Hire a Registered Agent in South Carolina

A registered agent is the person or company designated to receive legal papers and official state notices for a South Carolina entity, at a street address in the state called the registered office. It is required by South Carolina Code § 33-44-108.

Yes. Every South Carolina LLC, corporation and limited partnership must designate and continuously maintain a registered agent under § 33-44-108, from the day it files its formation document.

Yes, if you are a South Carolina resident with a street address where you can accept deliveries during normal business hours (§ 33-44-108(a)). Many owners hire a service instead to keep that address off the public record.

No. § 33-44-108(a) requires the agent's address to be a street address; a P.O. box does not qualify, though the designated office itself does not need to be an active place of business.

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 Notice of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both with the South Carolina Secretary of State under § 33-44-109, for a $10 fee. It can be filed online through Business Entities Online or by mail.

South Carolina's LLC Act does not list a missing agent as its own dissolution ground under § 33-44-809; instead, § 33-44-111(b) makes the Secretary of State the entity's default agent for service of process, so a lawsuit can still reach — and bind — the company even though its owners may not find out in time.

No. Unlike some states, South Carolina's LLC Act does not require a registered agent to sign or file written consent before being named; § 33-44-205 confirms records are signed by a manager or member, not the agent. LLC Register still confirms its agreement to serve as a matter of practice.

Yes, as long as they are a South Carolina resident with a street address, available during normal business hours, under § 33-44-108(a).

Only if that company is itself a domestic or foreign corporation or LLC authorized to do business in South Carolina and maintains a South Carolina street address; an unregistered out-of-state company cannot serve as agent under § 33-44-108(a).

South Carolina law directs process, notices and demands to the entity's registered agent at the designated office under §§ 33-44-108 and 33-44-111; 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 South Carolina Secretary of State, viewable through Business Entities Online.

Yes. A registered agent can deliver a statement of resignation to the Secretary of State under § 33-44-110; the resignation takes effect 31 days after filing, giving the entity time to name a replacement.

Most South Carolina LLCs — those taxed as a partnership — file no annual report at all, so there is no annual filing to update. An LLC taxed as a corporation reports its current registered agent when it files Form CL-1 and its annual corporate return with the SC Department of Revenue.

Yes, for every entity filed with the Secretary of State: LLCs, corporations, limited partnerships and most other registered entities must designate one, including under § 33-44-108 for LLCs.

Yes. Under § 33-44-108, "a foreign limited liability company authorized to do business in this State" must designate and continuously maintain a South Carolina registered agent and office, exactly like a domestic LLC, before the Secretary of State will approve its Application for Certificate of Authority (a $110 filing fee).

No. South Carolina's LLC Act, Title 33 Chapter 44, has no series LLC provisions at all, so there is no separate-series concept to assign an agent to. Owners who want to wall off separate lines of business from one another in South Carolina form multiple standalone LLCs instead, each maintaining its own registered agent under § 33-44-108.

No. Unlike many states, South Carolina's LLC Act (Title 33, Chapter 44) does not create a distinct "professional limited liability company" category; licensed professionals who want a professional entity instead organize as a professional corporation under Title 33, Chapter 19, which still must designate a registered agent the same as any other entity filed with the Secretary of State.

Yes. Under § 33-44-110(b), once an agent files its statement of resignation, the Secretary of State mails a copy to both the entity's designated office and its principal office, giving the company notice during the 31-day window in § 33-44-110(c) before the resignation takes effect.

The Secretary of State can accept service on the LLC's behalf. Under § 33-44-111(b), if a company fails to maintain a registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be found at the designated office, the Secretary of State becomes the company's agent for service of process; South Carolina's general service-of-process rules in Title 15, Chapter 9 (e.g., § 15-9-240) use the same fallback for an authorized foreign corporation whose agent cannot be reached.

Yes. The Nonprofit Corporation Act requires every nonprofit corporation to maintain a registered office and registered agent in South Carolina under § 33-31-501, using the same eligibility categories — a resident individual, a domestic corporation, or an authorized foreign corporation — as South Carolina's for-profit entities.

Yes. Under § 33-42-50, every South Carolina limited partnership must continuously maintain both an in-state office and an agent for service of process, who must be an individual South Carolina resident, a domestic corporation, or a foreign corporation authorized to do business in the state.

Search the Secretary of State's Business Entities Online system or its general entity search at sos.sc.gov/searches by entity name or file number; the registered agent's name and registered office address appear on the entity's public record.

No, not automatically. Article 9's conversion provisions (§ 33-44-902) require only a statement of the conversion's terms and the members'/partners' vote, not a restatement of the registered agent, so the entity's existing registered agent and office carry over from its original Articles of Organization unless you separately file a change.

No. Unlike some states, § 33-44-109 only lets the company itself file the statement of change — the agent cannot self-file a blanket update across the entities it represents — so even a simple address change by your registered agent still requires your LLC to submit the Notice of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both.

Yes. Nothing in § 33-44-108(a) limits how many entities a single qualifying individual or company can serve as agent for, as long as each appointment meets the same residency/authorization and street-address rules.

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 South Carolina resident (or a firm organized or authorized in South Carolina) with a street address in the state — the same eligibility rule under § 33-44-108(a) that applies to anyone else.

Both — they mean the same role. The LLC Act's own section heading uses "agent for service of process" (§ 33-44-108), while the Secretary of State's forms and most South Carolina business filings use the more common term "registered agent" for the identical requirement.

Returned mail does not stop a lawsuit or state notice from reaching your LLC. Under § 33-44-111(b), the moment a registered agent cannot be reached at the designated office, the Secretary of State automatically becomes the company's agent for service of process, so process can still be delivered — and your deadline to respond keeps running — even if you never see the original mailing.

You have to name one upfront. § 33-44-203 requires the Articles of Organization to include the initial registered agent's name and street address and the designated office address before the Secretary of State will file it.

Your registered office is specifically where your registered agent accepts service of process and must be a South Carolina street address; § 33-44-108(1) says that office "need not be a place of business in this State," and your actual principal office can be anywhere, in or out of state.

No. § 33-44-108(2) requires a street address for the agent, and the Secretary of State applies the same physical-address rule used to reject P.O. boxes to commercial mail-receiving services — neither is a location where someone can actually be found to accept delivery.

No. The required contents of South Carolina's Articles of Organization under § 33-44-203 list only the registered agent's name and street address — no phone number or email field is collected or published.

No. South Carolina does not impose a periodic or annual report requirement on nonprofit corporations the way most states do; the Nonprofit Corporation Act's registered-agent sections (§§ 33-31-501–503) only require a filing when the agent or office actually changes or resigns.

Yes. Nothing in § 33-44-108(a) prevents an owner, member or manager from also serving as the entity's registered agent, as long as they are a South Carolina resident with a street address in the state.

No. § 33-44-108(a) only requires an agent to be a South Carolina resident individual, a domestic corporation or LLC, or an authorized foreign corporation or LLC — there is no separate licensing, registration or bonding system for commercial registered agents in South Carolina.

No. § 33-44-108(a) requires an individual registered agent to be a South Carolina resident; owning South Carolina property or operating a business there does not satisfy that requirement if you personally live elsewhere.

No. § 33-44-111 limits a registered agent's statutory role to receiving process, notices and demands addressed to the company — it has no authority to sign contracts or act on the entity's behalf.

Yes. Nothing in § 33-44-108 requires the two to differ — many small businesses use one South Carolina street address for both, as long as it satisfies the registered office's physical-address requirement.