parent LLC's registered agent.

Yes, under the same rule as any other LLC. Delaware's LLC Act (Title 6, Chapter 18) has no separate professional-LLC category — licensed professionals who want a distinct statutory form generally use a professional association under Title 8 instead, while an ordinary Delaware LLC used for professional services still follows § 18-104.

Yes. Beyond accepting service of process under § 18-104(e), a Delaware registered agent is also responsible for forwarding the state's annual LLC tax statement to the company — relevant since Delaware LLCs pay a flat annual tax rather than filing a traditional annual report.

Yes, in certain internal-affairs disputes. Under § 18-109, a manager (or, in a member-managed LLC, a member) is deemed to consent to service of process through the Delaware Secretary of State for claims related to the LLC's internal affairs, separate from serving the company's registered agent directly.

Yes. Delaware has no separate nonprofit corporation act — a nonprofit incorporates as a non-stock corporation under Title 8, the General Corporation Law — and the same registered agent requirement that applies to a for-profit Delaware corporation applies to it.

Yes. The Delaware Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (Title 6, Chapter 17) requires a registered agent under § 17-104, a provision that closely mirrors the LLC Act's § 18-104, including its commercial registered agent standards.

The Division of Corporations' free online entity search mainly confirms an entity's status and file number rather than displaying the registered agent directly; to get the agent's name and address, you typically need to order a status report or certified document from the Division of Corporations.

Not if you're keeping the same agent. Delaware's conversion statutes require the certificate of conversion to state the resulting entity's registered agent information directly, so a separate filing is only needed if you're also switching to a new agent.

Yes. It's common practice for a Delaware commercial registered agent to change its own business address on file with the Division of Corporations in a single filing that updates every entity it serves under § 18-104, rather than filing an amendment for each client individually.

Yes — Delaware's statute specifically contemplates it. An agent that serves 50 or more entities is defined and separately regulated as a "commercial registered agent" under § 18-104(f), but there's no cap on how many entities a single agent may represent.

Yes. The IRS treats an annual registered agent fee as an ordinary and necessary business expense, deductible in the year you pay it.

Yes, as long as your attorney is a Delaware resident individual or practices through a Delaware law firm that otherwise qualifies as a registered agent — the same eligibility rule under § 18-104(a) that applies to anyone else.

No. Section 18-104 is itself captioned "Registered office; registered agent," and "agent for service of process" is simply plain-language shorthand for the same role some other states' statutes name directly.

The basic requirement is the same, but the statutes differ. A Delaware corporation's registered agent duty comes from Title 8 (the General Corporation Law, § 132), while an LLC's comes from Title 6, Chapter 18 (§ 18-104) — worth knowing if you own both entity types in Delaware, since each files its registered agent changes under its own chapter.

You have to name one upfront. Under § 18-201(a)(2), the certificate of formation must state the address of the registered office and the name and address of the registered agent before the Division of Corporations will file it.

No — this is one of Delaware's distinguishing features. A Delaware LLC only has to maintain the registered office and registered agent required by § 18-104; it has no separate requirement to maintain a principal place of business in Delaware at all, and most Delaware LLCs operate entirely from another state.

Not for a commercial registered agent. Beyond the basic street-address requirement in § 18-104(k), a commercial registered agent serving 50 or more entities must, under § 18-104(f), maintain a business office that is generally open and staffed during normal business hours — a bare mail-drop address doesn't meet that standard.

No. The certificate of formation and the Division of Corporations' records show only the registered agent's name and address; no phone number or email address is required or published.

Yes, unlike an LLC. A Delaware nonprofit, formed as a non-stock corporation under Title 8, must still file an Annual Report with the Division of Corporations by March 1 listing its registered agent, even though most non-stock corporations owe little or no franchise tax; Delaware LLCs, by contrast, never file this report at all.

Yes, as long as that individual is a Delaware resident under § 18-104(a) — separate from the option of having the LLC act as its own registered agent, a manager or member can also be named individually.

Not licensed or bonded in the traditional sense, but § 18-104(f) imposes specific statutory standards on any "commercial registered agent" — one serving 50 or more entities. A commercial agent must maintain a Delaware business office or residence, hold a Delaware business license, be generally present at a Delaware location during normal business hours, and satisfy the Secretary of State's identity-verification requirements.

No. An individual registered agent must be a Delaware resident under § 18-104(a); owning Delaware real estate doesn't meet that requirement if you personally live elsewhere. Out-of-state owners typically use a commercial registered agent or have the LLC act as its own agent instead.

No. A registered agent's statutory role is limited to accepting service of process and forwarding tax notices and other communications to the LLC under § 18-104 — it has no authority to sign contracts or otherwise act for the entity.

Yes, though Delaware doesn't require that second address at all. If your LLC happens to operate out of Delaware, its registered office can be the same street address as wherever it actually does business, as long as that address meets the physical-office requirement in § 18-104.