Hire a Registered Agent in Maine

A registered agent is the person or company named to receive legal papers and official state mail for a Maine entity, at an actual Maine street address. It is required by 31 M.R.S. §1661, which incorporates Title 5, Chapter 6-A, the Model Registered Agents Act.

Yes. Every Maine LLC must appoint and continuously maintain a registered agent under 31 M.R.S. §1661, from the day it files its Certificate of Formation, and the same requirement applies to corporations and other Title 5 filing entities.

Yes, if you maintain an actual Maine street address or rural route box number where you can be reached (5 M.R.S. §104). Maine does not require the agent to be a state resident, but many owners hire a service instead to keep that address off the public record.

No. 5 M.R.S. §104(1) requires an actual street address or rural route box number; a P.O. box alone does not satisfy this. A separate mailing address, which may differ, can be listed in addition.

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 Form CLKRA-3, the Statement of Change of Clerk/Registered Agent, with the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions for a $35 fee ($15 for nonprofit corporations).

The Bureau mails written notice, and if the entity does not correct the problem by the 60th day after that notice is perfected, the Secretary of State administratively dissolves the entity under 31 M.R.S. §§1591–1592.

Not with a signed form. By statute, naming a registered agent on a state filing is itself the entity's affirmation that the agent has consented to serve (5 M.R.S. §105, subsection 2). A commercial registered agent instead consents by listing with the Bureau under §106.

Yes, as long as they maintain an actual Maine street address or rural route box number and are available there to accept delivery; Maine sets no age or residency requirement for a noncommercial registered agent.

Only if it lists as a commercial registered agent with the Bureau under 5 M.R.S. §106, or otherwise maintains an actual Maine street address as a noncommercial agent; an entity with no Maine address cannot serve.

A registered agent must forward any process, notice or demand to the entity's last provided address under 5 M.R.S. §114; LLC Register scans and emails it to you the same day we receive it.

Yes. The registered agent's name and address are part of the entity's filing with the Bureau and appear on the Interactive Corporate Services (ICRS) business search and on the entity's Annual Report.

Yes. A registered agent can file a resignation statement with the Bureau under 5 M.R.S. §111, which starts the process for the entity to name a replacement before facing administrative dissolution.

Yes. The Annual Report, due June 1 each year to the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions for an $85 fee, must show your current registered agent information as specified in 5 M.R.S. §105.

Yes, for every filing entity: LLCs, corporations and most other entities registered under Title 5, Chapter 6-A with the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions must maintain one.

Yes. A foreign LLC must name a Maine registered agent on its Statement of Foreign Qualification (Form MLLC-12, a $250 filing fee) before the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions will authorize it to transact business, under 31 M.R.S. §1622.

No. Maine's Limited Liability Company Act (31 M.R.S. §§1501–1693) has no provisions creating domestic series LLCs. A foreign LLC that is itself a series LLC can still qualify to do business in Maine, but its Statement of Foreign Qualification must disclose its designated series information under §1622.

Yes, the same as any other Maine LLC. A professional LLC, defined in 31 M.R.S. §1560 by reference to Title 13, §723(5), follows Maine's Professional Service Corporation Act with modifications, but it has no separate registered agent rule — the regular requirement under 31 M.R.S. §1661 and Title 5, Chapter 6-A applies.

A noncommercial registered agent is named directly by a single entity on its own filing, while a commercial registered agent first lists with the Secretary of State under 5 M.R.S. §106 and can then be named by any number of entities without filing separate consent paperwork each time.

The entity can then be served by certified or registered mail addressed to its governors (members or managers) at its principal office. Under 5 M.R.S. §113, that service is perfected when received, when the return receipt is signed, or five days after mailing if correctly addressed — and if that fails, service can be made in person on whoever is in charge at the entity's regular place of business.

Yes. Maine's Nonprofit Corporation Act (Title 13-B, Chapter 3, "Corporate Name; Registered Office and Agent; Service of Process") requires a registered agent appointed the same way as any other entity under 5 M.R.S. §105, and the nonprofit's Annual Report under 13-B §1301 must list the registered agent's name and address.

Yes. Every domestic or foreign limited partnership must continuously maintain a registered agent in Maine under 31 M.R.S. §1314-A, which incorporates the same Title 5, Chapter 6-A rules that apply to LLCs and corporations.

Search the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions' Interactive Corporate Services (ICRS) business search by entity name or filing number; the agent's name and address appear on the entity's filing record.

Not necessarily. The statement of conversion filed under 31 M.R.S. §1647 lists the converted organization's name, form and principal office, but doesn't itself redesignate a registered agent — your existing agent stays on file unless you separately file a change of agent under 5 M.R.S. §108.

Yes. A noncommercial registered agent files its own statement of change under 5 M.R.S. §109, effective immediately on filing, while a commercial registered agent updates its name, address or jurisdiction once under §110 for every entity it represents at the same time.

Yes, especially as a commercial registered agent. Once an individual or entity lists with the Secretary of State under 5 M.R.S. §106, any number of entities can name it as their registered agent without it filing separate paperwork for each one.

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

Yes. Maine's Model Registered Agents Act places no profession-based restriction on who may serve as a registered agent — any individual or entity that maintains an actual Maine street address under 5 M.R.S. §104 qualifies, attorneys included.

"Registered agent" and "agent for service of process" describe the same role under Title 5, Chapter 6-A. A "clerk," however, is a separate position some Maine corporations also maintain under 13-C M.R.S. §511 — a Maine resident who keeps shareholder records and meeting minutes — which is why the state's own change form is named "Statement of Change of Clerk/Registered Agent" (Form CLKRA-3) to cover both roles at once.

The Bureau treats that the same as having no valid registered agent on file: it mails written notice, and the entity has until the 60th day after that notice is perfected to designate a working agent before facing administrative dissolution under 31 M.R.S. §§1591–1592.

You name one upfront. Form MLLC-6, the Certificate of Formation, requires an initial registered agent before the Bureau will file it, though you can change agents at any time afterward by filing a statement of change under 5 M.R.S. §108.

Your registered agent's address is specifically the actual Maine street address or rural route box number where the agent can be reached, required by 5 M.R.S. §104; your principal place of business is wherever you actually run the company and doesn't have to be in Maine at all for an LLC.

Not on its own. 5 M.R.S. §104 requires "an actual street address or rural route box number" — a physical location where the agent can be reached — not merely a rented mailbox number at a mail-forwarding business.

No. Maine's filings list only the registered agent's name and address; no phone number or email address is required or published.

Yes. Under 13-B M.R.S. §1301, a domestic nonprofit corporation's Annual Report to the Secretary of State must list its current registered agent's name and address, alongside its president, treasurer and clerk or secretary.

Yes. Nothing in Title 5, Chapter 6-A prevents an owner, manager or officer from also serving as the entity's registered agent, as long as they meet the actual-address requirement under §104.

No license or bond is required. The closest thing to registration is for a commercial registered agent, which must list with the Secretary of State under 5 M.R.S. §106 before it can be named by entities as their agent; a noncommercial agent named directly by a single entity has no such listing requirement.

No, not personally. Maine sets no residency requirement for a noncommercial registered agent, but 5 M.R.S. §104 still requires an actual Maine street address or rural route box number where you can be reached — owning the LLC itself doesn't satisfy that if you have no such address yourself.

No. 5 M.R.S. §114 limits a registered agent's duties to forwarding process, notices and demands to the entity and keeping its contact information current — it has no authority to sign contracts or act on the entity's behalf.

Yes. Nothing in Title 5, Chapter 6-A or 31 M.R.S. §1661 requires the two to be different — many small businesses use one Maine address for both, as long as it meets the registered agent's actual-street-address requirement.